How to make your way in the Primera Liga (or not as the case may be)

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dixie Flatline:

English international midfielder Jimmy Bullard goes north of the border to Celtic in a move worth £13.5 million to West Ham. It’s always the same story for West Ham - cultivate the young talented player and then cash in when a bigger club comes knocking.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And much to my chagrin, the ensuing funds do little more than line our beloved chairman's pockets..

But anyway, thought I'd check in to let you know at least one Aussie is reading and loving your odyssey. Gotta be careful of those Welsh in qualifying - Trapattoni would be only too glad to remind you of that..

KUTGW and carn the Hawkers..

[Dixie Flatline]

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

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dixie Flatline:

English international midfielder Jimmy Bullard goes north of the border to Celtic in a move worth £13.5 million to West Ham. It’s always the same story for West Ham - cultivate the young talented player and then cash in when a bigger club comes knocking.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And much to my chagrin, the ensuing funds do little more than line our beloved chairman's pockets..

But anyway, thought I'd check in to let you know at least one Aussie is reading and loving your odyssey. Gotta be careful of those Welsh in qualifying - Trapattoni would be only too glad to remind you of that..

KUTGW and carn the Hawkers.. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks very much for the words of wisdom hermolt!

Hopefully the Hawks can do a bit better than this season next year. I think Everitt will be a good acquisition for the club, and I can't say I was surprised to see Chicky go back to WA - he wasn't going to stay after his last contract. Don't know about Kingsley Hunter, though!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

Going back to Cartagonova again!

In other international news, the Confederation of Brazilian Football sacks the national coach, Levir Culpi seven games into the South American World Cup qualifying campaign. After those seven games, Brazil sits third, a point behind Colombia and Peru. But his fate was probably set by Brazil’s inability to move beyond the group stage in the Copa America in July 2007.

8th of September 2008

Real Betis pushes the boundaries with an offer of £4.2 million for César. Still, despite the nice try, they don’t really have a chance.

9th of September 2008

Our first ‘real’ competitive game sees us play in Europe rather than in the league, as we embark on our European Champions' League campaign for the first time this season. As mentioned previously, we’re drawn in a fairly tough group, and before I describe for you the events of this Tuesday evening at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena, let’s take a quick look at the quartet in Group D. We’ll start with Anderlecht. The Belgian champion is a perennial competitor in the European Champions' League, but in eight previous seasons has not made it to the knock-out phase of the competition. This season, Anderlecht will rely upon the offensive skills of Guinean international striker Souleymane Youla, a quick, strong and powerful striker who is capable of poaching goals practically anywhere in the penalty box. With sufficient acceleration and dribbling skills to take the ball past his marker, Youla will be a difficult proposition for opposition defences to handle, particularly when he is on form. Normally, his partner would be the Turkish-born Belgian international Yasin Karaca, but Karaca is looking for a move out of the Belgian league entirely, and has therefore been snubbed by the managerial staff at Anderlecht. Instead, young Steven Clijsters has been asked to step up to the plate to partner Youla. His pace complements the Guinean international, but his lack of experience could tell against Anderlecht if the fences aren’t mended with Karaca. Elsewhere, despite not being capped for Belgium, Kristof Vermeir looks a classy midfielder, capable of pulling the strings from the centre of the pitch. He will be ably assisted by the experienced Walter Baseggio, while Goran Lovre is another alternative in the middle. Mohammed Abdullah has previously been linked with Cartagonova, and he is a strong, no-nonsense defender who will be required to keep the defence together in the face of some strong attacks. Anderlecht should be considered a favourite for the top two positions in the group, but they will challenge.

[Dixie Flatline]

Not finishing outside the top four in the competition and winning it in 2006/07, Cartagonova are considered by many pundits as one of the favourites going into the first meaningful stage of the competition. In Señor Dixie Flatline, Cartagonova have one of the best managers in the world, and he is fresh from leading Spain to sweet success in Euro 2008 and two victories in World Cup qualifiers. Transfers over the summer have made the European squad even more talented in depth, and Cartagonova fans would be disappointed not to see their club take another forward step and reach their second final in three seasons. The likes of Notman, Jaime Garrido and George Clegg are important players in the attack for Cartagonova, while Gavião is a steadying influence in the cauldron of the midfield. Iván Vidal is maturing into a world-class keeper, while the back four are a settled bunch of players who know each other’s game very well. Cartagonova should be disappointed if the club fails to win this group and advance triumphantly into the second group phase of the competition. Beyond that, anything is possible.

Over the past few seasons, Martin O’Neill has been one of the biggest spending managers in Europe, let alone Scotland, as he has sought to establish Celtic’s dominance in football. Since moving north from previous club Leicester, Mr O’Neill has spent an enormous £305 million on 52 players, while he has recouped just £72 million on the sale of 36 players. Mr O’Neill’s latest acquisition, midfielder Jimmy Bullard, won’t be able to participate in Celtic’s opening game against Cartagonova, but nevertheless, Celtic has an impressive squad available. The likes of Danish international Peter Madsen, Chilean international Marcelo Salas and Michael Bridges pose plenty of problems to many defences in Scotland and Europe, and the midfield must be considered one of the strongest in Europe, with the likes of Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Jimmy Bullard, Bradley Maylett, and Lee Bowyer all available to select. The defence, too, is also quite strong, with Shay Given, the veteran Irish international keeper, in goal, young English defender Dave Bell available on the left or in the middle, Scottish international Steven McMillan also available in those positions, and former Aston Villa defender Gareth Barry available. Celtic shall be there in the second group phase.

Panathinaikos has lost many of its better players in the last couple of seasons and should not prove too much of a problem to the other clubs in this group. Greek international midfielder Vagelis Katsavakis is PAOK’s best player, but he needs more support than he is likely to receive from his teammates to help push PAOK towards qualification for the second group phase.

European Champions' League - Phase 1, Group D, Game 1: Cartagonova v Glasgow Celtic

So, after the debacle that was the Spanish Cup, the club season begins here. And it begins fantastically well. On ten minutes, Celtic midfielder Curtis Woodhouse brings down Gershon inside the area and Redondo tucks away the penalty. On 24 minutes, Redondo takes the ball past the entire Celtic defence and puts it away beyond Given’s reach! A few minutes later, Michel is denied a great goal by Given’s reflexes, but we have our third goal when in injury time at the end of the first half, Notman converts Garrido’s clever pass with a great half-volleyed shot.

The second half, by contrast, is much quieter, and in fact we lose Jaime Garrido to injury four minutes into it. That gives Byron Bubb a chance to impress, but he is a half too late, and we’re very happy to just pass the ball around for the second half. Celtic don’t do much either, and right at the end of the half, we have one last chance to score our fourth goal, but we just can’t find the opening to have a crack at Given’s goal. But what efficiency we displayed this evening - four shots on goal for three goals!

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, César; Michel (Rønning 72), Gavião, Garrido (Bubb 49); Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Glasgow Celtic (3-5-2): Given; McMillan ©, Barry, Fenton; Matt Taylor, Woodhouse (Beckham 50), Bowyer (Scholes 57), Wilson, Maylett (Stockdale 64); Salas, Madsen.

Final score: Cartagonova 3:0 Glasgow Celtic

MoM - Shimon Gershon

[Dixie Flatline]

10th of September 2008

Real Betis offers me £5.25 million over six months for Cabrera. As with offers for other key players in the squad, I reject the offer without a second thought.

11th of September 2008

Real Betis returns with a bid of £5 million for César. Again, I reject the offer. But his idiotic agent decides to become involved (no doubt looking for a fee for doing nothing), saying to the press that his client will move to Atlético Madrid for a pathetic £4.3 million. I angrily issue a press release stating in very firm terms that the full-back will be going nowhere.

12th of September 2008

I lose Ramón Salas for three weeks as he damages his rotator cuff in a practice match in a practice match.

I then require to hose down speculation that Cabrera is headed for Real Betis come the winter for just £2.2 million. Given that I signed him from Blackburn for £3.9 million, that would be a ridiculous move to agree to, and I can’t believe anybody thought this rumour might be true.

14th of September 2008

Primera Liga - Game 1: Cartagonova v Elche

After a good result against Celtic in Europe last Tuesday evening, I’m looking forward to kicking off the league season with another good result against Elche. Unfortunately, I’m to end the afternoon disappointed. Things look good for us on 10 minutes when Martín Rivas puts the ball into his own net after he gets in the way of Michel’s goal-bound header. We attempt to build upon the lead with Bubb being denied a spectacular goal on 12 minutes through Dorronsoro’s goalkeeping agility. Notman thunders a header towards goal from Cabrera’s corner, but Dorronsoro is there again to prevent the ball finding the net. Guede misses a long-range effort on 26 minutes to equalise, but then the match falls quiet. Notman tries his luck from distance at the end of the half. However, Dorronsoro is in good form today and does well to block the effort.

The second half begins badly for us as Cabrera gives away a free kick and Guede hits Lacruz with the shot. But we don’t clear the ball away from the danger zone, and while Lacruz manages to dispossess Guede, the ball falls kindly for Bernardi to hit first time past Vidal. They then decide to concentrate completely on defending the point they have. On 64 points Dorronsoro comes to their rescue when he tips Clegg’s rasping drive around the post. I take the opportunity to replace Michel and Redondo with Rønning and Tanem, hoping the Norwegian combination will win us the game. Bubb is having a good game in his first start for the club, and his third shot on target is saved for the third time by Dorronsoro. This is becoming annoying and the crowd is becoming restless. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to rescue the three points and on the opening day of the season, we end up dropping two points.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, Cabrera; Michel (Rønning 65), Gavião, Bubb; Clegg; Redondo (Tanem 65), Notman.

Elche (5-3-1-1): Dorronsoro ©; Rosu, Mascorro, Sánchez (Cuadrado 89), Martín Rivas, Ettien; Duscher, Bernardi, Helguera; Nano; Guede.

Final score: Cartagonova 1:1 Elche

MoM - Pedro José Dorronsoro

[Dixie Flatline]

Our match with Elche sets a new benchmark for Cartagonova in that it breaks the record for the highest attendance - 23,439 people rock up to watch us be held by Elche.

15th of September 2008

DC United make a ridiculous offer of £6.25 million for Cabrera. It is ridiculous because the US side wants to pay it over 18 months. I can’t accept that.

What I can accept, however, is a bid of £375,000 from Strasbourg for Djibril Diawara. I just hope that they can agree terms, because I want to cut him from my squad at the earliest opportunity.

As I fear, however, the deal falls through in the afternoon as Strasbourg tells me they cannot agree terms with the player.

17th of September 2008

European Champions' League - Phase 1, Group D, Game 2: Panathinaikos v Cartagonova

We begin this match with a spectacular goal from Redondo after just 35 seconds as Clegg and Notman burst through the Greeks’ defence to find the Spaniard, who does the rest expertly as always. On 13 minutes, Notman misses a sitter of a header when he out-jumps his marker to head Bubb’s corner towards Zegers’ goal. A moment later, Clegg picks up an errant goal kick and proceeds to hit a fierce drive that Zegers saves brilliantly. Bubb’s corner is headed towards goal by Redondo, but Zegers is in the way. However, on 20 minutes, we are rewarded a second time for our dominance when the referee, initially reluctantly, gives a penalty for a poor tackle on Notman. Redondo puts the penalty away and we’re leading 2-0 after 20 minutes. Five minutes later, Notman smacks a volley off the cross-bar. On 35 minutes, Clegg takes a shot at Zegers’ goal, but the Dutchman pushes the ball away for a corner. On 44 minutes, we have our third goal as Notman takes Gavião’s pass in his stride, turns away from his marker, and then thunders a 25 yard drive past Zegers. In contrast, the second half is a much quieter affair, although Juan Hernández, on as a substitute for Clegg, feeds Notman on 67 minutes, but the Scotsman misses his shot.

Panathinaikos (4-5-1): Zegers ©; Polizos, C. Athanasiadis, Goutis, A. Panagiotidis; G. Panagiotidis, V. Athanasiadis (G. Michailidis 53), Katsavakis, Chavos, Delios; Amanatidis (N. Michailidis 53).

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, César; Gavião; Michel, Bubb; Clegg (Hernández 65); Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Panathinaikos 0:3 Cartagonova

MoM - José Manuel Redondo

18th of September 2008

Fernando Morientes moves from Fiorentina to Bari for £6.25 million.

[Dixie Flatline]

20th of September 2008

It is already time again to decide upon squads for World Cup qualifiers. Bojan Djordjic is needed by Sweden for its squad to play Bosnia and Bulgaria. Muslimovic recovers just in time to make it to the Bosnian squad to play Sweden and Lithuania. England calls up George Clegg to possibly play against Finland and Portugal, although he is more likely to warm the bench ( ). Scotland takes Alex Notman for games against Northern Ireland and the Faeroe Islands. Denmark calls up Martin Smith for matches against Andorra and Albania. Shimon Gershon is likely to play his twentieth cap for Israel since moving to Cartagonova as Israel want all the help they can get when they go up against Ireland and the Netherlands. Kristian Tanem and Per Vener Rønning are automatic selections in Norway’s squad for San Marino and Azerbaijan, those two global football superpowers.

So that just leaves the Spanish squad to be finalised. And I have two huge selection dilemmas to solve. Jaime Garrido and Raúl are automatic selections for the squad when they are fit, but both are ruled out with injuries for a fortnight each - just the amount of time between now and the first game against Armenia. I decide to leave out Garrido from the squad, as Zubizarreta is fully fit now. It would be wonderful to see both of them in the same squad, but so far it has not been possible since Euro 2008 finished. But I decide to leave the country’s captain in the squad, so the full squad looks like this:

Goalkeepers

César Laínez (31 y/o, ESP 15 caps, GK): Barcelona

Iker Casillas (27 y/o, ESP 5 caps, GK): Real Madrid

Iván Vidal (29 y/o, ESP 4 caps, GK): Cartagonova

Defenders

César Cabrera (23 y/o, ESP 1 cap, D RL): Cartagonova

César (28 y/o, ESP 16 caps, 1 goal, D RL): Cartagonova

Francisco Javier Olmo (23 y/o, ESP, D/M RL): Villarreal

Jordi Ferrón (30 y/o, ESP 9 caps, 1 goal, D RL): Real Zaragoza

Borja (30 y/o, ESP 26 caps, D LC): Valencia

José María Hernández (23 y/o, ESP, D LC): Tenerife

Iván Amaya (30 y/o, ESP 49 caps, 1 goal, D C): Deportivo La Coruña

César (30 y/o, ESP 51 caps, 1 goal, D C): PSV Eindhoven

José de la Rosa (21 y/o, ESP 1 cap, D/DM C): Barcelona

Carlos Marchena (29 y/o, ESP 16 caps, D C): Celta Vigo

Midfielders

Gavião (28 y/o, ESP 14 caps, 3 goals, DM C): Cartagonova

Diego (30 y/o, ESP 18 caps, 3 goals, M/S C): Racing Santander

Joseba Etxeberría (31 y/o, ESP 71 caps, 19 goals, AM/F RC): Athletic Bilbao

Francisco Javier Zubizarreta (23 y/o, ESP 9 caps, 1 goal, AM/F RC): Espanyol

Mista (29 y/o, ESP 7 caps, 3 goals, AM/F LC): Deportivo La Coruña

Vicente (27 y/o, ESP 67 caps, 25 goals, AM/F LC): Roma

Gerard (29 y/o, ESP 45 caps, 9 goals, AM C): Fiorentina

Juan Hernández (23 y/o, ESP 1 cap, AM/F C): Cartagonova

Forwards

Raúl (31 y/o, ESP 110 caps, 54 goals, AM/F LC): Paris-Saint-Germain

Diego Ribera (31 y/o, ESP 16 caps, 6 goals, S C): Celta Vigo

Joseba Llorente (28 y/o, ESP 14 caps, 6 goals, S C): Real Sociedad

Rubén Navarro (30 y/o, ESP 19 caps, 9 goals, S C): Real Madrid

Sabino (30 y/o, ESP 1 cap, S C): Real Madrid

So, I select four players from my Cartagonova squad for national duty against Armenia and Wales.

[Dixie Flatline]

21st of September 2008

You would have been very fortunate to see the couple of column inches buried towards the back of the sports section in this morning’s newspaper, but Luis Sosa is one of those terriers who ferret out everything about the club. He points out to me that Real Vallodolid appears interested in signing the unwanted, unloved Djibril Diawara for £425,000. That would be a great price for him, so I encourage such speculation to surround the player.

Primera Liga - Game 2: Osasuna v Cartagonova

This warm Sunday afternoon finds us in the northwest of Spain and particularly Pamplona, as we are hosted by Osasuna. Like last week, we take the lead only to be pegged back too late to do anything about it, leaving me very frustrated and upset on the flight back to Cartagena. I play the same eleven that efficiently took apart Panathinaikos in mid-week and for long stretches of the game, we dominate play. Osasuna are only dangerous in bursts, with Gershon and Smith doing a good job of minding the dangerous Jurandir. Our reward eventually comes on 69 minutes when Byron Bubb crashes home the first goal of his Cartagonova career as he cuts in from the right. But ten minutes later, Osasuna have their equaliser through defender Julio Navarro. Unfortunately, it is not going to be our day, and that is not better demonstrated by Redondo’s shocking inaccuracy in front of the target. In the last two European Champions' League games, he has been on target every time he has had a shot, but today, five shots and none were even close. Unbelievable.

Osasuna (3-5-2): Palop; Navarro, Bonomi, Kuffour; Schmidt, Benayoun ©, Herrero (Slovic 72), Grisales (Karagounis 52), Héctor; Dani, Jurandir.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, César; Gavião; Michel, Bubb; Clegg; Redondo (Edú 72), Notman.

Final score: Osasuna 1:1 Cartagonova

MoM - Iván Vidal

Two consecutive draws in the opening two rounds of the season leaves us 14th, but surprisingly no club managed to keep a 100% record after two rounds.

Sweden’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup are severely dented as news filters through that Swedish international Mikael Bjärsmyr has torn his cruciate ligaments playing for Parma against Piacenza in a Coppa Italia game today. The 24 year old striker, who has five goals in 15 international appearances, will miss at least 9 months of football, which also severely damages Parma’s chances of winning the Scudetto this season.

24th of September 2008

European Champions' League - Phase 1, Group D, Game 3: Cartagonova v Anderlecht

Unlike our domestic form, our European form to date has been very impressive with 3-0 victories home and away against Celtic and Panathinaikos. On that type of form, Anderlecht shouldn’t pose too much of a problem, as Belgian club football seems to have reached a nadir recently. It doesn’t help their cause when they give away two penalties in the space of eight minutes just before half-time. On 30 minutes, Yago is sent off for a terrible tackle inside the area on Redondo, who easily converts the penalty. Then on 38 minutes, Vermeir clatters Notman inside the area and Redondo puts the second penalty away. On half-time, Anderlecht pulls a goal back through Farías, but they aren’t really in the hunt in this game, and in the second half, after 65 minutes, Notman times his leap perfectly to head home Smith’s excellent long ball. Both sides have a few chances to add to the score sheet in the last 20 minutes or so, but in truth there was only ever one winner today, and I’m happy that it is Cartagonova. So we maintain our perfect start in Europe, and we only need a point or so in our next game against Anderlecht to guarantee passage into the second phase.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, César (Thuram 63); Rønning, Gavião, Bubb; Clegg; Redondo, Notman (Tanem 76).

Anderlecht (5-3-2): Mardulier; Jordens, Reynders (Thijs 15), Yago, Abdullah, Cooreman; Lovre ©, Parker, Vermeir (Baseggio 63 (van Gothemd 70)); Farías, Youla.

Final score: Cartagonova 3:1 Anderlecht

MoM - Alex Notman

[Dixie Flatline]

In the evening, somewhat ironically, Gillet is called up to Belgium’s squad to play Croatia.

The game sets a new record for attendance, with 23,487 people showing up at the redeveloped Estádio Municipál de Cartagena to watch us take apart Anderlecht. As a result, we also are able to bank £540,201 from the gate receipts. This eclipses the £500,000 we took home last season from an European Champions' League game against Neftchi, and is a far cry from the record of £100,000 against Hércules set all the way back on 12th of November 2000 in a Segunda Liga B game!

25th of September 2008

Real Betis is keen to sign one of my full-backs, and this morning a facsimile lands on my desk from the Seville club offering £5 million over six months for César. While he did not perform too well against Anderlecht last night, I’m not about to sell him just yet.

26th of September 2008

Real Vallodolid offers me £675,000 over 18 months for Ballesteros. I like the money they are offering, but not the terms, so if the club could see its way through to paying the money up-front, then I’ll allow them to speak to the player.

27th of September 2008

France captures Olympic Games gold after defeating Argentina 1-0 with a 40th minute goal from Gueugnon’s Christian Klein. Earlier, Brazil drew 1-1 with Italy in the match for bronze but won the medal on penalties. Still, gold medal at the Olympic Games is the only major football trophy that still eludes Brazil. In fact, Brazil has finished third in the last four Olympic Games!

I sign Shimon Gershon to another three year contract worth £3 million to the player over that time - he won’t be able to leave the club for free until June 2011.

28th of September 2008

After thinking about it, Real Vallodolid do not want to sign Ballesteros for £675,000 payable up-front.

Primera Liga - Game 3: Cartagonova v Athletic Bilbao

Beginning the round in 15th position means that a win is imperative in order to get our title defence properly under way. But unlike our great form in Europe, we can’t seem to score more than one goal in 90 minutes. Athletic Bilbao decides, quite naturally, to defend in numbers, but Ion is aware enough to have a shot on 10 minutes at Iván Vidal’s goal. But Gershon, celebrating a new contract, manages to deny him sufficient space to set himself for the effort. Notman tries an opportunistic shot on 16 minutes when Gavião is baulked by the Bilbao defence, but the Scotsman does not have his range just yet. Redondo does better on 20 minutes when he plays a one-two with the defender José Manuel Lasa but can’t find a way past Aranzubia. However, Athletic Bilbao are dealt a blow on 23 minutes when their keeper is forced from the field, allowing the veteran Imanol Etxeberría to take his place. The first thing he has to do is pick Notman’s fierce drive out of the back of the net. Redondo does the heavy work, breaking through the Athletic Bilbao defence and drawing enough men to him to allow Notman the time and space to line up the angles perfectly from 30 yards! On 30 minutes, Ion misses with a curling effort to bring Bilbao level. Just before half-time, Bubb controls the free kick earned by Michel but Etxeberría is perfectly placed to tip the shot away for a corner that we can’t capitalise upon.

After the break, Redondo smashes a drive against the woodwork on 50 minutes, and four minutes later, Notman brings the crowd to life with a spectacular bicycle kick that almost finds it way past Etxeberría. Michel then proceeds to put a drive over the bar on 58 minutes, while Redondo forces Etxeberría into another good save on 61 minutes. Six minutes later, and Michel is left rueing another missed opportunity with Etxeberría saving his headed shot. Notman then proceeds to put a header over the bar on 75 minutes. Until now, Vidal hasn’t been needed in the second half, but on 80 minutes, Athletic Bilbao finally breaks the shackles long enough for Aldeondo to test our keeper, but he responds superbly and Lasa completes the clearance. Gavião misses the last proper chance of the game on 83 minutes when Etxeberría pulls off yet another good save, but we have done enough to claim our first victory of the league season and jump into 9th position.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Lasa, César; Michel, Gavião, Bubb (Muslimovic 64); Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Athletic Bilbao (4-4-2): Aranzubia (I. Etxeberría 23); del Horno, Cuéllar, Jusué, Gorka; Barkero, Orbaiz, Gereñu (Chema 69), J. Etxeberría ©; Aldeondo, Ion.

Final score: Cartagonova 1:0 Athletic Bilbao

MoM - Imanol Etxeberría

[Dixie Flatline]

After the game, I’m pleased to see José Manuel Redondo sign a three year contract that binds him to Cartagonova until he is 35 years old. That will probably see out his professional career.

I’m contacted by Valencia officials, who inform me that Borja suffered an injury in Valencia’s game and will not be available for the World Cup qualifiers. After some deliberation, I decide to replace him with Alavés’ José: José (27 y/o, ESP 1 cap, D C): Alavés

30th of September 2008

Iván Vidal signs on board for another three seasons, which means he will be at the club until at least June 2011.

1st of October 2008

Primera Liga - Game 4: Real Betis v Cartagonova

We bring our upturn in form to the Estádio de Manuel Ruiz de Lopera in Seville as we face Real Betis. Redondo has an early chance to put us ahead as he smashes Cabrera’s deep cross towards goal, but Sala is there to save Real Betis’ blushes. But he can do nothing except grimace when Mora commits a suicidal foul on Byron Bubb inside the penalty area on 15 minutes. Mora is sent off and Redondo steps up to score his first league goal of the campaign. Pablo Islas makes Vidal earn his keep with a swerving shot on 18 minutes, but the Spanish third choice keeper does well to stop Real Betis equalising. From the corner, Redondo picks up Gershon’s clearance and feeds it to Notman, who flicks it onto the running Michel. The veteran winger cuts inside the depleted Betis defence and thunders an unstoppable shot past Sala to make it 2-0 to the visitors! It gets better as on 21 minutes, Redondo takes Notman’s clever pass and bends it past the sprawled Sala! Notman perhaps should have made it 4-0 on 31 minutes but his header is well stopped by Sala.

Nine minutes into the second half, Islas skips past Gershon but can’t find the target and we control the pace of the game to suit ourselves. Substitute Kristian Tanem finds Notman on 75 minutes with a good pass, but the Scotsman is unable to find the back of the net. Tanem then proceeds to set up Juan Hernández, but the midfielder clips the bar with his volley and it goes out of play. Tanem then tries his luck himself on 84 minutes, but Sala pulls off a good save to deny the Norwegian. At injury time at the end of the game, Bubb almost scores from a free kick, while Juan Hernández misses another volley to end proceedings. We deserved the victory and the three points today.

Real Betis (4-4-2): Sala; Mantilla, Rivas ©, Mora, Mangold; Reyes (Gustavsson 24), Muñiz, Morantes (Moreno y Fabianesi 64), Farinós; Islas, Casas.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, Cabrera; Gavião; Michel, Bubb; Hernández; Redondo (Tanem 60), Notman.

Final score: Real Betis 0:3 Cartagonova

MoM - Alex Notman

The victory pushes us into sixth place, two points behind league leader Numancia. The board is pleased with the win. So am I.

Unfortunately, I’m forced to replace Joseba Etxeberría in the Spanish squad with Deportivo La Coruña’s Ignacio Morán: Ignacio Morán (21 y/o, ESP, F LC): Deportivo La Coruña However, that leaves me with only one naturally right-sided midfielder in Zubizarreta with injuries to Etxeberría, Garrido and Miguel Ãngel Angulo making them all unavailable.

[Dixie Flatline]

2nd of October 2008

Gavião injures himself in the training camp for our game against Armenia this coming Saturday. I check with FIFA - unfortunately, at this late stage, I cannot replace the midfielder, so it looks like 21 year old Barcelona defensive midfielder José de la Rosa will be asked to step into Gavião’s shoes for games against Armenia and Wales.

4th of October 2008

World Cup Qualifier - Grouop 6, Game 3: Armenia v Spain

The Spanish squad misses a couple of important players when we play Armenia. Out of the side are Garrido, Gavião and the captain Raúl, who I decide not to risk when he fails a fitness test on the morning of the game. It is an extremely warm - some might say hot - afternoon in Yerevan as we take on one of the countries tipped to be a whipping boy. And we manage to conserve energy as for most of the game, we keep the ball inside Armenia’s defensive third of the pitch. Llorente goes close to scoring twice in the first six minutes of the game, but Mazuel is there to pull off two classy saves to deny the Real Sociedad striker his seventh international goal. On 16 minutes, captain-for-a-day Gerard misses a shot from distance after being set up by Sabino, while Amaya, venturing forward on a rare occasion, shows that his forte is defending, not attacking as he misses a glorious opportunity.

The Deportivo defender misses another chance a moment later after being teed up by Gerard, while on 24 minutes the referee denies us a perfectly legitimate penalty after de la Rosa is brought down inside the penalty box. On 33 minutes, good work from Zubizarreta and Llorente allows Cabrera the opportunity to shoot, but Mazuel is equal to the task. However, Armenia can’t get the ball away well enough and Marchena lofts it back into the box where Sabino is waiting to pounce. The Real Madrid striker has started the season very well, and he translates that into his first international goal in his second appearance for Spain. We don’t sit back, however, as Sabino hits the post four minutes later, while de la Rosa goes close when Mazuel saves his shot well on 42 minutes. On half-time, Vicente gets into the action cutting in from the left, but Mazuel is there again to save Armenia and to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.

Things start slower in the second half but on 58 minutes, Francisco Javier Zubizarreta effectively ends the contest when he jinks past the Armenian full-back, cuts into the penalty box and drives an unstoppable bullet past Mazuel! We continue to cut open the Armenian defence at will, with Sabino’s powerful header well-saved by Mazuel on 62 minutes and Llorente hitting a drive over the bar two minutes later. To protect some of my players, I begin to make substitutions. Cabrera receives a knock on 65 minutes and I decide to replace him with Jordi Ferrón while on 79 minutes, I take off the yellow-carded de la Rosa who had impressed until that point. Before that, Llorente was unlucky not to score when his bending, dipping drive is tipped away by Mazuel on 72 minutes. Inside the last ten minutes, Armenia finally gives the hitherto bored Laínez something to do, but the Barcelona keeper has his wits about him to stop Armenia clawing their way back into the game. Right on the end of the game, Llorente’s hard work goes unrewarded once more when he beats the keeper but not the post and we come away with a deserved 2-0 victory.

Armenia (5-3-2): Mazuel; Demanet, Kaplas (Manner 56), El Khebir, Nkantchoum, Algarate; Rakov, Djikia (Quia 89), Sarkisyan © (Lovati 83); Petrosyants, Geworian.

Spain (4-1-2-1-2): Laínez; Cabrera (Ferrón 65), Amaya, Marchena, César; de la Rosa (Diego 79); Vicente (Mista 65), Zubizarreta; Gerard ©; Sabino, Llorente.

Final score: Armenia 0:2 Spain

MoM - Sabino

[Dixie Flatline]

In other games involving Cartagonova players, Zlatan Muslimovic scores twice as Bosnia runs out 4-3 winners over Sweden, Alex Notman is the man of the match in Scotland’s 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland, Martin Smith helps Denmark to a 3-1 victory over Andorra in Group 8, Shimon Gershon is on the winning side as Israel defeat Ireland 3-1, while Kristian Tanem is captain and Per Vener Rønning also plays in Norway’s 3-1 win over San Marino.

Checking other results, and we’ll start in Group 1 as always. Bosnia tops the table after their 4-3 victory over Sweden in Stockholm. Turkey lies third behind Sweden after they won 2-0 in Lithuania. Something at last for the Czechs to smile about in Group 2 as they defeat FYROM 2-1 in Skopje, while Slovakia and Estonia play out a 1-1 draw. In Group 3, a 60th minute goal from Michael Owen was crucial in England’s 1-0 victory over Finland at New Wembley, while Greece did it tough against determined Luxembourg but prevailed 2-1 in the end.

Three matches played in Group 4. Yugoslavia defeated the Faeroe Islands 4-2, while Italy remains top with a 2-0 victory over Moldova. As mentioned above, Alex Notman claims man of the match honours as he set up Scotland’s goal in a 1-1 draw in Belfast against Northern Ireland. In Group 5, Belarus held Croatia to a 0-0 draw in Split, while Latvia and Switzerland shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw. In Group 6, Wales preserved its 100% record with a 3-1 victory over Georgia at the Millennium Stadium, with Andy Owen, Ryan Giggs and Simon Davies all profiting on the day. Poland suffered a huge setback in its hopes after losing to Malta 1-0 in Valletta, thanks to Chucks Nwoko’s 45th minute goal and superb goalkeeping from Justin Faber. Spain defeated Armenia 2-0 in Yerevan.

Moving into Group 7, Hungary defeated Cyprus 2-0 in Nicosia, while Romania moves into second behind Russia with a 2-1 victory over Slovenia. In Group 8, the Netherlands defeated Albania 2-0 in Tirane, but still remains fourth in the group. Denmark defeated Andorra 3-1 on the road, and are third, while Israel took the lead in the group after defeating Ireland 3-1 in Tel-Aviv. Finally, to Group 9 now, and France preserves its 100% start to the campaign with an easy 3-0 victory in Paris over Azerbaijan. Austria goes into second place after defeating Iceland 1-0 in Vienna, while Norway finally put a win on the board after being San Marino 3-1 in Oslo.

5th of October 2008

There is an unbelievable game from the Segunda Liga B that makes the headlines around the country this afternoon. Sevilla B hosts Melilla in Seville and they play an astonishing 8-8 all draw. Sevilla B’s Wellington scores four goals, Melilla’s Soriano a hat-trick. Three players - one Sevilla B, two from Melilla - score braces, and the rest of the goals are shared by individuals!

6th of October 2008

I lose PSV Eindhoven defender César to injury in the training camp before Wednesday evening’s match against Spain. However, this time I’m able to name a replacement for the centre-half, and noting that I already have enough central defenders available to cover his absence, I decide to call up cover for Zubizarreta in case he doesn’t return to full fitness in time. Thirty year old Valencia winger Quique is given the nod ahead of club-mate Miguel Ãngel Angulo and Real Betis’ Enrique de Lucas: Quique (30 y/o, ESP, AM/F RC): Valencia

In the evening, the football journalists interview Real Madrid manager, Señor César García García about the performances of Sabino recently. The manager makes the cardinal man-management mistake of indicating that Sabino could extend himself a little further. The striker, always a volatile character at the best of times as I found out when I had him for a little while, takes immediate umbrage at his manager’s comments and demands to be placed on the transfer list immediately. The club agrees, and now he will probably leave for at least £12 million.

7th of October 2008

Spain’s U-21 side goes down 2-1 to Wales’ U-21 side in Seville this evening.

Coach Toninho signs on the dotted line for another four years at Cartagonova today, too.

[Dixie Flatline]

8th of October 2008

Real Oviedo comes in for Djibril Diawara with an offer of just £120,000. I peruse their squad and notice a promising 19 year old left-back by the name of José Ignacio Espinosa. I add him to the deal and another £120,000, thereby valuing Diawara at £240,000.

Simultaneously, Bari sells influential midfield playmaker, the Norwegian international, Simen Brenne to Glasgow Rangers for £6.75 million. The Italian champion will miss his influence in the new season, I think.

World Cup Qualifier - Group 6, Game 4: Spain v Wales

It is the clash of the top two countries in Group 6. Wales go into this match ahead on goal difference, but I hope that the home crowd advantage will see us move into top spot at the end of the game. Zubizarreta does indeed come good in time for this game, but de la Rosa is exhausted and needs to be rested. With Gavião still recovering from his strained neck and no other defensive midfielders in the squad, I turn to Diego to fill the breach. Quique, the latest player to be drawn into my squad, sits on the bench in place of Diego.

On 9 minutes, Vicente and Gerard combine to set free Sabino, but the Real Madrid striker is foiled by a brilliant save from Neil Griffiths. However, on 18 minutes, we succeed in scoring the all-important first goal of the game. Gerard, Sabino, and Diego are all involved in creating the chance of Zubizarreta to score his second goal in two games and he makes no mistake, crashing the ball home off the post. But the goal doesn’t dent Griffiths’ confidence, and he pulls off another good save to deny Sabino on 23 minutes and then again to stop Zubizarreta from the resulting corner. On 36 minutes, Griffiths is again there to prevent Zubizarreta extending our lead, and four minutes later, he there present again to stop us taking full advantage of our creativity. This is becoming frustrating as on 42 minutes, Griffiths pushes away Gerard’s fierce drive, and our fortunes take a turn for the worse as on half-time, Gerard limps off to be replaced by Mista. Amaya takes the captain’s arm-band.

Hopefully the second half will reward us, but it begins with Zubizarreta hitting a shot over the bar and then Sabino’s header being well-saved by Griffiths. Wales finally puts together a move to threaten César Laínez but Bellamy wastes it by smashing the ball over the bar. However, we can’t find that second goal to kill off the game, especially when Llorente’s drive is well-saved by Griffiths. Then, Marchena pushes Bellamy within his range on 86 minutes, and the Manchester United midfielder forces Laínez into spilling the hot drive. Lee Fowler is on hand to tuck in the rebound and Wales are suddenly level. But a moment later, Wales’ defence falls apart and allows Diego to crash home a 30 yard winner!

Spain (4-3-1-2): Laínez; Cabrera, Amaya, Marchena, César; Vicente (Quique 79), Diego, Zubizarreta; Gerard © (Mista 45); Sabino, Llorente.

Wales (4-4-2): Griffiths; Price (Holmes 84), Weston, M. Jones ©, Delaney; Giggs, Fowler, Davies, Gibson (Parry 89); Bellamy, Owen.

Final score: Spain 2:1 Wales

MoM - Sabino

[Dixie Flatline]

In other games in tonight’s World Cup qualifiers, Muslimovic’s goal isn’t enough to prevent Bosnia losing 2-1 to Lithuania. Bojan Djordjic comes on for the last ten minutes of Sweden’s 3-1 loss to Bulgaria in Sofia. Alex Notman scored after just 6 minutes for Scotland, but they were still held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by the Faeroe Islands at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Jean-François Gillet helped Belgium maintain its winning start to the qualifying campaign as they defeated Croatia 2-1 in Brussels. Martin Smith’s Denmark shared the points with Albania in a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen. Shimon Gershon was fingered by the Israeli press after his side capitulated to the Netherlands 3-0 in Amsterdam. For the second match in succession, Kristian Tanem was named captain of Norway. He and Per Vener Rønning enjoyed success as Norway thrashed Azerbaijan 5-2.

Rounding up the group results and in Group 1, Bosnia remains top despite losing 2-1 to Lithuania in Sarajevo, as Bulgaria defeated Sweden 3-1. In Group 2, Estonia moved to the top of the ladder with a 2-1 victory over FYROM, while the Czech Republic moved into second place after defeating the Ukraine 2-1 in Prague. In Group 3, Tony Adams’ England concentrated on stifling Portugal and successfully managed that trick, leaving Oporto with a 0-0 draw. In the other Group 3 game, Finland defeated Luxembourg 2-1 in Helsinki. In Group 4, Yugoslavia was the big winner on the night as they thrashed Moldova 4-1 in Belgrade. Northern Ireland held Italy to a 1-1 draw in Rome, while Scotland disappointed in a 1-1 draw against the Faeroe Islands. Italy remains a point clear of Yugoslavia with Northern Ireland a point further behind. Already, Scotland looks unlikely to reach the 2010 finals, being five points behind Italy.

In Group 5, Belgium maintained its winning start by defeating Croatia 2-1 in Brussels, while Latvia moved to within a point of second-placed Croatia by defeating Belarus 2-1 in Minsk. In Group 6, Spain takes over top spot of the group after winning 2-1 in Barcelona against previous table leader Wales. Already the campaigns of Malta, Poland and Georgia are looking shaky. Georgia and Malta drew 2-2 in Tbilisi, while Poland and Armenia also shared the points 2-2 in Chorzow.

Going into Group 7, now, and you’ll see that Russia consolidated top spot with an easy 2-0 victory over Romania, who dropped back to fourth place. Cyprus moved into third after drawing 0-0 with Slovenia. In Group 8, the Netherlands tops the group on goal difference after crunching Israel 3-0 in Amsterdam. Ireland did the business against Andorra, winning 2-0 in Dublin, while Denmark was held to a 2-2 draw by Albania. In Group 9, Norway has moved into third place but still lies five points behind France after thrashing Azerbaijan 5-2 in Gyanja. France blew Iceland off the pitch in Reykjavik with a 4-1 result, while Austria remains in second after defeating San Marino 2-0.

9th of October 2008

Real Vallodolid offers me £240,000 for Diawara. I ask for £300,000.

10th of October 2008

Real Oviedo returns with a finial bid of £230,000 for Diawara. I accept the bid.

11th of October 2008

Real Vallodolid doesn’t want to pay £300,000 for Diawara and Real Oviedo can’t agree terms with him. I’m not happy today.

In the meantime, one time England international striker Trevor Benjamin moves from Newcastle United to Fiorentina in a move worth £15.75 million. The 29 year old has made 21 international appearances for England, scoring 10 goals. After moving to Newcastle United from Leicester in 2002/03 for £7 million, Benjamin quickly cemented himself as a firm fans’ favourite. In 2006/07, he scored 38 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions and followed that up in 2007/08 with 41 goals in 51 appearances. During his Newcastle career, he was part of the England squad that came third at the 2006 World Cup, but club success so far has eluded the player, with only a runners-up medal in the FA Cup to show for his efforts.

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[SublimeÂ]

Surprising to see Trevor Benjaiman so highly thought of for England. In my last game, I pursuaded him to leave Lecister to go all the way down to D2 for me. Amazing part of it was, it was free ! Anyways, he left after I got promoted to the EPL about 3 yrs later, and has hit rock bottom since

KUTGW...surprised I hadn't seen your writing in awhile...

[Dixie Flatline]

Thanks, Sublime!

Have you missed me? That's good, because I'm back!

Sorry about the huge gap in time between posts. I've had the computer back in for repairs, and then my internet account was suspended, and it took me some time to organise myself to have it renewed. But now everything is up and running, and I have some more to add to the story!

[Dixie Flatline]

11th of October 2008 (cont.)

In the evening, I’m informed by the Brazilian coach Toninho that Shola Ameobi showed up late to training and looked very unfit, eg. glug, glug… I pull the Nigerian striker away for a heart-to-heart after training and he does indeed confess to frequenting a bar before training and lost track of time. I give him an official warning on the spot, half-expecting him to request a transfer. But the player, or more accurately, his agent, is smarter than that, knowing that in six months away he can walk away from Cartagonova with no strings attached (his contract is up for renewal, and he doesn’t like Spain, so there is Buckley’s chance of him signing him on board for another stretch).

12th of October 2008

Real Madrid accepts my bid of £10.25 million for Sabino, but the player refuses a move back to one of his former clubs on the grounds that he is not prepared to leave Real Madrid for a rival club and is not sure the move would suit him in the long term. Fair enough.

13th of October 2008

A leading television pundit praises Alex Notman at prime-time, and I’m asked for my opinion. I agree that Notman has been performing excellently since the start of the season. The Supporters’ Association web-site picks up on the praise and say that they’re happy that I’ve acknowledged Notman’s contribution to the club this season. Well, it was the least I could do!

[Dixie Flatline]

14th of October 2008

Espanyol kicks off my morning with an offer of £2.3 million for Cabrera. As soon as I reject that one, Real Betis fax through an offer of £8 million over a six month period for Notman. Still not even close to his true worth, and consequently, I tear up the fax and tell my secretary to inform Real Betis they have failed, again!

European Champions' League - Game 4: Anderlecht v Cartagonova

We arrive in Brussels looking to confirm our place in the second group phase of the Champions’ League, and we can do that by taking the three points back to Spain. However, things begin badly when Gershon is adjudged by the referee to have fouled Karaca inside the area. The referee awards the dubious penalty and Lovre puts Anderlecht into the lead. Perhaps for the first time this season, Vidal is under pressure for an extended period of time as Youla shoots from distance two minutes later and Vidal pushes the shot away. On 18 minutes, Karaca drifts a shot just wide of the mark, while Michel responds with a spectacular lob that clears Cliff Mardulier but also clears the bar. But on 23 minutes, however, we find ourselves equal when Redondo uses his strength to hold off Reynders and finds Notman. The Scottish striker doesn’t hesitate to shoot on sight and he brings us level! Five minutes later, the reinstored Garrido crosses into the box for Notman to volley past Mardulier to put us in the lead! Anderlecht respond via Lovre and Vermeir finding Youla, but his volley smacks the post and goes out of play, thankfully. Three minutes later, George Clegg tests Mardulier with a forceful volley that the Anderlecht keeper does well to tip away. On 35 minutes, however, the ball is back in our penalty area and Vidal scrambles across to save Clijsters’ low drive. However, on 45 minutes, we strike for the third time to really make it difficult for Anderlecht to get anything out of this game. Notman finds a way past the usually reliable Abdullah, but the defender recovers to take the ball away from the striker. However, Redondo is on there to pick up the loose ball, and he this time successfully evades Abdullah before driving a shot past Mardulier! Anderlecht, through Youla, tries to pull it back to 3-2 on the stroke of half-time, but the shot flies wide.

Of course, Anderlecht hasn’t given up this game, and three minutes after the break, Youla is threatening Vidal’s goal, but the ball smashes against the cross-bar and goes back into play. On 58 minutes, however, I’m made to feel more nervous when Anderlecht has their second goal of the game. Youla finds the overlapping Cooreman who crosses in from the right where Lovre out-muscles Cabrera to head home the cross. I make two immediate changes, with Rønning swapping for Michel and César comes on for Lacruz. It doesn’t stop Youla finding Karaca with a square ball and fortunately Vidal is there to stop the Belgian international with his fingertips on 62 minutes. From the corner, Vidal comes when necessary to punch the ball clear of the danger area, but Anderlecht regather possession and Lovre finds Karaca in the area. Vidal pulls off a terrific save to stop the Belgian from drawing his club level. Anderlecht maintain possession practically until the end of the game, although my defence organises itself enough to stop them really threatening Vidal’s goal. On 82 minutes, however, Youla out-jumps Clegg to power a header towards goal, but Vidal is there to stop Anderlecht drawing level. They play the next corner around the penalty box before finding Steven Clijsters unmarked. The midfielder lines up the angles and shoots it closer to the corner flag than Vidal’s goal! On 88 minutes, Vidal fists away Cooreman’s corner but we can’t clear the ball and Vidal is alert enough to stop Cooreman’s drive a moment later. That ends Anderlecht’s challenge and we maintain our winning start to the European campaign.

Anderlecht (5-3-2): Mardulier; Jordens (Coelho 72), Reynders, Traoré ©, Abdullah (van Gothemd 77), Cooreman; Lovre, Clijsters, Vermeir (op de Beek 88); Karaca, Youla.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz (César 59), Gershon, Smith, Cabrera; Gavião; Michel (Rønning 59), Garrido; Clegg (Tanem 87); Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Anderlecht 2:3 Cartagonova

MoM - Alex Notman

With four consecutive victories in the first phase, we are already confirmed as being in the second group phase, being five points clear of Glasgow Celtic in second and ten points clear of Panathinaikos in third. Anderlecht remains last with just one point from four games.

[Dixie Flatline]

[b16th of October 2008[/b]

I reject yet another offer from Atlético Madrid of £2.8 million for César Cabrera.

18th of October 2008

Primera Liga - Game 5: Cartagonova v Real Madrid

We take our unbeaten record back to the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena to play one of the pre-season favourites for the championship, Real Madrid. Since we joined the Primera Liga back in 2003/04, we have played Real Madrid twelve times in the league and the Copa del Rey, and we have the upper edge. We have won five games, drawn three games and lost four games, scoring 27 goals and conceding 23 goals in the process. Probably the most memorable game was back on 23 April 2006 when we won 6-2 in front of a stunned Real Madrid crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu. José Manuel Redondo, Fernando Morán and Niels Kokmeijer each scored a brace, while Real Madrid scored two goals in the last three minutes to make the score somewhat respectable.

However, both clubs today aren’t near the top of the ladder as we both expect to be. We sit in sixth position, two points from the top, while Real Madrid are eleventh, six points adrift of the leaders. So this match is important for both clubs as we try to kick-start our campaign.

But unfortunately the match does not live up to the hype and the 21,000-odd spectators at the game and the millions watching the game on television would have been disappointed. Jaime Garrido hits the post from a free kick on 5 minutes, clears the bar with a volley on 18 minutes, but then is forced from the field with injury on 30 minutes. A couple of moments later, Edgar Davids volleys Rubio’s flicked pass over Vidal’s bar. As half-time quickly approaches, Sabino finds a way through our defence but hits his shot wide of the goal. From the goal kick, Redondo picks up the ball and proceeds to torment Edgar Davids into fouling him. The referee had already shown him a yellow card, so he is off! My counterpart believes that his club would be better off without Sabino, sacrificing him for Christian Colusso.

Three minutes after half-time, Gavião settles the game with a fine solo run, slaloming his way through the heart of Real Madrid’s defence and making Zambrotta, Colusso and Ronaldinho looking like bunnies before driving a low shot past Iker Casillas. A couple of moments later, Grillito puts a shot over the bar while on 53 minutes, George Clegg drives a shot wide of Casillas’ goal. Would you believe, that is the last action of the game, as the heavy drizzle dampens the spirits of Real Madrid so much they give up on this game.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, César; Michel, Gavião, Garrido (Mulsimovic 30); Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Real Madrid (4-5-1): Casillas; Roberto Carlos, Rubio, Bornes, Grillito; Zambrotta, Davids, Ronaldinho ©, Baronio, Chatruc (Olivera 54); Sabino (Colusso 46).

Final score: Cartagonova 1:0 Real Madrid

MoM - Alex Notman

Such is the table at the moment that we actually jump to first position with our victory, although Barcelona and Osasuna or Numancia (the latter two play each other tomorrow) may climb back above us when they play tomorrow.

With a visit to Celtic in mid-week to think about, and then a visit to Real Zaragoza, I’m relieved to find that Jaime Garrido will only miss about ten days with a bruised thigh. He has only just come back from injury, so I’m glad that this interruption shouldn’t last too long.

[Dixie Flatline]

19th of October 2008

We drop back to fourth place on the ladder after the weekend’s fixtures are completed. As I predicted, Numancia goes back top after beating Osasuna 3-2 at home, while Barcelona’s 0-0 draw with Villarreal puts them ahead of us on goal difference, along with Real Sociedad.

Gavião, Zlatan Muslimovic and Alex Notman are three out of four midfielders in the team of the week, while José Manuel Redondo sits on the bench.

21st of October 2008

Harry Redknapp’s boys are celebrating tonight as Manchester United thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 6-0 in the BayArena. Keith Lyons scored four goals for the visitors, and he was ably assisted by Craig Bellamy and James Coppinger who added late goals to increase the insult. With FC København beating Galatasaray 3-1, Manchester United goes to the top of Group E with a game left. Bayer Leverkusen will finish last and have just one point at the moment. It was a good night for Spanish clubs with Real Madrid moving to the top of Group F by beating PSV Eindhoven 3-2 in Eindhoven, while Celta Vigo triumphed at home 2-0 over Olympiakos to go to a point behind already-qualified Roma with a game left.

22nd of October 2008

I begin the morning fielding offers from Alavés and Coventry for César Cabrera in the range of £3.3 million for the defender. I reject both offers, although I notice that Coventry has an interesting young Swedish player by the name of Peter Elmander who might mature into a good midfielder in the near future, so I decide to send a scout to Highfield Road to check him out.

I’m then permitted by Real Vallodolid to talk personal terms with Gary Mason, the 29 year old former Scottish international midfielder, but he seems very disinterested in moving to the champion club of Spain.

22nd of October 2008

European Champions' League - Phase 1, Group D, Game 5: Glasgow Celtic v Cartagonova

We take the lead on seven minutes when Tanem, Redondo and George Clegg all combine to feed Alex Notman. The Scottish striker shoots with a spectacular bicycle kick that beats Shay Given all ends up! Almost immediately, we’re back on the attack when Gershon finds Redondo with a clever pass, but the Spaniard’s low drive is beaten away by Given and cleared by Bowyer. Celtic then try their luck through Richardson has a shot, but Vidal is there to stop Celtic this time. But Richardson has a second chance when McMillan’s shot rebounds off César into the path of Richardson who delights in banging it back past Vidal. Celtic are on the rampage now and Michael Bridges tests Vidal with a fierce shot that Vidal does extremely well to claw away at the last moment. On 19 minutes, Muslimovic hits a volley from 30 yards inches over the bar, and on 31 minutes, Bojan Djordjic should have scored but hits his shot too close to Given. Notman then misses an easy chance on 33 minutes with the goal beckoning, and ten minutes later, his header is easily saved by Given.

Into the second half, and Celtic bring on two veteran midfielders, David Beckham and Paul Scholes for Bowyer and Wilson. But the half only begins to come alive when on 68 minutes, Notman’s cross is flicked on by Redondo to set up George Clegg, but Given is again there to save his side. A couple of moments later, Given denies Clegg’s ambitious lob with a superb save. Paul Scholes slices through my defence on 75 minutes before laying off the ball for Maylett, but the Englishman hits his shot well wide of the mark. Then Given again saves from Alex Notman’s header on 76 minutes, but on 78 minutes, he isn’t so fortunate when Beckham’s clearance falls kindly for Muslimovic to cross back into the box and Redondo heads it home easily past the stranded Given! That settles the contest and we continue our winning streak in Europe!

Glasgow Celtic (3-5-2): Given; McMillan ©, Fenton, Richardson; Taylor, Bullard, Wilson (Beckham 54), Bowyer (Scholes 54), Maylett; Madsen (Johnston 73), Bridges.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, César; Tanem; Djordjic, Muslimovic; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Glasgow Celtic 1:2 Cartagonova

MoM - José Manuel Redondo

After the match I’m contacted by club officials who tell me that Gary Mason has decided to sign for Cartagonova. I’m happy that the 29 year old defensive midfielder has changed his mind and wants to sign for Cartagonova. It now looks like I have sufficient cover for Gavião when he probably leaves the club.

[Dixie Flatline]

23rd of October 2008

I’m contacted by my scouts in England, whom I’ve designated to watch the Swedish midfielder Peter Elmander. They say they are impressed with Kevin Gibbens, but he is a name who rings a bell with me. Yes, indeed, he had a brief stay with Cartagonova after I signed him from Southampton a few seasons ago, and was everything but impressive.

José María Lacruz injures himself this evening and will miss two weeks.

I’m surprised to see that César has been attacked in the media for his poor form this season. Certainly he hasn’t performed quite to my expectations, but he hasn’t been too bad, surely! I say as much to the press.

24th of October 2008

Despite his bad publicity, Alavés still thinks that César is a good buy, offering me £2.6 million for the full-back, but payable over 18 months. Needless to say, I reject the offer.

25th of October 2008

Not deterred, Alavés returns with a bid of £3.2 million for César and then offers £4 million for César Cabrera, both payable over 18 months. But I reject both offers.

Sporting Gijón joins in with a bid of £2.6 mllion for César, while Real Betis proffers £2 million for him.

I decide today to list Shola Ameobi, who just can’t settle into Spanish culture. Montpellier seems willing to match my asking price of £1.1 million for the Nigerian international striker.

26th of October 2008

Primera Liga - Game 6: Real Zaragoza v Cartagonova

We travel to Zaragoza to play the bottom-placed club in the league today and in the space of 45 minutes, we blow them apart. The main damage is done by José Manuel Redondo, who scores a hat-trick in the period of 38 minutes. He begins on 7 minutes when he executes a volley superbly to put Muslimovic’s cross into the back of Dani Roiz’s net. Alex Notman doubles our lead five minutes later when he bends Redondo’s pass past Roiz. On 29 minutes, Redondo heads home Tanem’s simple cross and Real Zaragoza is being ripped apart. Zaragoza, however, do pull a goal back on 31 minutes when Roberto, their only effectively player on the day, skips past Tanem and Gershon before putting the shot past Vidal. But we restore our three goal buffer when George Clegg scores our fourth goal of the game on 36 minutes, putting away Redondo’s clever flicked pass. Then, bang on half time, Redondo smashes Smith’s pass into the back of Roiz’s net to complete his hat-trick!

The second half, of course, is a much quieter affair, and I actually end the game rather disappointed. Real Zaragoza come out fighting in the second half and are rewarded with a goal to De Graaf on 74 minutes with a thunderous drive from 35 yards. They could have had a few more, too, given better accuracy. On the other hand, we hardly put together an attacking move in the second half, and no doubt the substitutions of Ramón Salas and Juan Hernández for Michel and Clegg reduce our creativity disturbingly substantially.

Real Zaragoza (4-2-4): Dani Roiz; Sergio Porras, Pedro Nieto, Cuartero, Torricelli; Sánchez Caballero ©, González; Peralta, Kaviedes, Roberto, Vucko (de Graaf 70).

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, César; Tanem; Michel (Salas 65), Muslimovic; Clegg (Hernández 65); Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Real Zaragoza 2:5 Cartagonova

MoM - José Manuel Redondo

The board is happy with the result, and we move to third position, two points behind Numancia and behind Barcelona on goal difference. José Manuel Redondo sits on the bench for the team of the week.

26th of October 2008

It doesn’t take long for Señor Jesús Gil to become dissatisfied with Ãlvaro Pérez, who is sacked today with the club sitting 19th in the league.

[Dixie Flatline]

27th of October 2008

Espanyol makes an offer of £3.8 million for César. Again, I reject it. However, QPR makes an acceptable offer of £1.1 million for Ameobi, which is instantly accepted by myself.

28th of October 2008

The endless haggling over a player who will not leave this club continues as Alavés returns with a bid of £4.5 million over 18 months for César. They are matched by Real Betis, but they would like to pay over six months, instead. Nevertheless, both offers are rejected.

Ameobi agrees terms with QPR and returns immediately to England: Foluwashi Ameobi (27 y/o, NIG 13 caps, 3 goals, S C): 6(12) apps, 3 goals, 2 assists, av. rating: 6.89

29th of October 2008

With international friendlies a fortnight away, it’s time once more to pick squads. Tony Adams calls upon George Clegg and Byron Bubb to sit on the bench for England’s game against the Netherlands. Sweden requires the presence of Bojan Djordjic for its game against Russia. As usual, Tanem and Rønning are in Norway’s squad to play Denmark, while Smith will line up against Norway. Belgium will probably need Jean-François Gillet to play against Bulgaria. Austria’s defence will struggle to contain the talents of Alex Notman as he will play for Scotland. Bosnia requires Zlatan Muslimovic’s services for its game against Georgia. Shimon Gershon will once again line up for Israel against Iceland.

In the meantime, I’m asked to confirm my selection for Spain’s squad for our game against Romania. I call up six players from the Cartagonova squad, as you can see:

Goalkeepers

Iker Casillas (27 y/o, ESP 5 caps, GK): Real Madrid

Iván Vidal (29 y/o, ESP 4 caps, GK): Cartagonova

César Laínez (31 y/o, ESP 17 caps, GK): Barcelona

Defenders

César Cabrera (23 y/o, ESP 3 caps, D RL): Cartagonova

César (28 y/o, ESP 18 caps, 1 goal, D RL): Cartagonova

Jordi Ferrón (30 y/o, ESP 10 caps, 1 goal, D RL): Real Zaragoza

Borja (30 y/o, ESP 26 caps, D LC): Valencia

José María Hernández (23 y/o, ESP, D LC): Tenerife

Iván Amaya (30 y/o, ESP 51 caps, 1 goal, D C): Deportivo La Coruña

César (30 y/o, ESP 51 caps, 1 goal, D C): PSV Eindhoven

José de la Rosa (21 y/o, ESP 2 caps, D/DM C): Barcelona

Carlos Marchena (29 y/o, ESP 18 caps, D C): Celta Vigo

Midfielders

Artur (27 y/o, ESP 5 caps, DM RC): Villarreal

Gavião (28 y/o, ESP 14 caps, 3 goals, DM C): Cartagonova

Diego (30 y/o, ESP 20 caps, 4 goals, M/S C): Racing Santander

Enrique de Lucas (30 y/o, ESP 2 caps, AM/F RC): Real Betis

Jaime Garrido (24 y/o, ESP 13 caps, 7 goals, AM/F RLC): Cartagonova

Francisco Javier Zubizarreta (23 y/o, ESP 11 caps, 3 goals, AM/F RC): Espanyol

Mista (29 y/o, ESP 9 caps, 3 goals, AM/F LC): Deportivo La Coruña

Vicente (27 y/o, ESP 69 caps, 25 goals, AM/F LC): Roma

Gerard (29 y/o, ESP 47 caps, 9 goals, AM C): Fiorentina

Forwards

Raúl (31 y/o, ESP 110 caps, 54 goals, AM/F LC): Paris-Saint-Germain

Diego Ribera (31 y/o, ESP 16 caps, 6 goals, S C): Celta Vigo

Joseba Llorente (28 y/o, ESP 16 caps, 6 goals, S C): Real Sociedad

José Manuel Redondo (32 y/o, ESP 4 caps, 2 goals, S C): Cartagonova

Sabino (30 y/o, ESP 3 caps, 1 goal, S C): Real Madrid

30th of October 2008

I’m stunned and disappointed to see in this morning’s newspapers that César has announced a desire to move to Alavés for £5.25 million. I respond in the afternoon’s newspapers by issuing a strong statement that denies the full-back is going anywhere. However, his public announcement alienates quite a few members of the squad, including Jaime Garrido, who is also irritated by me.

31st of October 2008

Paris-Saint-Germain begins my day with an offer of £9.5 million for Alex Notman. Less than half what I consider he is worth, so, of course, the offer is turned down.

Córdoba makes a bid of £400,000 for Ballesteros. Looking at their squad, I see a useful youngster called Palomino who can play either as a central defender or central midfielder. At 20 years old, and officially worth £140,000, he would be a good investment for the future. So I decide to negotiate the offer to be Palomino plus £300,000 for Ballesteros.

[Dixie Flatline]

1st of November 2008

Primera Liga - Game 7: Cartagonova v Deportivo La Coruña

On a wet and wild day, we completely lose the plot and are punished. In fact, scraping a draw out of this game is more than we deserve. As punishment for his public desire to move away from the club, I drop César from the first eleven, swapping him for veteran defender Lilian Thuram. While we make the early running against a cautious Deportivo team, Muslimovic and Redondo have their radars hopelessly off-target and we don’t look like scoring today. Godino and Källström, on the other hand, are much more effective and Vidal needs to be on his toes to pull off some good saves in the first half. The wet conditions aren’t helped by a referee too happy to pull out the yellow card and we’re punished for it when on 50 minutes, Tanem is sent off for two yellow cards, neither of which should have been shown to the Norwegian. While I’m trying to reorganise the team, Deportivo score what seems to be the winning goal thanks to Manolín.

Deportivo La Coruña have several key chances to sew up the points, but Vidal through superb saving keeps us in the game. I throw Rivaldo on in the last half hour of the game for the ineffective Michel, and the great Brazilian, even in the twilight of his career, proves very useful. But while Redondo is missing the broad side of the barn, Notman begins to pull himself together and in the last minute of the game - practically the last kick, effectively - Rivaldo finds the Scotsman who dodges past Bosnjak and Capdevila before skidding a drive off the wet surface into the back of the net.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, Thuram; Michel (Rivaldo 61), Tanem, Muslimovic (Garrido 46); Clegg (Gavião 50); Redondo, Notman.

Deportivo La Coruña (5-2-1-2): Segura; Bosnjak, Boris (Capdevila 74), Amaya ©, Juanito, Lawal; Vogel, Serban (Mista 67); Godino (Carlos 88); Manolín, Källström.

Final score: Cartagonova 1:1 Deportivo La Coruña

MoM - Alex Notman

2nd of November 2008

Córdoba agrees to my terms for Ballesteros, so I set about crafting an offer for Palomino, while Ballesteros talks to his suitors.

In the evening, Ballesteros agrees to the move.

3rd of November 2008

Palomino agrees terms with Cartagonova, so the transfer will proceed on 15th of December 2008.

[Dixie Flatline]

4th of November 2008

Celta Vigo offers me £5 million for César. While that matches his minimum release clause, the fact that it is payable over 18 months allows me to reject the bid. In the meantime, Cabrera is linked to a £2.8 million move to Alavés. I think I can confidently predict that will not happen.

European Champions' League - Phase 1, Group D, Game 6: Cartagonova v Panathinaikos

It is the last first phase game and even though six wins on the trot are at stake, I decide to vary the first eleven just a little bit. So I rest two senior players, namely Iván Vidal and Shimon Gershon, while Lilian Thuram is dropped. Coming into the team are Davide Bagnacani in his first competitive appearance for the club since joining from Juventus in summer, José Manuel Lasa and Per Vener Rønning. To accommodate the Norwegian, César Cabrera switches to the right side. But against the Greeks, the defence is hardly needed. On 7 minutes, captain for the night Gavião muscles his way through the Greeks’ defence before driving towards Zegers’ goal. The Dutchman is good enough to stop Gavião from scoring, but Clegg is there to tuck away the rebound. On 13 minutes, Cabrera makes his way easily down the right before floating the cross into the perfect area for Notman to head past Zegers. Eight minutes later, Cabrera is fouled and Notman’s shot is saved by Zegers’ fingertips. The Dutchman is very busy over the next few minutes as Redondo and Michel both have chances they might have scored from but for Zegers’ interventions. On 35 minutes, Redondo slaloms his way through the Greek defence but his vicious drive is marvellously saved by Zegers. Nonetheless, we end the half on a high when Clegg lofts a beautiful pass into the box where Notman judges it better than Zegers and we go into the break 3-0 to the good.

As you might expect, we’re quieter in the second half, and Smith puts in a great tackle to deny Michailidis the opportunity to pull the trigger on 56 minutes. Four minutes later, Bagnacani touches the ball for the first time in the game when he saves comfortably from Athanasiadis. On 83 minutes, he is tested a little harder when Michailidis tries his luck, but we dominated this game (especially the first half) and we deserve the sixth consecutive victory!

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Bagnacani; Rønning, Lasa, Smith, Cabrera; Michel, Gavião ©, Garrido; Clegg (Edú 69); Redondo (Carreño 69), Notman.

Panathinaikos (4-5-1): Zegers ©; Kakaglou, C. Athanasiadis, Goutis, A. Panagiotidis; G. Panagiotidis, V. Athanasiadis, Katsavakis, Chavos (N. Michailidis 54), Delios (Nikolaidis 91); Amanatidis (G. Michailidis 54).

Final score: Cartagonova 3:0 Panathinaikos

MoM - Alex Notman

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[Dixie Flatline]

Back again after a short break!

5th of November 2008

We are awarded £1.2 million for qualifying for the second phase of the competition. We are drawn in Group 2 with NK Dinamo, Galatasaray, and FC Porto. Just before we leave the competition for the time being, Diego Ribera scored six goals in the Stadio Olimpico against Roma tonight as Celta Vigo defeated Roma 6-0! He scored on 21, 45, 63, 65, 71 and 90 minutes!

The final ladder at the end of the first phase looks like this:

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

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

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

1st Q Cartagonova ESP 6 3 0 0 9 1 3 0 0 8 3 18

2nd Q Celtic SCO 6 1 1 1 3 3 2 0 1 4 4 10

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

3rd PAO GRE 6 1 0 2 1 5 0 2 1 2 5 5

4th Anderlecht BEL 6 0 1 2 5 7 0 0 3 2 6 1

</pre>

6th of November 2008

I lose Moustapha Keità and more importantly Kristian Tanem and César for substantial periods of time through injury. I have to name a replacement for the full-back, and I choose a former Cartagonova player to do so: David Oliva (22 y/o, ESP, D RL): Deportivo La Coruña

9th of November 2008

Primera Liga - Game 8: Cartagonova v Valencia

The last time we faced Valencia, we thrashed them 4-0 at home, and when Boudewijn Zenden is sent off after just four minutes, I think we might be headed for a similar result. However, Michel follows with a red card on 11 minutes, meaning I need to reshuffle the deck slightly. Garrido shifts to the left, while Clegg drops back to right wing and Notman goes into the hole behind the sole striker, José Manuel Redondo. Redondo responds immediately with a swerving drive from 25 yards that Jonathan beats away. That is practically the only action in the first half.

The second half starts with Clegg firing a free kick towards Jonathan’s goal on 50 minutes, but the keeper is good enough to push it away and Fiore completes the clearance. In the meantime, Palermo finds a way through my defence and sends a shot sizzling over the bar on 54 minutes. From the goal kick, Rønning found Jaime Garrido with a great pass, but Garrido’s header is well saved by Jonathan. Notman heads a powerful shot towards goal from Cabrera’s corner, but again Jonathan is there to stop us taking the lead. Finally, on 66 minutes, we do take the lead when Redondo holds up the ball long enough to find Clegg racing in from the right, and the Englishman, looking to impress Tony Adams before the friendly next week, swerve a shot past Jonathan into the back of Valencia’s net! However, our lead lasts only seven minutes as Quique replicates Clegg’s feat almost perfectly. Redondo almost puts us back into the lead a moment later, but Jonathan is there once again to deny us, and we have to be satisfied with a point, which, of course, I’m not.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Rønning, Gershon, Smith, Cabrera; Michel, Gavião, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Valencia (3-5-2): Jonathan; Iriekpen, Mendieta ©, Donnet; Guly, Knopper (Quique 54), Onichtenchenko, Fiore (Jonsson 54), Angulo; Zenden, Palermo (Karanka 73).

Final score: Cartagonova 1:1 Valencia

MoM - Jonathon

[Dixie Flatline]

After the disappointing result, we drop to fourth, while our arch-rival Barcelona tops the ladder as Numancia also loses. That makes this result particularly galling, as we could be leading the league but for our propensity this season to waste promising situations.

I’m contacted by officials of Deportivo La Coruña and Real Betis who inform me that Mista and Enrique de Lucas are both injured and will not be available for Spain’s friendly against Romania. To replace them, I call upon the old Athletic Bilbao stalwart Joseba Etxeberría and Numancia’s Gabri, who has impressed since moving there from Barcelona in the summer: Joseba Etxeberría (31 y/o, ESP 71 caps, 19 goals, AM/F RC): Athletic Bilbao and Gabri (29 y/o, ESP 1 cap, M RL): Numancia.

I give Michel an official warning for his dismissal, which he accepts.

10th of November 2008

Real Zaragoza makes a bid of £5 million for César, payable over 18 months. I reject the offer.

12th of November 2008

Friendly - Spain v Romania

From Valencia’s La Mestalla stadium, we host Romania and the last time we played the eastern European country, Spain lost 4-2. I’m determined not to let that happen, and we’re immediately on the attack from kick-off. We’re rewarded after just 120 seconds when Borja feeds Raúl and the Spanish captain scores his 55th international goal in his 111th appearance for Spain! Five minutes later, we double our lead when Raúl puts the ball in front of Gerard. The Fiorentina playmaker feeds the ball out to Cabrera, and the full-back finds his club teammate Jaime Garrido with an intelligent pass. The winger spectacularly scores with a bicycle kick to bring the crowd alive! We’re on the rampage now, and Lung needs all his reach to deny Vicente from making it 3-0 with a header two minutes later. The referee gets a little yellow card-happy when he books Gavião, Marchena and Borja in a short space of time but we put that behind us on 30 minutes when Raúl passes the ball into the penalty area for Vicente to crash past Lung! Romania eventually begin to fight back when on 33 minutes Cosmin Contra flights a cross into the box but Mihalcea puts the header over Laínez’s bar. On 41 minutes, Mihalcea again heads the ball wide of the mark, and from the goal kick Raúl gathers up Laínez’s goal kick and finds Sabino. The Real Madrid striker looks up and tries to volley it past Lung, but his shot flies over the bar, unfortunately. Three minutes later, Garrido finds a way past Rosu before driving a shot low towards Lung’s goal, but the goalkeeper does brilliantly to deny my winger.

The injury time at the end of the half is action-packed. Sabino’s header is well saved by Lung and cleared away by Mutu. Gavião’s pass is ill-directed and picked off by Dennis Serban, who finds Pancu. Pancu looks up, sidesteps his marker and then puts the ball into the box where Mihalcea is lurking. To my distress, he manages to find a way past the defender and unleashes a powerful volley. Fortunately, though, Laínez anticipates all this and is able to get behind the shot enough to turn it away where Amaya completes the clearance.

The ball quickly travels down to the other end, where Raúl looks for an opportunity to pull the trigger. But Romania closes down the Spanish captain quick enough to make him think twice and instead he passes to Sabino, who commands less attention. Sabino drives the pass first time towards Lung’s goal, but Lung is once again there to deny the Real Madrid striker. That ends the half, and the crowd is buzzing with the excitement of this game. The second half begins with Mutu wasting an opportunity to bring Romania back into the game. On 52 minutes, Sabino misses the mark with a terrible header. I decide that the time is ripe for some substitutions, so on 55 minutes, I bring off Gavião and Garrido, replacing them with Diego and Zubizarreta respectively. Cabrera, in the meantime, collects the ball and flights a cross to where Sabino is lurking, but the striker once again misses a comparatively easy chance. On the hour mark, however, he earns a free kick which Gerard commands. The Fiorentina midfielder smashes the cross-bar with a powerful drive. I make two more substitutions on 73 minutes when I take off Raúl and Vicente, replacing them with Redondo and Gabri. On 79 minutes, Sabino is again denied by Lung’s terrific reflexes but the shot wouldn’t have counted anyway as the referee thinks Zubizarreta was off-side. Romania has the final shot of the game when Munteanu tries his luck from distance, but doesn’t come close.

A satisfying victory, I think.

Spain (4-3-1-2): Laínez; Borja, Amaya, Marchena, Cabrera; Vicente (Gabri 73), Gavião (Diego 55), Garrido (Zubizarreta 55); Gerard, Raúl © (Redondo 73), Sabino.

Romania (5-2-1-2): Lung; Rosu (Tudor 62), Cioloboc (Filipescu 51), Chivu ©, Matei, Contra; Cernat (Munteanu 51), Serban; Mutu (Miu 79); Pancu (Petre 56), Mihalcea.

Final score: Spain 3:0 Romania

MoM - Raúl

[Dixie Flatline]

In other games involving Cartagonova players, Alex Notman’s Scotland lets slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Austria in Vienna. Belgium, with Jean-François Gillet in goal, loses 2-1 to Bulgaria in Brussels. Bosnia fought back from 3-0 down at home against Georgia to draw 3-3, with Muslimovic involved. Byron Bubb played a full 90 minutes, but George Clegg warmed the bench, as England suffered a 3-1 loss against the Netherlands in New Wembley. England took the lead through Joe Cole on 58 minutes, but Davids, and two goals to van Nistelrooy in the space of 7 minutes, won the game for the visitors. Shimon Gershon scored his fifth international goal in fifty appearances for Israel as they defeated Iceland 2-1 in Tel-Aviv. Per Vener Rønning and Martin Smith faced off against each other as Norway beat Denmark 1-0 in Oslo, thanks to goal by substitute Espen Minde. Sweden almost let slip a 3-0 lead against Russia in Moskva, but the Russians could only claw two goals back to go down 3-2 with Bojan Djordjic coming on as a substitute for the visitors.

In other interesting matches from European friendlies this evening, Croatia beat Germany 3-1 in Split, with Germany’s keeper Butt being sent off after 31 minutes. Kovacevic converted the penalty, while Vranic and Tancik scored the other goals. Germany only pulled one goal back through Kreuz late in the second half. The Czech Republic allowed Yugoslavia to race to a 3-1 lead by half-time before mounting a comeback. However, they still lost 4-3 in Prague. Irish eyes were certainly not smiling this evening as Greece came and conquered 5-3 at Lansdowne Road. Graham Barrett put Ireland in front on 9 minutes, but Choutos equalised six minutes later. Steven Baker restored Ireland’s lead on 30 minutes, but Gitkos again drew Greece level nine minutes later. Then Iordanidis went berserk in the second half, scoring a hat-trick, while Geoff Bresland’s goal on 71 minutes was not enough to save Ireland. In the Stadio Olimpico, Italy and France drew 2-2 in an unsatisfying result for both countries. Portugal found a modicum of form after beating the Ukraine 4-2 in Lisbon. Portugal’s goals all came in the first half, while Valeev scored twice in the second half to give the score some respectability for the Ukrainians.

13th of November 2008

I reject yet another offer for Cabrera from Espanyol.

[Dixie Flatline]

15th of November 2008

Another bid from Real Zaragoza for César is rejected.

Primera Liga - Game 9: Sporting Gijón v Cartagonova

We follow up a poor result against Valencia last weekend with a worse one on the road, notching up our first defeat of the campaign. Michel is suspended and Notman returns from international duty not fit, so Otfors-Palmqvist and Carreño come into the first eleven. Indeed, Carreño begins brightly, forcing Sergio into making a good save on 11 minutes. From the corner, Clegg’s header is cleared off the line by Gerbaudo. Six minutes later, we really should have had a penalty when Nakazawa clatters Carreño in the box, but the referee thinks otherwise. On 26 minutes, veteran Pedro Munitis forces Vidal into a great save, but three minutes later, Redondo climbs above his marker and powers a header towards goal, but the shot drifts wide of the mark. On 33 minutes, though, we have a great chance to score when Samper gives away a free kick. Up steps Garrido, and he crashes home his first goal of the campaign to give us the lead. Five minutes later, Rønning bursts into the box but is denied by a good save from Sergio.

Four minutes into the second half, we are served warning when Sporting has the ball in the net but Babangida’s goal is ruled out for off-side. But we don’t heed the warnings and on 53 minutes, we’re pegged back by a simple goal created by Babangida and scored by Rubén. We respond immediately with Redondo hitting a powerful drive towards goal, but Sergio saves easily. A moment later, Garrido hits a volley over the bar. However, we’re soon on the back foot when Rubén tests Vidal’s reflexes on the hour mark, while down the other end, Redondo rattles the post with a sharp drive. It’s real end to end stuff as Cedric van der Gun feeds Munitis, but his low drive is well saved at his near post by Vidal. I replace the poor Cabrera with Thuram and the tiring Redondo with Edú on 64 minutes, but we’re struck a real blow when Gavião is forced from the pitch five minutes later. That allows Jesús to make his debut, but this was not the time to lose a bulwark against Sporting’s attacks.

On 78 minutes, Vidal saves miraculously from Babangida’s header. We have a couple of opportunities through Edú and Garrido, but both shots are saved. Nicolas Pavlovich, a former Cartagonova target, settles the match on 86 minutes when he drives a path through my defence before placing an unstoppable shot past Vidal’s right hand. Sporting deserved the victory.

Sporting Gijón (4-4-2): Sergio; Rivarola, Nakazawa, Sergio ©, Gerbaudo; Munitis, Barselleta, Samper (van der Gun 59), Babangida; Rubén, Pavlovich.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Rønning, Gershon, Smith, Cabrera (Thuram 64); Gavião (Jesús 69); Otfors-Palmqvist, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo (Edú 64), Carreño.

Final score: Sporting Gijón 2:1 Cartagonova

MoM - Sergio

[Dixie Flatline]

16th of November 2008

Real Zaragoza increases its offer for Cabrera to £5.75 million over 18 months. Nevertheless, I still reject the bid outright.

We drop to sixth after this weekend’s results, five points behind league leader Barcelona.

17th of November 2008

I’m forced to discipline winger Ramón Salas after Toninho tells me that he turned up late to training and showed a distinct lack of fitness. He accepts the warning for unprofessional behaviour without comment.

I’m also asked for my views on the form of José Manuel Redondo this season, as a Spanish pundit describes the striker as a ‘goal machine’ so far this season. I say that I agree with that assessment and that Redondo has been particularly important to our cause this season. The club’s supporters respond by saying they are pleased I have found time to acknowledge him, while Señor Manzano was also happy with my public assessment of Redondo’s form, saying that as a senior player in the squad, Redondo is now a role model for the younger players.

But that news is overshadowed by news from Barcelona that 32 year old Italian defender Alessandro Nesta has requested and been granted a transfer listing by his club. The veteran defender says that he wants a new challenge at this stage of his career, and the pundits believe he will head back to Italy, either with Fiorentina or Roma. But I’m determined to have a crack at signing him, and immediately fax Barcelona a firm offer of £4.5 million for the defender.

18th of November 2008

Ajax joins the party, bidding £3.3 million for Nesta. Roma weighs in with an offer of just £2.6 million for the defender. In the meantime, Lazio offers Real Madrid £4.6 million for the transfer-listed and unhappy Andrés Olivera.

Tonight, the second group phase of the European Champions' League begins, so let’s take a sneak peek at the group of four in Group B. This time, we start with Cartagonova who come into the second group phase having won all six games in the first group phase over opposition including Glasgow Celtic, Anderlecht and Panathinaikos. The strikers José Manuel Redondo and Alex Notman are continuing their excellent form, as they are the joint leading scorers of the competition with eight goals apiece. With support from midfield from the likes of George Clegg and Jaime Garrido, Cartagonova’s forwards are difficult to contain for any defence anywhere in Europe. Their devastating run in the first phase of the competition has Cartagonova as one of the favourites for this competition, but they come into the first game of the group phase off their first loss in the league, a distinctly unimpressive 2-1 loss against Sporting Gijón, and once again that shows their defence is somewhat suspect when placed under pressure. Still, they should be good enough to reach the knock-out stage of the competition.

It is always difficult for opposing teams to travel to Turkey to play Galatasaray. Even clubs like Manchester United have struggled to achieve results in the boiling hot cauldron of the Ali Sami Yen in Istanbul, and no doubt this stadium will prove to be an extra player when Galatasaray host the other clubs in its group. However, the squad itself is beginning to show signs of wear and tear, and there is no doubt that it could have been improved. The club qualified second behind Manchester United from Group E in the first group phase, with three wins, a draw and two losses, but it knows that it has its work cut out when it plays the likes of Cartagonova and FC Porto, the two clubs that reached the final of the competition back in May 2007.

NK Dinamo is expected by many to be merely filling the numbers in this group, what with high calibre clubs such as Cartagonova and Porto. But Croatian football is beginning to turn out some very decent players indeed, and there is no question that while they might be here to in the end make up the numbers, NK Dinamo must have something going right for it if it reached this stage in the competition in the first place. Croatian international striker Bosko Balaban and 24 year old striker Mirko Ivancic form a formidable partnership up front, supported with intent by Mihael Mikic. Slovenian international Zoran Pavlovic provides steel and experience in midfield, while veteran Mario Tokic holds together the defence. Against the likes of Cartagonova and Porto, it is too much to expect that NK Dinamo will come away with a result every time, but there is always a chance with a squad at the club’s disposal.

Along with Cartagonova, 2007 finalist Porto must be considered one of the two favourites to move into the knock-out phase of this competition. With the two finalists from 2007 in the same group, Porto will consider, even if only subconsciously, that this gives the club a chance of revenging itself upon the Spanish club. And the squad is impressive, to say the least. Experienced former Brazilian international França has already four goals in this competition, and he is supported by Swedish striker Johan Tainio, who has scored twice from only 1(2) appearances in the competition. Paraguayan international midfielder Carlos Paredes is a powerful midfielder who will look to dominate the centre of the park, and give the likes of Rogério, Hélder Postiga and Vasco Matos the opportunity to get forward and support the strikers. Porto traditionally play three at the back, and the central defensive trio of Athirson, Argel, and Ricardo Silva provides plenty of experience and defensive strength to Porto’s cause. It is an excellent squad ready to make another assault upon the European Champions’ League.

[Dixie Flatline]

European Champions' League - 2nd phase, Group B, Game 1: Cartagonova v Porto

So, Porto have an early opportunity to find some revenge for us beating them in the 2007 European Champions' League final. It was a memorable game, with Fernando Morán scoring twice and Notman once to give us a 3-2 victory over the Portuguese. Looking at the two elevens that played on that fateful evening, you can see that our squad has changed significantly. Gone are players like Ballesteros (about to be sold), Lacruz (no longer automatic first choice), Hakala (gone to Barcelona), Lua-Lua (sold to Real Madrid), and Fernando Morán (retired). Even on the bench, there are many changes, including Óscar Ãlvarez (sold to Tenerife), Christoffer Källkvist (sold to Getafe), Kew Jaliens (sold to Birligi), Carl Laurie (sold to Barnsley) and Daniel Jensen (sold to Cultural). On the other hand, Porto’s captain on the night, Jorge Costa, has left Porto for Alverca, Ricardo Jorge now plays for Barcelona, and on the bench, Paulo Roberto has retired, Roni has gone to Bayern München, and Cândido Costa now plays for Espanyol.

But we have some selection problems ahead of tonight’s game. Gavião and Tanem are slightly injured, while Jesús is not in the European squad, so I have a problem at central midfield, while Michel’s form this season has been rather unimpressive, but last weekend’s replacement, Ola Otfors-Palmqvist, who was impressive, isn’t eligible, and neither is Rivaldo. In the end, I make my decisions on the playing personnel and we play the game.

Things begin slowly as Porto concentrate on the first twenty minutes to strangle the life out of the game. But as they begin to attack, we begin to pick holes in their defence and on 23 minutes, Gershon and Cabrera combine to tee up Garrido, and the Spanish international winger easily slots the ball past the Porto keeper! Clegg almost doubles our lead eight minutes later when he is set free by Notman, but Moreira saves it quite comfortably. Redondo should have turned in the rebound, but he is denied the opportunity to shoot by Óscar.

After half-time, Martin Smith, playing in midfield, finds Notman lurking with intent inside the area, but the Scotsman can’t direct his diving header on target. On 65 minutes, Porto finally has a shot at Vidal’s goal, but Vidal does well to save Postiga’s shot. A couple of moments later, Johan Tainio is found by Fabrício, but the Swede’s shot is tipped away by Vidal. He then jumps on the ball from the corner before Silvestre can pull the trigger. On 79 minutes, the French defender gives away the free kick which Notman orchestrates, but Moreira saves it well. Porto sweep the ball to our end of the pitch where Vidal brilliantly saves Postiga’s low drive. We successfully repel Porto’s corner and the ball is forced towards Redondo who finishes off the move brilliantly! That seals the game, but there is still enough time for Silvestre to get himself sent off for two yellow card offences. In the last moment, Redondo hits the bottom of the post.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Lasa, Cabrera; Rønning, Smith, Garrido; Clegg (Hernández 65); Redondo, Notman.

FC Porto (4-3-2-1): Moreira ©; Athirson, Ricardo Silva, Argel (Mancine 71), Óscar; Silvestre, Jorge Andrade, Paredes; Postiga, Tainio (França 77); Fabrício.

Final score: Cartagonova 2:0 FC Porto

MoM - Iván Vidal

After the game, Villarreal announce they have appointed Ottmar Hitzfeld as their new manager, replacing the sacked Víctor Manuel García Ruiz.

20th of November 2008

Barcelona accepts our bid for Nesta, but the player rejects a move to Cartagonova because he doesn’t want to go to a rival club and doesn’t think the move would benefit him in the long term.

[Dixie Flatline]

23rd of November 2008

After bidding a couple of days ago £5 million for César, Celta Vigo this morning make a bid for Cabrera of £6.75 million over six months. I still reject the offer, though.

Juventus wish they hadn’t sold Davide Bagnacani and this morning offer me £1.7 million to take him back to Turin. Checking Juventus’ squad, I see a Brazilian keeper by the name of Osmair, who would like a handy replacement for him, so I add him to the mix, and make the asking price £2 million, thereby valuing Bagnacani at £2.625 million. We’ll see how that deal progresses.

Primera Liga - Game 10: Cartagonova v Numancia

We begin this game on the front foot as Jaime Garrido powers a shot towards the top right corner of Numancia’s goal but Ãlvaro Núñez pulls off a good save. A couple of moments later, Redondo breaks free of the Numancia defence but shoots over the bar. On 10 minutes, however, we have our reward when George Clegg beats Christian to the ball and finds Kristian Tanem. The Norwegian international jinks through the defence and then puts a powerful right-footed shot past the keeper! But we don’t sit on our lead, as three minutes later, Gershon puts the throw in front of Rønning, who crosses into the box for Notman to head towards goal, but the Uruguayan keeper tips the header away. In the next couple of minutes, Numancia are under real pressure as Notman and then Garrido both have opportunities which require saving.

It isn’t until the 24th minute that Numancia has a chance to attack Vidal’s goal, but while Christian beats Smith in the air, his header clears the bar comfortably. However, normal service is resumed five minutes later when Rønning’s flick is volleyed towards goal by Clegg, but the English midfielder’s shot goes wide of the mark. On 36 minutes, Christian takes on my defenders Gershon and Cabrera and beats them, but his fierce drive again goes too high to trouble Vidal too much. As the seconds in the first half start to tick away, Redondo tees up Clegg, but Núñez is down in time to stop the Englishman’s drive finding the back of the net. That ends the first half’s action.

We don’t let up as the second half begins, when Cabrera’s corner is headed menacingly towards goal by Rønning, but the winger’s header clips the bar and bounces over. On 57 minutes, however, Numancia’s dangerous striker Christian is there to test Vidal with a vicious half volley, but Vidal impressively saves it. Carlos Martins misses everything with a shot from Melgar’s corner. We get back on the attack when Redondo outjumps Quiroga, but his header misses the goal. Rønning does somewhat better on 64 minutes, but Núñez pulls off another good save to keep Numancia in the game. Four minutes later, Redondo unleashes a powerful volley towards goal but Núñez once again saves Numancia. I decide to remove Redondo from the field of play on 76 minutes, replacing him with Edú. Five minutes later, we finally settle the game when Clegg, Smith, Tanem and Garrido all combine with some sweet passing to set up Notman, who does the rest clinically. It doesn’t stop us trying to find more goals with Notman almost scoring again two minutes later.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, Cabrera; Rønning, Tanem, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo (Edú 76), Notman.

Numancia (4-5-1): Núñez; Gustavo, Quiroga, Correa, Melgar; Gabri (Izquierdo 68), Morán, Carlos Martins ©, Gorka (Rafael Rúa 62), Acuña; Christian (Óscar 76).

Final score: Cartagonova 2:0 Numancia

MoM - Kristian Tanem

The board is impressed with the game we played, if not the scoresheet truly reflects the dominance we exerted in the game. It also marks the tenth league match of the season, so it’s time to take a look at the ladder:

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

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

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

1st Barcelona 10 3 2 0 16 4 4 1 0 8 2 24

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

2nd Numancia 11 4 1 0 14 6 2 1 3 11 13 20

3rd Cartagonova 10 3 3 0 7 3 2 1 1 10 5 19

4th Osasuna 11 3 3 0 6 3 2 1 2 7 8 19

5th Espanyol 10 3 1 1 12 7 2 3 0 10 4 19

6th Celta 10 2 1 1 6 4 4 0 2 11 9 19

7th Real Sociedad 11 2 3 0 9 6 2 3 1 13 12 18

8th Valencia 11 3 1 2 11 7 2 1 2 5 4 17

9th Betis 11 4 0 2 12 9 1 2 2 5 7 17

10th Sporting Gijón 11 3 1 1 10 7 1 2 3 4 11 15

11th Deportivo 11 2 1 3 10 7 2 2 1 10 8 15

12th Elche 11 4 1 1 8 5 0 2 3 3 11 15

13th Real Madrid 10 3 1 1 15 9 1 0 4 4 7 13

14th Mallorca 10 1 1 2 6 4 2 3 1 6 7 13

15th Alavés 11 2 0 3 6 4 1 1 4 5 12 10

16th Atlético Madrid 11 1 1 3 9 12 1 2 3 10 12 9

17th Racing Santander 10 1 4 0 5 3 0 1 4 3 12 8

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

18th Villarreal 11 1 3 1 9 9 0 1 5 3 16 7

19th Athletic Bilbao 11 2 0 4 4 11 0 1 4 5 15 7

20th Zaragoza 10 1 0 5 7 15 1 0 3 2 7 6

</pre>

Taking a look at the other major leagues in Europe, and first to England, you’ll find Burnley, under the managerial stewardship of Alan Shearer, leading the way with 32 points from 15 games. They enjoy a three point break over Sheffield United, with Watford and Manchester United close on their heels. At the other end of the table, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Bolton are in the relegation zone. In Italy, most clubs have only played seven games. Lazio leads by three points from Brescia, while there are a host of clubs - from third all the way down to eighth - on eleven points. At this early stage, Cosenza, Empoli, Atalanta, and Juventus are in the relegation zone. To Portugal, and Chaves leads Sporting Lisbon and Imortal by two points, while Benfica also lie menacingly in wait for the top three to slip up, being three points behind Chaves. Down the bottom of the ladder, you’ll find Estoril, Boavista and Varzim filling the relegation spots.

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> you’ll find Burnley, under the managerial stewardship of Alan Shearer, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> WTF?!?

Ahem, sorry, but that boiled my blue and white blood. Nice to see the quality hasn't slipped during your break.

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 9 to 5:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> you’ll find Burnley, under the managerial stewardship of Alan Shearer, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> WTF?!?

Ahem, sorry, but that boiled my blue and white blood. Nice to see the quality hasn't slipped during your break.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, and Alan has been managing Burnley for years now, after they poached him from Newcastle. He's brought them up from second division to the Premier League, and at one point, he even had John Hartson playing for them in tandem with Shearer when he was player/manager. Incidentally, Tony Adams is now the manager of England, so it was surprising to see a former Arsenal man pick a former Tottenham man to play for England (Bubb), but then again he's also persisted in leaving out George Clegg of England's playing teams - obviously doesn't like Clegg's Manchester United's connections!

And thanks for the praise, mate, too!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

25th of November 2008

Juventus doesn’t agree to my terms for Bagnacani.

In the evening, it is announced by Real Madrid that Uruguayan international Andrés Nicolás Olivera is delighted to have agreed terms with Lazio.

26th of November 2008

César Cabrera suffers a thigh strain in Wednesday evening training and is ruled out for a fortnight.

28th of November 2008

Alessandro Nesta agrees terms with Ajax, eschewing a potential move back to Italy when he rejects Fiorentina’s offer.

29th of November 2008

I wake up this morning with two bids waiting for me. They are both for Kristian Tanem. Lyon offers £5.25 million for the Norwegian, while Real Betis puts £6.25 million on the table, albeit over six months. Both offers are rejected.

Primera Liga - Game 11: Alavés v Cartagonova

Unlike many other teams these days, Alavés aren’t afraid to begin on the front foot and inside the first ten minutes, they are unlucky not to hit the lead twice. Iván Pérez advances unhindered into a dangerous position on three minutes, before finding the head of the unmarked Fernando Rubio, but fortunately, he puts it over the bar. On 9 minutes, two former Cartagonova players combine to make me nervous when Cristian Ãlvarez who finds Ismael Ruiz. The midfielder puts the ball out in front of Jacques, who cleverly crosses into the box where Ruiz powers a header just wide of Vidal’s goal.

But three minutes later, I have forgotten all that when Redondo jinks through Alavés’ defence, ghosting past Cosmin Contra and Matthew Altena, nutmegging Oriol and then unleashing an unstoppable thunderbolt past Jerzy Dudek! Three minutes later, Notman exploits the same holes in the defence, but this time Dudek manages to get his fingertips to the Scotsman’s hard shot. On 22 minutes, Shimon Gershon looks up to see Jaime Garrido making a very intelligent run into the box, and the Spanish winger’s volley is well-saved by Dudek. But nine minutes later, we are more successful when Garrido, Redondo and Lacruz combine to set free George Clegg, who easily sidesteps the bunny Oriol before smashing a drive past Dudek! Two minutes later, Axel Wingård prevents Ismael Ruiz from trying to find Rubio and then passes the ball to his defensive partner Gershon. The Israeli spies Notman advancing purposefully and the Scotsman does the rest! On 36 minutes, Jacques wastes an opportunity to get his club back in the game.

The second half is a more staid affair, with the first real action not occurring until some 14 minutes into it. Gershon, Clegg, Redondo and then Rønning control possession and allow Garrido to make it into the box, but his half-volleyed shot flies wide of the mark. Four minutes later, Rønning’s flick is volleyed towards goal by Redondo, but Dudek is there to stop us extending our lead. A couple of moments later, Notman is also denied by the big Polish keeper, and the last action of the game, the Scotsman puts a drive over the bar after being set up by substitute Zlatan Muslimovic.

Alavés (4-4-2): Dudek; Hill, Altena, Oriol, Contra ©; Jacques, Ismael Ruiz (Giuly 57), Ãlvarez, Lara (de Souza 57); Rubio (Epitié 57), Iván Pérez.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Smith, Gershon, WingÃ¥rd, Lacruz; Tanem; Rønning, Garrido (Muslimovic 73); Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Alavés 0:3 Cartagonova

MoM - George Clegg

[Dixie Flatline]

1st of December 2008

I’m set to lose Moustapha Keità at the end of the season on a Bosman transfer as he decides that he will never make the grade at this club and should try his luck elsewhere before his career is over.

2nd of December 2008

Tenerife is the first club to offer Keità a contract. They are closely followed by Toulouse.

3rd of December 2008

Real Betis puts in a bid of £7.5 million over six months for Kristian Tanem. I do not accept the offer.

European Champions' League - 2nd phase, Group B, Game 2: Galatasaray v Cartagonova

I make a change to the first eleven, replacing Kristian Tanem with Gavião, to make sure there is plenty of defensive steel at the heart of the midfield. Things begin comparatively slowly as we do not launch our first attack until the 12th minute when Garrido finds himself unattended with the ball on the right. He puts a cross into the box where Notman is waiting, but the big striker’s header is off-target thanks largely to the attentions from the Turkish club’s defence. Five minutes later, George Clegg breaks up a Galatasaray attack and hits the ball ahead of Notman, but his volley flies just wide of Justin Haber’s goal. But two minutes later, we have our goal when Rønning sends in a cross that Haber fumbles at the feet of Redondo, who can’t believe his luck - his tenth goal in European competition this season! Notman almost doubles our lead on 26 minutes when he nutmegs Özcan, but Haber this time saves his shot well.

After half-time, it takes us nine minutes to kick-start the motor, but Notman almost does it with style as he skips past Kadir before blasting a shot with his right foot towards goal. Unfortunately for the Scotsman, Haber manages to deflect the shot clear and it is cleared away by the Turkish defence. Then I’m left frustrated as with Galatasaray’s first attack of the game, they equalise. Gavião is caught out flat-footed as Süleyman eases past the Spanish international before blasting a long range drive into the back of Vidal’s net before the defence have a chance to close him down. However, we win a free kick two minutes later which José Manuel Lasa orchestrates, and the defender finds George Clegg who does the job! On 71 minutes, Garrido is unlucky to see his fierce shot well-saved by Haber while at the end of the game, Notman misses another chance he perhaps should have converted.

Nevertheless, we come away from Turkey with all three points to continue our winning streak in Europe this season.

Galatasaray (3-3-2-2): Haber; Kadir, Ersan, Atilla; Ibrahim, Erhan ©, Fatih; Ishizaki (Ahmet 80), Sergen (Ersin 52); Süleyman, Özcan (Burhan 57).

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Smith, Gershon, Lasa, Lacruz; Gavião; Rønning (Michel 80), Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Galatasaray 1:2 Cartagonova

MoM - Martin Smith

4th of December 2008

Real Betis cracks the £10 million barrier with an offer split into £7.25 million payable over six months and £2.7 million after twenty league games. If they agree to pay £11 million up front, perhaps they can talk a deal with Tanem.

In the meantime, Keità is now being courted by Sampdoria.

[Dixie Flatline]

6th of December 2008

Celta Vigo joins the party, offering £12.5 million, split into £9 million over six months and £3.4 million after twenty league games, for Kristian Tanem. If they can pay that all at once, perhaps they have a chance at signing him. Real Betis are willing to pay £11 million for Tanem. The trouble is, I don’t want to sell him, and I don’t need the money, so, no doubt to their chagrin, I reject the offer.

Primera Liga - Game 12: Cartagonova v Racing Santander

Against a club languishing in 18th position going into the game, I expect nothing more than three points and hope that Barcelona slips up against Real Madrid in the capital. Without much difficulty, my team manages to accomplish the former aim, with Notman scoring a fine goal on 23 minutes with a superb long-range volley from Garrido’s intelligent pass, and Rønning sealing victory on 82 minutes with a low, hard drive from Redondo’s pass. We could have had a few more goals but for some good keeping by Nuno and some profligate finishing from Notman in particular. Racing Santander don’t trouble Vidal very much, with all their shots missing the target quite substantially.

Real Madrid almost hold to their half of the bargain, fighting back from 2-1 down at half-time to draw the game 2-2. That leaves us three points behind Barcelona and if the status quo is maintained after the next round, where we play Real Sociedad and Barcelona host Real Zaragoza, then we can draw level if we beat them at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena in a fortnight.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Smith, Gershon, Lasa, Lacruz; Rønning, Gavião, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Racing Santander (4-4-2): Nuno; Mingo, Roberto, Jorge ©, Urrutia; Leko (Rubén Baños 87), Jorge, Diego, Javi Prats; Klimowicz, Preciado.

Final score: Cartagonova 2:0 Racing Santander

MoM - José Manuel Redondo

With Michel no longer automatic first choice on the left side of midfield, his record is overtaken by Iván Vidal, who has now played 211 league games for the club - 210 from the start, with one appearance as a substitute!

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[abu645]

doh, posted that twice, still KUTGW

[abu645]

Great story Dixie,

KUTGW

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by abu645:

Great story Dixie,

KUTGW<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks, abu645! I'll try to keep it up!

Cheers,

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

The Cartagonova odyssey continues unabated!

8th of December 2008

César is linked with a £1.8 million move to Real Zaragoza. I move immediately to issue a press release saying that the Spanish international full-back will not be going anywhere.

In the meantime, Celta Vigo finds my terms for Tanem too much to satisfy.

10th of December 2008

Real Zaragoza duly make an offer of £5 million over a ridiculous 18 month period for the Spanish international full-back. It is rejected immediately.

12th of December 2008

Our Copa del Rey campaign will start under difficult circumstances as we are drawn to travel to the capital to play Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu on the last day of 2008.

One of the greatest players ever to play the game officially announces his retirement today. Capped 119 times by his country, and scoring 26 times during his international career, this player has played 620 times in professional football, with 239 goals to his credit. Exquisite skills and a gaunt face are his trade marks and, of course, the player I’m talking about is Rivaldo. Lilian Thuram, another long-time servant of the game, also decides today that he will retire at the end of the season. Since making his debut for Monaco in 1990/91, the Frenchman has made 649 appearances for clubs including Monaco, Parma, Barcelona, Celta Vigo and Cartagonova. He also has appeared 118 times for his country, and was involved in France’s World Cup 1998 victory. They joins other players like Gustavo López, a long-time servant of Celta Vigo, in retirement at the end of the season, Edwin van der Sar and Sunday Oliseh.

[Dixie Flatline]

13th of December 2008

Real Zaragoza switches attention to Cabrera, offering me this morning £8.5 million for the full-back. Once again, the money would be paid over 18 months, and therefore is completely unacceptable.

14th of December 2008

Primera Liga - Game 13: Real Sociedad v Cartagonova

In days gone past, I wouldn’t have thought this to have been too difficult a game to claim three points from, even when we’re playing away, but today, Real Sociedad are in fourth position, and already having lost to Sporting Gijón this season, I’m not too sure we will come out of this covered in glory. This feeling is reinforced when after just 45 seconds, the hosts take the lead when da Silva crosses for the advantage of Jankauskas, and the wily Latvian veteran volleys it past the stranded Vidal. We should have equalised on 4 minutes, but Redondo volleys Garrido’s cross over the bar, and we’re made to pay when Brazilian veteran Rodrigo doubles Real Sociedad’s lead just a moment later. With a two-goal buffer, Real Sociedad can afford to slow the game down, and they do so. We don’t actually have an attack on goal until the 38th minute, when Rønning manages to elude the defence long enough to cross for Redondo to try his luck, but Iker Ãlvarez saves the striker’s header. We then lose José Manuel Lasa on 42 minutes to injury, while Real Sociedad also need to replace da Silva, who leaves the field with an injury a moment later.

I try to rally the troops at the break, exhorting them to find a goal as soon as we can, so that we might be able to fight our way back into this game. Unfortunately, my defenders decide not to listen to me, when they allow Mikel Aranburu to cross for Edgaras Jankauskas to drive low past Vidal. Only now do we decide to play this game, when I remove Rønning for Carreño on 60 minutes, and switch to a 4-3-3 formation. On 68 minutes, Notman volleys wide from Clegg’s pass, while three minutes later, Vidal manages to prevent the lead being extended further by Joseba Llorente. On 83 minutes, we waste another chance to get back into the game when Garrido’s fierce drive is tipped away by Iker Ãlvarez. Two minutes later, though, we have our foot in the door when Notman’s drive reflects into the path of Redondo who taps in. Five minutes later, we have our second goal when Garrido is dispossessed by Aranburu, but the ball falls kindly to Gavião, who finds Carreño unmarked in the Real Sociedad box, and the Argentine finishes it superbly.

Unfortunately, we left ourselves with too much to do, and we go down to our second loss of the season, and drop to fourth in the process. Fortunately, though, Real Zaragoza cause the upset of the weekend when they defeat Barcelona in the Nou Camp to mean we are still only three points behind top spot.

Real Sociedad (4-1-3-2): Iker Ãlvarez; Slovak (Agostinho 56), Benito, Bridgwater, César Prates; Xabi Alonso ©; Rodrigo, Da Silva (Aranburu 43), Del Piero (Nicklasson 51); Llorente, Jankauskas.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Smith, Gershon, Lasa (César 42), Lacruz; Gavião; Rønning (Carreño 60), Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Real Sociedad 3:2 Cartagonova

MoM - Edgaras Jankauskas

Moustapha Keità tells me this afternoon he will join Extremadura on a Bosman free transfer at the end of this season. Right now I’m preoccupied with a million other more important things.

This includes disciplining Edú for not attending training for those not actually participating in the game until later in the day. It’s not something I really want to do after coming home off a loss, but at least the Brazilian accepts the official warning with some grace and an apology.

[Dixie Flatline]

15th of December 2008

As the Spanish transfer window opens for a month, Lyon believes the time is ripe to launch a bid worth £7.75 million for Jaime Garrido. I don’t.

Racing Santander signs what should be a good acquisition, the Brazilian striker Júlio César from São Paolo on a free transfer. He has some pace, good close control skills, and packs a powerful shot, both by foot and by head.

Argentine attacking midfielder Damián Manso moves from AC Milan to Barcelona for £7.25 million. He is a very pacy player, but is reputed to be a cool player under pressure, capable of picking out a killer pass or thumping a shot at goal. No doubt, the Barcelona hierarchy see him as a replacement for Gerard, who was sold to Fiorentina during the last summer.

Former Manchester City defensive midfielder Gary Mason completed a £4.5 million move from Real Vallodolid to Cartagonova this morning. He has been signed to boost the defensive midfield stocks, with both Gavião and Kristian Tanem reputedly unhappy. Also, Ballesteros leaves Cartagonova after six seasons to join Córdoba, with Palomino coming the other way as part of the deal: Ballesteros (32 y/o, ESP 15 caps, D/DM RC): 213(13) apps, 7 goals, 14 assists, 3 MoMs, av. rating: 6.96

Former Salamanca, Sevilla and Mallorca central defender César has returned to Spain after spending several seasons in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. Barcelona spent £9.5 million on the Spanish international defender as a replacement for Alessandro Nesta, who was sold earlier this season. Argentine midfielder Juan Carlos Falcón also joins the Catalan club from Vélez Sarsfield for £9.5 million. Capable of playing on either flank or through the centre, he does not possess as much pace as other players, but he is signed mainly to provide a conduit between the defence and attack to direct the play through. His excellent passing ability will be put to good use by Barcelona this season.

[Dixie Flatline]

16th of December 2008

I hear from my contacts in Italy that Roma striker Cherno Samba is considering his options at the club and may be looking for a new home. Knowing that Roma are in Tokyo preparing for the World Club Cup against River Plate, I dispatch some scouts to keep an eye on him. After the game, which Roma wins 2-0, they report that Samba would be an excellent signing. At 23 years old, he seems a good investment for the future, especially if I could acquire him for about £5 million, so I make a bid of £4 million for him.

17th of December 2008

I begin the day by reject PSG’s £4.5 million offer for Alex Notman.

My offer for Cherno Samba is accepted in the evening by Roma, and I’m astounded to hear that the player is willing to take wages of just £2,300 per week plus bonuses of £100 for each goal scored and created. I set the contract expiry date in June 2013 and up the signing-on fee to sweeten the deal, and hopefully I can unveil him before we face Barcelona on the weekend.

18th of December 2008

I decide that Ramón Salas needs some first team experience if he is really going to make the grade here at Cartagonova, so I accept a loan offer from Logroñés for the winger to stay there for the rest of the season. The winger decides that such a move would be beneficial, and he travels to Logroño to get some experience.

19th of December 2008

Real Madrid makes an offer of £5.5 million for Alex Notman. I tell them to get serious and get off the phone.

I also have decided that Elias Krantz is not going to get much game time for us this season, but I don’t want to lose him at this stage, so I decide that he should also go on loan. Today, Nástic and Palamós both make offers which I accept, so now it is up to the player to decide where he wants to go.

But today, I’m very happy to unveil Cartagonova’s latest acquisition, the 23 year old English striker Cherno Samba, signed from AS Roma for £4 million. Beginning his career with Millwall back in 2000/01 season, he signed for Aston Villa in 2001/02 season, where he spent three seasons, playing only 18(3) times, and scoring 10 goals in the process, before Roma picked him up on a Bosman free transfer at the end of the 2004/05 season. He didn’t make too much of an impression on the wolves of Roma, playing just 15(9) times in four seasons in the capital of Italy, scoring 13 goals in the process. But I believe the 23 year old will mature into a great striker, as he already has the trade marks of a player destined to score plenty of goals. He isn’t particularly quick, but players like Redondo, Kokmeijer and Notman have all demonstrated that pace isn’t everything when you’re in the business of scoring goals. However, he possesses excellent close control skills and packs a powerful punch with either foot. Also, Cherno is strong in the air, capable of out-jumping and out-muscling many defenders before rocketing a bullet-like header towards goal. Signed on a five year contract, Cherno is one for the future, I’m sure.

In the afternoon, Elias Krantz decides to go to Nástic on loan until the end of the season.

[Dixie Flatline]

20th of December 2008

Real Madrid come back with an offer of £6.5 million for Notman. Still, of course, no deal.

21st of December 2008

I reject a Bayer Leverkusen offer for Notman of £7.75 million safe in the knowledge that the Scotsman would never consider an offer to return to Germany seriously after his experiences with Stuttgart before he came to Cartagonova.

According to reports filtering through from Italy, Barcelona is rumoured to be bringing Claudio López back to Spain from Juventus on a Bosman free transfer. But the 34 year old Argentine forward, who has played 80 times for his country and scored 15 goals, is also said to be attracting the interest of Juventus’ cross-town rival Torino.

Primera Liga - Game 13: Cartagonova v Barcelona

“… What an early Christmas present we have for you this afternoon in Spain’s game of the week. For so long, it was a tussle between the country’s capital’s premier club, Real Madrid, and the foremost of the Catalan clubs, Barcelona, to determine where the title would go at the end of the season. But now, in recent times, there has emerged from the south of Spain, from an unglamorous town, a new force in Spanish and European football. Cartagonova and Barcelona have battled twenty-one times in all competitions since they met for the first time back in 2003. The last time they met was in the quarter-finals of the European Champions' League when Cartagonova prevailed 3-3 on the away goals rule. The two clubs have met ten times at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena, where Cartagonova has a much better record, with six victories and seventeen goals to their credit.

“Both clubs could give debuts to new signings, with Cartagonova completing the purchases of Palomino, Gary Mason and Cherno Samba in the last six days, while Barcelona may choose to play Damián Manso, César and/or Juan Carlos Falcón. In terms of the title, today’s game, even though only played in December, may have big ramifications when it comes time to hand out the silverware at the end of the season. Barcelona lead Numancia by two points with a game in hand, while Cartagonova trail the league leaders by three points. A win today for either club will be crucial as they position themselves for a busy period over the festive season. So, now, we take you to our match commentations, Andy Gray and first, Martin Tyler…â€

Well, I’m not actually going to take you through the commentary on this one today, as unfortunately, my club contrives to throw away two points in a disappointing 1-1 draw. Barcelona put together some well-worked moves in the first ten minutes which leaves Vidal somewhat breathless given the amount of work he has to perform, but he manages to preserve parity for the time being. However, on 20 minutes, Garrido is dispossessed by a great tackle from Lorenzo Ruiz, who finds Bardaro lurking with intent on the edge of our penalty box and before my defenders can react, he has swivelled and swerved a brilliant shot into the top corner past Vidal’s despairing left hand. We miss a golden opportunity on 27 minutes when Garrido horribly sprays a shot wide of César Laínez’s goal. In the meantime, Ricardo Jorge almost doubles Barcelona’s lead when he tests Vidal’s reflexes almost to the limit on 32 minutes. Fortunately, our captain keeps us in the game by a whisker. Three minutes later, Vidal saves our bacon when he gets down to keep out Ricardo Jorge’s latest attempt. We have a lucky escape on 41 minutes when the referee fails to heed Barcelona’s pleas for a penalty when Gavião pushes over André Luiz in the box.

We get a break early in the second half when former defender Jukka Hakala is sent off for a second yellow card. I hope my players can use their extra man advantage to good effect, but apart from a shot from an unexpected source in Martin Smith, we cannot test Laínez with accurate shots. In frustration, I pull off Jaime Garrido - the worst offender - and replace him with Zlatan Muslimovic, while the ineffective José Manuel Redondo is replaced by Ariel Carreño. Almost immediately Muslimovic creates an opportunity for Notman to equalise, but the Scot cannot direct his header on target. But we do grab an equaliser with fifteen minutes to play when César takes advantage of Barcelona backing off to smash a shot low past the Barcelona keeper into the bottom corner. But we are denied a winner when on 89 minutes, Notman smashes a header against the cross-bar, and then Muslimovic puts a volley over the bar. To top things off, Notman then manages to clip the cross-bar at the start of injury time and that effectively kills off the game as a contest.

We go second in the table on goal difference, but we remain three points behind Barcelona when we really should have drawn to within a point. The board is somewhat disappointed with the result, and so am I.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Lacruz, Gershon, Smith, César; Rønning, Gavião, Garrido (Muslimovic 69); Clegg; Redondo (Carreño 69), Notman.

Barcelona (4-3-2-1): Laínez; Lorenzo Ruiz, André Ruiz, Hakala, Varela (Zanetti 69); Verón, de la Rosa (César 58), Brighi ©; Alex, Ricardo Jorge; Bardaro.

Final score: Cartagonova 1:1 Barcelona

MoM - Gavião

[Dixie Flatline]

22nd of December 2008

I start the morning attending to a bid of £9.25 million for Alex Notman. Don’t these people understand he endured a miserable time in Germany the last time he played there and has no desire to return there, even for a holiday?

Villarreal opens the batting with an offer of £5 million payable over six months for César, no doubt impressed with the fact the player scored his first goal in three seasons on the weekend. But it isn’t enough to impress me.

25th of December 2008

The sounds of unwrapping presents fades into the background as I’m called away from my family to deal with the business of negotiating Villarreal’s £5.75 million offer for Bojan Djordjic. Although the Swedish international midfielder hasn’t had much time to play this season, I now consider him second in the queue to play on the left behind current incumbent Rønning, with Michel’s star fading during the course of the season. However, if I could obtain £7.5 million for the player, then I probably wouldn’t stand between the player and a change of scenery.

I’m further interrupted by the news that Newcastle has accepted my cut-price bid of £3 million for exciting Welsh midfielder/striker Andy Owen. I immediately set about negotiating with the 23 year old utility player, who has appeared 27 times for his country, scoring 9 goals in the process. Capable of playing as an anchor midfielder or as a striker, he reminds me particularly of Kristian Tanem, and I hope the arrival of the Welshman could ease the pressure on me to keep an unhappy player. While it would be nice to retain the services of Tanem in the future, I think that I could generate a big profit if his continued unhappiness forces me to sell him. In the meantime, I’m trying to tie Andy Owen down to a five year contract without any minimum release clauses, in exchange for an improved wage and bonus structure.

“… Defending Spanish champion Cartagonova has won the race to land the signature of prodigiously experienced Argentine international Claudio López. The forward rejected the overtures of the likes of current club Juventus and Barcelona in favour of Cartagonova, with the Argentine set to move to his new club at the end of his current contract, which expires on 18th of June 2009…â€

Interestingly, one of the reasons cited by his agent is that he wants to be paid what he is deserved. Juventus currently forks over £85,000/week with £2,600 for goal and assist bonuses. I cannot even begin to compete with that type of money, so I don’t know what Claudio is expecting when he arrives next year! Nevertheless, he still has plenty to offer the club, as he has maintained his brilliant passing and finishing skills, and remains capable of beating most defenders with the ball at his feet. He recently notched up his 80th cap for Argentina, and has 15 international goals to his name.

[Dixie Flatline]

26th of December 2008

I’m pleased to announce that Welsh international Andy Owen will make a move from Newcastle United to Cartagonova for an undisclosed fee, but rumoured to be in the vicinity of £3 million. I had to renegotiate the deal with him slightly (only a four year contract, not five, with a more lucrative signing on fee and a minimum release clause of £20 million), but I’m still very happy to land this player.

27th of December 2008

I don’t receive any joy from Villarreal in relation to the mooted Djordjic transfer.

28th of December 2008

Primera Liga - Game 14: Atlético Madrid v Cartagonova

I make one change to the side that drew with Barcelona on the weekend. José María Lacruz steps down to the bench to allow César Cabrera to return to the left of defence. In the end, we fairly comfortably sweep aside a club struggling to keep its head above water in fifteenth position. An early burst of attacking flair is rewarded on four minutes when George Clegg scores his sixth goal of the season. On 22 minutes, the dangerous striker Sene Djaló slaloms his way through my defence but instead of pulling the trigger, decides to set up Moisés instead. The Spaniard’s shot is well-saved by Vidal at the cost of a corner, which we defend stoutly. On 32 minutes, Notman’s header hits the outside of the post and runs away for a goal kick, while three minutes later, his volley is well-saved by Valbuena. Seven minutes later, though, he scores when he beats Cellay inside out, holds off David Charcos and then thunders a long-range effort from 35 yards to beat the Atlético Madrid keeper all ends up! What a way to bring up your 100th career goal for Cartagonova, in only his 150th start for the club! A terrific record! To their credit, Atlético Madrid don’t lie down, and Boskovic sends a volley sizzling over the bar on 41 minutes, while a moment later, Moisés sees his shot saved by Vidal. Just before half-time, Mauro Camoranesi manages to out-jump Clegg, but his header goes just wide of the mark. Bang on the break, Boskovic hits a shot wide under pressure from Martin Smith to bring a curtain down on the first half.

The second half is quite quiet in comparison, and mostly dominated in terms of goal mouth action by the hosts. However, the gulf in class (if I be so bold) between the second-placed and defending champion club in Spain and a club needing points to stay out of relegation trouble is illustrated excellently as Atlético Madrid cannot convert their chances into goals. I leave everything exactly as it is, with the first eleven performing well to contain the threat of Atlético Madrid.

Atlético Madrid (4-3-2-1): Valbuena; Cellay, David Charcos, Santi ©, de la Rosa; Camoranesi, Gaizka Garitano, Romerito (Samuel 62); Boskovic (de Paula 49), Moisés; Djaló.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, César; Gavião; Rønning, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo, Notman.

Final score: Atlético Madrid 0:2 Cartagonova

MoM - Jaime Garrido

Keep smiling!

Dixie Flatline

[abu645]

just starting from the beginning.

kutgw

[Dixie Flatline]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by abu645:

just starting from the beginning.

kutgw<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks very much, abu645! I'll try to!

Dixie

[Dixie Flatline]

More from Cartagonova!

29th of December 2008

César Cabrera is linked with a £5.25 million move to Bradford City. I have no idea where this rumour sprang from, but it certainly isn’t one that is going to fly!

30th of December 2008

Villarreal makes a bid of £5 million for César, which I turn down.

Borussia Dortmund wastes its time offering £11.25 million for Alex Notman. I reject the offer.

31st of December 2008

I reject an offer of £5 million payable over 18 months from Celta Vigo for César.

Copa del Rey - 2nd round: Real Madrid v Cartagonova

After beating Atlético Madrid in the capital on the weekend, I decide to return to the capital with a second string team to play Real Madrid in a competition that while we might have won twice in recent times now does not hold much importance to me. I give a full debut to striker Cherno Samba, while Palomino, Andy Owen and Gary Mason all sit on the bench, and squad players like Jean-François Gillet, José María Lacruz, Ola Otfors-Palmqvist, Axel Wingård, Byron Bubb, and Ariel Carreño make up the rest of the numbers. Only captain-for-the-day Shimon Gershon is a player with regular experience in the team.

We hold out for about 70 minutes - without creating any chances of note, mind you - to give me some hope of putting the game into extra time and perhaps penalties, but then Sabino strikes on 71 minutes to effectively sink our chances of advancing in this competition. Rubén Navarro seals Real Madrid’s advancement to the next round ten minutes later when he beats Gillet for the second time in the game. I leave the Santiago Bernabéu philosophical about the defeat, but the board expresses their unhappiness with me after the game.

Real Madrid (4-1-3-2): Calvo; Roberto Carlos, Isma, Iván Helguera ©, Grillito; Medina; Olivera (Chatruc 67), Stankovic (Zambrotta 67), Colusso (Ronaldinho 57); Sabino, Rubén Navarro.

Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Gillet; Lacruz, Gershon ©, WingÃ¥rd, César; Jesús; Otfors-Palmqvist (Djordjic 71), Bubb; Edú; Samba, Carreño.

Final score: Real Madrid 2:0 Cartagonova

MoM - Roberto Carlos

[Dixie Flatline]

1st of January 2009

I begin the new year rejecting another offer from Celta Vigo for César.

However, I accept an offer from Numancia for Djibril Diawara valuing the Senegalese at £220,000.

Then I’m dumbfounded to read in the newspapers that Alex Notman may leave Cartagonova for Ajax in a move worth £5.75 million! His agent then goes on to say that Borussia Dortmund and Deportivo La Coruña have also been in contact with my club in an attempt to purchase the player. I issue a strong denial of any possibility of Notman moving anywhere to go out in the afternoon papers.

In the afternoon, Numancia tell me they cannot agree personal terms with Diawara, so the transfer is off.

2nd of January 2009

The Italian transfer window opens. Some big moves include David Trezeguet moving from Ajax to Roma for £12.25 million. Torino signs Luca Saudati from Inter Milan for £14.75 million. Andrés Nicolás Olivera leaves Real Madrid for Lazio for £4.6 million.

3rd of January 2009

Roma signs Valentino Lai for £30 million from Fiorentina.

4th of January 2009

Primera Liga - Game 16: Cartagonova v Mallorca

We look to restore normal service after a disappointing game against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey with a victory over Mallorca at the Estádio Municipál de Cartagena. Mallorca is one of those clubs needing points to stay out of the relegation zone, so while there should be some gulf in class, they will be just as desperate as we are to get the win. Of course, I’m satisfied to see us dominate the play, but we can hardly put a shot on target. José Manuel Redondo and Alex Notman are the worst offenders, with both strikers managing to hit everything but the target, including the advertising hoardings beside the goal, the stand behind it, the cross-bar, the post, whatever. Ten minutes after half-time, Mallorca finally test Vidal with a couple of shots that he needs to save, while on 74 minutes Roberto Losada’s shot needs a good save, too. In frustration and desperation, I throw on Cherno Samba for José Manuel Redondo on 71 minutes, and he repays my faith with the winning goal in injury time. César finds Garrido out wide on the right, who whips in a great cross for the advantage of the English striker, and he notches up his first goal for Cartagonova in fine style to win us the game.

Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal ©; Cabrera, Gershon, Smith, César; Rønning, Gavião, Garrido; Clegg; Redondo (Samba 71), Notman.

Mallorca (3-5-2): Felip; Tabaré Silva (Liu 51), Keita, García Calvo; Cárdenas ©, Grant, Braulio, Pertot (Santamaría 57), Tamandi; Castillo, Losada.

Final score: Cartagonova 1:0 Mallorca

MoM - Cherno Samba

Iván Vidal and Cherno Samba are named in the team of the week.