DaneBramage Posted November 13, 2021 Share Posted November 13, 2021 Introduction Since the split of Czechoslovakia in the early 90s, football in the Czech Republic has been dominated by clubs from Prague. Following the 2018-19 season 17 league titles out of 26 had been won by teams from Prague, with another 13 cups also being claimed. Sparta Praha are overwhelmingly the most successful side (12 leagues and 6 cups), knocking their city rivals Slavia Praha into second place in the overall rankings (5 leagues and 5 cups). Viktoria Zizkov are the other successful side from the capital (2 cups). (Slavia Praha also won the 2019/20 and 2020/21 league titles, while Slavia Praha and Sparta Praha split the 2020 and 2021 cups, but for the purpose of this timeline they're being ignored). By my count there are nine clubs from Prague in the top three tiers of Czech football at the start of the 2019/20 season. Sparta Praha, Slavia Praha, and Bohemians Praha will all competing in the First League, Dukla Prague, Viktoria Zizkov, and Slavoj Vysehrad will be in the National Football League, and Admira Prague, Lokomotiva Vltavin, and Motorlet will be taking part in the Bohemian Football League A (one of three groups in the third tier, along with the Bohemian Football League B, and the Moravian-Silesian Football League). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Introduction #2 Which brings me to my choice of clubs. Given the title and first post it's obviously going to be one of the Prague clubs, and it would be a cop-out to go for one of the big one. So it was between the three clubs in the third tier, and I rolled a die to pick for me. The Gods have decided, and I'll be taking over at Admira Prague for the start of the 2019/20 season. ------------------------------------------ The facilities are rubbish, the club has no prestige, and there's no money either. ------------------------------------------ I went with a random number generator to decide the nationality of my manager, so we've ended up Shingo O'Shaughnessy, a dual national with both Japanese and Irish heritage. He's got the relevant badges and background for the Czech third tier, but not much else. ------------------------------------------ Expectations from the board are surprisingly high given that we're predicted to finish 12th in the league (out of 16), and the bookies think we're much more likely to get relegated. ------------------------------------------ We received a nice financial boost before the season began though as a new sponsorship deal kicked in for £58k a year. ------------------------------------------ And we scored plenty of goals in pre-season, although of course this was against some pretty suspect opposition. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Admira Prague - July 2019 We had a rough beginning to my time in Prague with six goals conceded in just two games, leading of course to two defeats. They were plenty of ratings between 6.2 and 6.4 in this time, seven players already picking up their first fines for poor performance. One of these was goalkeeper Jiri Kucera. I know goalscoring goalkeepers are pretty popular round here so I wanted to jump on the bandwagon. Instead he missed our first penalty of the season against Rakovnik 1903, and also gave away a goal with a mistake at the other end. ------------------------------------------ Not the start we needed, although at least our city rivals Motorlet are struggling with us. Only one team can get promoted each season, but with four B sides in the division the lucky team could actually finish as low down as fifth and still go up. I mentioned earlier that Motorlet and Lokomotiva Vltavin are the other Prague teams in this division with us, but as you can see, there's also further local competition in the shape of Slavia Prague B and Sparta Prague B. (It's going to annoy me that some teams have Prague and others have Praha. For my sanity I'm going to use Prague thoughout). ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 13, 2021 Author Share Posted November 13, 2021 Admira Prague - August 2019 There's no money in the cups so going on a run here wouldn't really benefit us, but we had a decent stab at it anyway. 16 year old David Tusjak impressed with a brace in both wins, the first over a lower division side, and then the second an upset victory over Chrudim (midtable in the National League). Another match against second tier opposition was a game too far though, as FK Banik Sokolov played us off the park and should have beaten us by more. ------------------------------------------ We temporarily got our league form on track with a pair of consecutive wins, getting the fans on side with big local victories over our city rivals Motorlet and Lokomotiva Vltavin. But the follow-up was poor, with a convincing loss to possible promotion favourites MAS Taborsko, and a pair of losses to B teams. This included a close loss to Slavia Prague B, where they weren't hugely better than us but were more successful at turning possession into shots (and subsequently goals). ------------------------------------------ To point out the obvious, we're conceding too many. Our centre-backs have a combined age of 73, which isn't ideal. The complete lack of pace (and quality) is also a problem. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Kucera scored his first goal for the club with a penalty in the cup win over Libis, but then missed another two rounds later, which would have taken our game against FK Banik Sokolov to extra-time (overall record: 1 goal, 1/3 penalties). Martin Jungr missed a penalty against Pribram B, though this would have been nothing more than a consolation (overall record: 0 goals, 0/1 penalties). ------------------------------------------ Derbies We've made a good start against our rivals with a winning record so far. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 (edited) Admira Prague - September 2019 8-4! What a ridiculous game. It was 3-3 when Benesov had a man sent off for a two-footed lunge on the halfway line. They then took the lead almost as soon as the second-half began, but we equalised straight away and then took control with three goals between the 63rd and 69th minutes. For a third time this season we lost to a B team, but we bounced back with a nice win. It should have been two in a row, but despite bossing the game against Stechovice we couldn't find a way through. ------------------------------------------ A better month here as we got more points in these four games than we had the previous seven. The big win over Benesov also gave our goal difference a boost, though we do still have one of the worst defencesi ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Martin Jungr scored a penalty against Benesov to get his first goal for the club (overall record: 1 goal, 1/2 penalties). ------------------------------------------ Edited November 14, 2021 by DaneBramage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Admira Prague - October 2019 Crap. We didn't get anything from two home games, when I thought both were winnable ties. But we did pick up an unexpected point away at Sparta Prague B (who were top at the time). We scored a header from a very early free-kick, and although they had much more of the game than us, restricted them to just the one goal. ------------------------------------------ With no wins this month we've slipped into the bottom half. ------------------------------------------ Derbies At least we still have a good record against our local rivals. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Admira Prague - November + December 2019 Pisek were top of the table at the time so I can accept that loss, but not getting anything at all from the two sides immediately above and below us in the table was appalling. The axe is looming. Seven games without a win now, and only two goals scored in that time. The board called me in for a meeting and I said things would improve, but I'm not sure I believe that. There were two derbies in December. The Motorlet game was exactly what we needed, Miroslav Novak finally finding his shooting boots and scoring four times as we picked up a big win, and possibly giving me a bit more time in charge. But against Lokomotiva Vltavin we were extremely poor, there was just a complete lack of effort on show. We could have put 11 statues on the pitch and you wouldn't have noticed a difference. ------------------------------------------ The table makes for miserable viewing as we've dropped even further. 9th down to 14th aren't separated by much, if we could just get one or two more wins soon it could make a big impact. But our next three fixtures are against sides in the top six, I'd be amazed if I'm still in a job at the end of that run. ------------------------------------------ Derbies At least we're better than Motorlet. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Admira Prague - January + February + March 2020 The bad times continued with three more losses, as we did as poorly as expected against the teams near the top of the table. After that we made a change to our formation, going 4-5-1 to try and provoke some change in fortunes. I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but after this change we went three league games unbeaten for the first time this season, out best run of form since September. We beat Benesov to complete the double over them (and jump above them in the table), getting a point from Viktoria Plzen B was a bonus, but not beating 16th placed Domazlice was a disappointment. ------------------------------------------ With five games left I'd like to get a few more points on the board before I'd say we're safe from relegation, but whether that will be enough to keep my job or not I don't know. This could be a very short-lived career. ------------------------------------------ Derbies ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Admira Prague - April 2020 We've had our first youth intake through. There's a bunch of 5.0 star potential players, but I think we can safely assume that's more a reflection of the low quality of the players already at the club, rather than anything special here. ------------------------------------------ Maybe we have improved? We left it extremely late but eventually grabbed all three points against Stechovice, before handing out a bit of a whooping to Karlovy Vary-Dvory. ------------------------------------------ Five games unbeaten and 11 points from the last 15 available has put everyone at the club in a better mood, and it looks like my job security is a bit more stable for the time being. We've climbed up two places and secured ourselves another year of third tier football. The final three games will now be about (hopefully) maintaining a midtable spot and not dropping back into the lower reaches. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Admira Prague - April 2020 Two of the players from the youth intake have already been stolen away. I think it's because we're semi-pro we can't offer contracts to the young players, which leaves them open to being signed away. It's one thing when the game stops and gives me a chance to offer them a new contract, but on these occasions the game just processed straight through and didn't bring up the e-mail notification until the move had already been confirmed. Very annoying. I was thinking that this would be a youth-only save, but given the difficulty of keeping players (three of my original squad have also been stolen away in this manner) I might have to sign some older players this window to make sure we have a full squad. Then I can revert to youth-only later on, assuming we go pro at some point and I haven't been sacked. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 Admira Prague - May 2020 Ugh. Never turn the game off when you're in good form, you'll be punished for it in the next session. We managed just one shot on target over these three matches. ------------------------------------------ We've slipped one spot and missed out on the target of a top-half finish by a considerable margin. ------------------------------------------ Derbies We can't even claim any local superiority. We now have a losing record against our rivals, and Motorlet were the only Prague team that we finished above. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 Admira Prague - May 2020 Imagine how much worse we'd have been without Jakub Michalek. Probably the only man who can claim any credit from this season. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers A disappointing return here. Both goalies scored early on in the season, but nothing since September. We didn't even win get any penalties between October and the end of the season. ------------------------------------------ I've just about kept my job for now, but we might just be putting off the inevitable. We'll need to hit the ground running next year otherwise I'll be getting the boot pretty quickly. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 15, 2021 Author Share Posted November 15, 2021 Czech Republic - 2019/20 round-up Slavia Prague only came third in the first phase of the league, but came on strong in the Championship Group to take the title. They then beat Bohemians Prague 3-0 in the cup final to complete the double, and strengthen their hold on second place in the all-time rankings. Neither Slavia Prague nor Sparta Prague made it out of the Europa League group stage. The national side qualified for Euro 2020, where they will share a group with Hungary, Germany, and Austria. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted November 16, 2021 Share Posted November 16, 2021 Nice idea. Good read so far - I’ll be following from this point on. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 On 16/11/2021 at 15:11, DefinitelyTaylor said: Nice idea. Good read so far - I’ll be following from this point on. Thanks. I'm kinda nervous to move on into the new season with the nine point demand from the first five games, but I've brought in 16 free transfers over the summer so hopefully there's at least some small shred of quality in there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 Euro 2020 Round-Up The group stage saw a few shocks, with possibly the biggest overachievement coming from Georgia, managing to escape Group A at the expense of Switzerland. But the biggest letdown came from Belgium. Group D could be considered the Group of Death but even so, the Belgians must have expected to at least beat Scotland. Instead they let a two goal lead slip, and that was the end of their tournament. Poland and Sweden will also have been disappointed by going out so early. The Czech Republic also had a summer to forget. Hungary in their first game was their most winnable tie, but after only picking up a point the writing was on the wall, and subsequent defeats to Germany and Austria knocked them out of contention. England had a typical tournament, making it to the quarter-finals but then losing to Germany. Two other pre-tournament favourites fell even earlier than that though, as Italy and France were knocked out by Croatia and Serbia. The Croats then made easy work of their neighbours in the next round. Georgia's fairytale didn't last as they were whooped by Wales, who then gave it a good go against the Netherlands but lost in the lottery of a penalty shootout. And in the Iberian peninsula clash Spain came out on top. Croatia were possibly the underdogs going into the final four, but after coming back from 2-1 down to beat Germany they went into the final full of confidence, and a late goal from Mateo Kovacic was enough to win himself the Golden Boot, and make Croatia the Euro 2020 champions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 Admira Prague - July 2020 Expectations have fallen dramatically from this time last year, as any aspiration for a top-half finish has disappeared. As long as we don't get relegated the board will be happy. Our wage budget has nearly doubled from last season, but the amount we're paying has shrunk by more than 90%. After a few players left this summer, or re-signed on non-payment contracts, we now only pay £135 per week. None of the new signings we made are receiving a weekly wage either. ------------------------------------------ We started the season with a bore draw. Dukla Prague B had more of the ball, but we stifled them and didn't let them do anything with it. Next time out was a lot more exciting though. When we got going against Usti Nad Orlici we gave them a bit of a battering, and were unlucky not to win by a higher margin. ------------------------------------------ A solid start, and we've earned four of the nine points needed to keep my job. The next three games are against Benesov, Slavoj Vysehrad, and Karlovy Vary-Dvory. The middle game will be a tough one, so we'll have to be aiming for full points from each of the other two to reach the target. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Ales Sobotka could have made himself a popular man in just his second game for the club, but saw his penalty saved against Usti nad Orlici. Luckily, we were already winning comfortably at the time (overall record: 0 goals, 0/1 penalties). ------------------------------------------ Derbies We have two new city rivals in our division this year. Slavoj Vysehrad were relegated from the second tier after finishing 15th. And Dukla Prague B are joining the party too after getting promoted from the fourth tier. ------------------------------------------ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Nicely done from Georgia. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 18, 2021 Author Share Posted November 18, 2021 Admira Prague - August 2020 With more important matters to focus on in the league the second string were sent out in the cup. They made hard work of it, letting slip both a 1-0 and 2-1 lead, but eventually completed the job in stoppage-time. ------------------------------------------ We needed five points from three games, and with a third minute goal in the first of these we were well on our way. It was still a bit nervy against Benesov as we didn't get a second goal to make the game comfortable, but it turned out one was enough. The Slavoj Vysehrad encounter was one I didn't expect anything from, and indeed our performance probably didn't deserve anything. But while they bossed the game, they weren't clinical with their finishing, and that left the door open for us to steal a point from a corner. That left me needing one more point to keep my job. When we went 2-0 up after just 21 minutes against Karlovy Vary-Dvory I was laughing. A red card in the 22nd minute wiped the smirk of my face though, and when they levelled the game at 2-2 on the hour mark I was getting very worried. But cometh the hour, cometh the man. Patrik Nehoda came off the bench and scored within 30 seconds of entering the fray. Job saved! With my future now looking a bit more stable I wanted to celebrate, but it looked like our game against Brozany was going to a goalless draw despite our domination. But super-sub Patrik Nehoda came to the rescue again to grab all three points. ------------------------------------------ The win over Brozany extended our unbeaten open to the season to six games, seven if you include the cup. We temporarily went top of the league after that victory, but due to the division having 17 teams in it this year, we were the odd team out in gameweek seven and were knocked down to 5th. Still best out of all the non-B sides though! ------------------------------------------ With my job now safe, I asked for an improvement to our youth recruitment. It wasn't possible at this time, but as a compromise the board agreed if I played enough youth players this season it would be approved at the end of the season. ------------------------------------------ Derbies Two draws so far this season. ------------------------------------------ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 19, 2021 Author Share Posted November 19, 2021 (edited) Admira Prague - September 2020 I'm not much of a tactics man, I can't analyse players and games and work out how best to utilise people. I mainly rely on trial and error, and luck. And hopefully just having better players than everyone else so my shortcomings can be hidden. But I realised I hadn't mentioned anything about tactics or formations yet, so thought I should probably throw something in. In season one I went with an aggressive gegenpressing 4-4-2 that I'd used to turn Fulham into a consistent top four Premier League side. Surprisingly enough, that didn't work here and we were largely dreadful. Almost like the English Premier League isn't comparable to the Czech third tier. So I decided to pack the midfield to try and stop conceding so many, and go classic route one. Can't concede if the ball's nowhere near your own goal. I also have a carillero, with no idea what that actually means. ------------------------------------------ Cups are stupid anyway. We were drawn against a team from the First League, so the backups were sent out for this game, with their only brief to not embarrass themselves. We took the expected loss, but kept the scoreline respectable. ------------------------------------------ Lovely stuff. Four clean sheets, four wins. Definitely not very exciting for the neutral, but if you don't concede, you can't lose. Pisek beat us both times last season, so getting revenge over them was nice. It was a classic FMing too. They had 14 shots (7 on target), compared to our 2 (1 on target). Fuming when it goes against you, laughing when it's in your favour. And I believe the victory over Viktoria Plzen B is our first over any of the B teams. Their best player is on £2k per week, our whole squad combined would take 15 weeks to earn that much. ------------------------------------------ Unbelievable Jeff! Top of the league, six wins in a row, and still undefeated. I like this. There's even a bit of breathing room, as none of the B teams can get promoted. So you have to look down as far as 6th to see the next side who could go up, Lokomotiva Vltavin, who trail us by eight points. That being said there's still 22 games to go, so 22 chances for me to cock it up, so maybe I should calm down for now. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers I was a bit bummed out with how poorly my goalies were doing at getting on the scoresheet, while seeing other updates on here rack up a dozen+ a season. That changed in style this month. Ales Sobotka scored from the spot two games in a row, including the match-winning strike against Kraluv Dvur (overall record 2 goals, 2/3 penalties). ------------------------------------------ Edited November 19, 2021 by DaneBramage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 19, 2021 Author Share Posted November 19, 2021 Admira Prague - October 2020 After no games against fellow Prague teams last month we started October with three in a row. Against Sparta Prague B we put in our worst performance of the season so far, as they just passed the ball around us with ease (70% possession) and we suffered our first defeat of the league campaign. We should have bounced back with a win over Motorlet, but despite 10 shots to their two we couldn't break through. A couple of strikers were complaining about not getting gametime, so they were rotated in for a few matches. Neither scored, but Jakub Michalek found himself benched to accommodate them. Despite that, he showed why he's the main main, coming on at half-time three games in a row, and scoring six goals in just 135 minutes of football, including a stoppage-time winner at Lokomotiva Vltavin. ------------------------------------------ Due to our defeat against Sparta Prague B they've overtaken us at the top. We do still have a game in hand though, and a seven point buffer back to Pisek. ------------------------------------------ Derbies A win, a draw, and a loss against our city rivals this month. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 You’re in a great position at the moment. Whilst the month didn’t start too well, you quickly arrested the form and got back to winning ways quickly which is crucial for any team with aspirations of promotion - which you ought to have. 15 hours ago, DaneBramage said: I also have a carillero, with no idea what that actually means. I have to admit, this made me giggle. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 21, 2021 Author Share Posted November 21, 2021 Admira Prague - November 2020 We made a bad start to the month with losses to B teams of two of our Prague rivals. Against Slavia Prague B the tie was fairly even, but against Dukla Prague B we were second best in every regard. Luckily our next two games were against the sides in the relegation places, with a total of seven points between them. Although a pair of 2-1 victories doesn't sound that comfortable, we were dominant in both games and picking up anything other that maximum points would have been a travesty. Lukas Ric showed his flair with a double at Usti nad Orlici, and then the winner at Karlovy Vary-Dvory. ------------------------------------------ We're still flying high in the table, though Sparta Prague B have pulled away a little at the top. Pisek in 6th have narrowed the gap between us to six points. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Ales Sobotka picked up an assist against Karlovy Vary-Dvory from a free-kick, redeeming himself for the penalty he missed in the first-half (overall record 2 goals, 2/4 penalties). ------------------------------------------ Derbies A rough month here as two losses to our city rivals gave our overall record a big hit. There's a definite divide forming between the senior sides we can get results against, and the B teams where we struggle. ------------------------------------------ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 21, 2021 Author Share Posted November 21, 2021 Admira Prague - December 2020 With the majority of the squad not receiving a salary we're losing a lot less money each month than we were last season, so I managed to get an upgrade to our junior coaching budget approved. It's only gone from basic to fairly basic, but it's better than nothing. ------------------------------------------ Really poor. We've now lost four of our last seven games, failing to score in three of them. Slavoj Vysehrad aren't a bad side, but we really should be beating teams like Brozany if we want to get promoted. ------------------------------------------ Are we bottling this? It feels like we might be. We've slipped another place, the gap to the top has grown, and Pisek are catching up on us. ------------------------------------------ Derbies We've now lost twice as many games to our rivals as those we've won. When can we play Motorlet again? ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 Admira Prague - January + February 2021 Not having any contracts is pretty annoying when it comes to building a squad, but at least it makes picking up replacements simple. 10 players left during January (including a starting centre-back, left-back and left-winger), and we brought in nine new players to replace them. ------------------------------------------ We already have a youth recruitment upgrade promised for the end of the season provided we give enough gametime to young players (which we're on track to hit), but I decided to take a punt and see if we could push an earlier improvement through. It was agreed, and our youth recruitment rating was increased from limited to basic. ------------------------------------------ With a four week gap between fixtures we had a bunch of friendlies over the Christmas and New Year period. I don't know whether it was lack of fitness, or a lack of cohesion with all the player turnover, but we were dismal and lost a few times to non-league opposition. Yet somehow, when we returned to league action we picked up a win away at Viktoria Plzen B. Next time out we were hopeless though, and were soundly beaten by our promotion rivals Pisek. We needed some easy opposition to get back on track and luckily it came in the form of Kraluv Dvur, and we added to their woes with an easy victory. ------------------------------------------ After the defeat to Pisek we dropped below them in the table, but when they lost next time out we jumped back ahead. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 Admira Prague - March 2021 Sometimes this game makes you want to punch things. We got FMed two matches in a row. We had a total of 46 shots (20 on target) over these two fixtures, our opposition had just nine shots combined, yet each of them scored from their only efforts on target. ------------------------------------------ We've dropped another spot in the table and been overtaken by another B team. We remain the highest of the sides that can be promoted, but now Slavoj Vysehrad have joined Pisek in being just a game away from overhauling us. ------------------------------------------ The loss to Motorlet was a double blow as it means we've now lost to all of our Prague competitors at least once. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 Admira Prague - April 2021 We've had our second batch of youth players through, though I guess this is too soon for either of the improvements we've had this season to take effect. I assume they're all going to be rubbish, but they did beat our existing under-19s 5-3 in the trial match, so hopefully there's some potential here. Players coming from Montenegro and Croatia makes sense, but Portugal seems a bit far afield. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 23, 2021 Author Share Posted November 23, 2021 Admira Prague - April 2021 Our form over the last few months has been ridiculously inconsistent, and that continued here with a big loss followed by a big win. ------------------------------------------ The battle for the promotion spot is stupidly close, with three teams equal on 55 points with three games remaining. For the first time since August though, we're not leading the way. Whatever happens, we're guaranteed a top-half finish. I'd have taken that at the start of the season. ------------------------------------------ A win and a loss against our Prague rivals this month. The victory over Lokomotiva Vltavin now means they're the side we have the best record against, while the loss to Sparta Prague B continued our run of never beating them. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 25, 2021 Author Share Posted November 25, 2021 Admira Prague - May 2021 I'm not really sure what qualifies as playing younger players, as we only had one player under the age of 22 who played much for us this season (and they left in January). Nonetheless, it was enough for the board to action a second improvement in the space of four months to our youth recruitment, as this graduated from basic to fairly basic. ------------------------------------------ The final month of the season went pretty well with seven points from a possible nine. I expected to beat Hostoun and would have been disappointed if we hadn't beat Pribram B, but getting a point from Slavia Prague B was a pleasant surprise. It looked like we'd thrown it all away when we went 2-1 down in the 91st minute, but the 94th minute is a bloody good time to nab an equaliser. It was well deserved too. ------------------------------------------ Nuts. So close. After the Pribram B victory we jumped above Pisek, but when we drew the next game they went back ahead of us and their win on the final day meant they stayed ahead and took the only promotion spot. At the start of the season I didn't think we'd be in the mix at all, so just missing out on promotion due to goal difference is a good showing. We more than doubled our points tally of last season. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Krcek didn't actually score any goals this month, but did pick up two assists from free-kicks. ------------------------------------------ Derbies The draw against Slavia Prague B was the first time we managed to gain a point from them. Although we did finish below all three Prague B teams this year, we did finish above the three Prague senior teams. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 25, 2021 Author Share Posted November 25, 2021 Admira Prague - May 2021 Not very impressive numbers here. Only one player made double figures for goals, and nobody did for assists. Only three players managed an average rating over 7.00, and two of them were January signings with less than ten appearances. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Ales Sobotka became the third goalie to score for us, and also became our top scoring keeper. We've missed more penalties than we've scored though. ------------------------------------------ We might have sold one fewer season ticket this year, but other than that we've taken a number of steps in the right direction, and the board are much happier as a result of this. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 25, 2021 Author Share Posted November 25, 2021 Czech Republic - 2020/21 round-up For a second year in a row Slavia Prague completed the double. And for a second time in a row they beat a Prague rival in the cup final, this time defeating Sparta Prague 2-1. None of Slavia Prague, Sparta Prague or Viktoria Plzen made it out of the Europa League group stage. The national side lost their first four games in the UEFA Nations League B, but recovered with victories over Russia and Bulgaria to finish 3rd and avoid relegation. Qualification for the 2022 World Cup began with a draw against Scotland, and a win over San Marino. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted November 26, 2021 Share Posted November 26, 2021 That’s harsh. You were looking good for the majority of the season so albeit never expecting to be in the mix, it’s a massive shame to miss out in the way you have. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 27, 2021 Author Share Posted November 27, 2021 23 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said: That’s harsh. You were looking good for the majority of the season so albeit never expecting to be in the mix, it’s a massive shame to miss out in the way you have. Yeah, I suppose it's a bit of a shame, but I'm relaxed about it. The anger didn't come until the first game of the new season... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 27, 2021 Author Share Posted November 27, 2021 Admira Prague - July 2021 No one of any note left over the summer, and we made just one addition. Our first choice right-back damaged his spine a while back putting him out of action for nearly a year, so we needed cover for that position. Only one player still earns a weekly wage, a massive £27 a week. The board want a top-half finish, I want to compete for promotion again. ------------------------------------------ The display on the opening day was truly pathetic. We had plenty enough chances to get something from the game (18 shots), but just one (one!!) was on target, and that was a tame penalty hit down the middle that was easily saved. Infuriating. In weeks with a game we only have four training sessions (two on Tuesday and two on Thursday). So all of these sessions in the next week were entirely based on attacking and shooting. Whether this paid off or whether the result came about just because the opposition were really bad I don't know, but we hammered newly-promoted Letohrad. But we then went back to being utterly useless up front against Dukla Prague B. We bossed the game with twice as many shots, but didn't take them, and then gave away a 95th minute penalty to ensure we didn't even earn a point from the tie. ------------------------------------------ Awful start to the season. With the amount of chances we had we should have won at least five points from these games. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers I really don't understand how everyone else gets their goalies to score so many. Ales Sobotka missed yet another penalty against Pribram B (overall record 2 goals, 2/5 penalties). Our combined record so far is just four successful penalties from ten attempts. ------------------------------------------ Derbies Yet another loss to a B team. I'm starting to really hate the three of them. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 27, 2021 Author Share Posted November 27, 2021 Admira Prague - August 2021 Two goals in the opening ten minutes were enough to dispatch lower-league Horovicko, though conceding a consolation goal late on did give us a bit of a scare. That took us through to the next round and a clash with Graffin Vlasim from the First League. Sandwiched between two league games I played a fully rotated side and feared the worst. And somehow we won! I don't get it. On his debut 15 year old Patrik Fousek 21 scored the only goal of the game. ------------------------------------------ We beat two teams we should beat in the league, then lost to two sides that are better than us. With an average of 4.75 goals per game no one can accuse us of being boring, and at least we just about scored more than we conceded this month. ------------------------------------------ Poor. While this month wasn't a disaster I'm still annoyed about the dropped points from July. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Ales Sobotka got off the mark for the season with a nice free-kick into the bottom corner from 30 yards out against Neratovice (overall record 3 goals, 2/5 penalties). ------------------------------------------ Derbies A win against Lokomotiva Vltavin makes our winning record against them even better, while a loss against Slavoj Vysehrad sends our record against them even further the wrong way. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 Admira Prague - September 2021 We faced another First League side in the next round of the cup. No upset this time though, we were absolutely hammered. ------------------------------------------ We started the month with our usual loss to Sparta Prague B, but bounced back with much better form afterwards. We beat two of the sides in the midtable scrap with us, and picked up a point from another. MAS Taborsko were up in the National Football League last year so that's not a bad result. ------------------------------------------ A move in the right direction. There's a bunch of B teams above us, but Slavoj Vysehrad are the only senior team blocking our route to promotion. Unfortunately with an 11 point lead over us already they have a significant advantage which will be difficult to make up. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Yet another failure from the spot, as Ales Sobotka saw his effort saved against Klatovy (individual record 3 goals, 2/6 penalties). Overall record (4 goalkeepers): 5 goals, 4/11 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies This just makes for depressing reading. Wish I haven't started recording this. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 28, 2021 Author Share Posted November 28, 2021 Admira Prague - October 2021 Mostly a very good month, with one big obvious blemish. Any month with three wins has to be considered a good one really, especially when these victories came in style with thee goals scored in each. And I'm happy with taking a point from Slavia Prague B, though they did help us out with a first-half red card meaning we played against ten men for nearly an hour. But the loss to Motorlet was a big disappointment. This time round it was a red card of our own that influenced the game. We were already one-nil down, but the man disadvantage ruled out any potential fightback. ------------------------------------------ We've been left behind by the top six. With nearly half the season gone I think any chance of a push to the top can be ruled out, we're now aiming to be best of the rest. We do have one of the best attacks in the division, but our defensive efforts let us down compared to the sides above us. I've kicked Ales Sobotka out of the club now, after conceding too many and missing lots of penalties I'd had enough, and when he skipped training that was the final straw. So hopefully his replacement between the sticks will provoke an improvement in this area. ------------------------------------------ Derbies A draw and a loss this month as our overall record continues to get worse. In the first season we beat Motorlet twice, but since then they've had our number. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 Admira Prague - November + December 2021 We didn't get off to a strong start in October with our midfield being totally outmatched against MAS Taborsko, and the game was essentially over by the 20th minute with us already two-nil down at this stage. Another disappointing result followed as we battered Rakovnik 1903, but allowed them a 93rd minute equaliser with their only accurate shot of the game. Next time out though fortune was on our side, as this time it was us that grabbed a stoppage-time winner. And that propelled us into a four game winning run, with big wins over Pribram B and Letohrad. This came to a screeching halt against Motorlet, where a point each was a fair outcome from a very even match. ------------------------------------------ Over the last two months Pribram B have fallen apart and picked us just three points, while we've earned 14 in this time. That's allowed us to jump above them into 6th, though we're still a considerable distance behind the top five. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Krcek helped us earn a point against Rakovnik 1903 with his first goal for the club (individual record: 1 goal, 1/1 penalties). Overall record (4 goalkeepers): 6 goals, 5/12 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies Just the one draw against a local rival this month. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 (edited) Admira Prague - January + February 2022 I know everyone at this level is pretty rubbish and replaceable, but Alessandro Gollinucci is a player I'd have liked to keep. He was stolen away by a Serie D side from Italy in the hopes of adding to his 13 San Marino caps. Pretty annoying, especially as he was on course to set a record number of assists. ------------------------------------------ Remember the optimism from last month? Nope, me neither. Granted this was a tough run of fixtures as we played all of the top four, but we barely put up any resistance at all. The one bright spot is that two debutants scored against Sparta Prague B. ------------------------------------------ Pathetic. So much for being best of the rest, we're barely clinging on to a top-half spot now. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Krcek missed a penalty against Viktoria Plzen B which would have drawn the game level at 1-1, instead we lost any chance of fighting back and went on to lose heavily. But he did score from the spot against Slavoj Vysehrad to cut the arrears. Individual record: 2 goals, 2/3 penalties. Overall record (4 goalkeepers): 7 goals, 6/14 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies Three more losses this month, with a combined score of 4-9. ------------------------------------------ Edited November 29, 2021 by DaneBramage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 (edited) Admira Prague - March 2022 One step forward, one step back. We win a game we shouldn't, then lose one we should win. Against Dukla Prague B we benefited from them getting a 16th minute sending-off, and we scored immediately afterwards to make it a double blow. But picking up points when we don't expect them counts for nothing if we don't build on it. We really need to be beating sides like Brozany if we want to achieve anything, not wasting all our chances and then giving away a 91st minute free-kick for them to equalise from. ------------------------------------------ We've dropped a place and we now reside in the bottom half. At least we have a big buffer over Klatovy so shouldn't drop any further. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Nothing this month, but Jiri Krcek did take the free-kick that led to our first goal against Dukla Prague B. His effort was saved, but left our outfield player with an easy tap-in. ------------------------------------------ Derbies We managed our first victory over Dukla Prague B, meaning we've now beaten half of our city rivals at least once. ------------------------------------------ Edited November 29, 2021 by DaneBramage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 Admira Prague - April 2022 I was hoping for a better batch coming through this year, but I guess the improvements to our junior coaching and youth recruitment weren't done in time for this intake. Either that or they're still at such a low level that it doesn't make much difference. There doesn't seem to be much to get excited about here, at least getting players from Brazil and Vietnam is interesting. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted November 30, 2021 Share Posted November 30, 2021 A frustrating season to say the least. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 30, 2021 Author Share Posted November 30, 2021 Admira Prague - April + May 2022 Last month I asked for improvements and got knocked back, but I caught the board in a better mood this time and (after a little bit of complaining) got two upgrades pushed through. This puts our youth recruitment and junior coaching both up to average. These are now better than anyone else in the division, so I really hope our intakes start getting better soon. ------------------------------------------ We had a gentle end to the season, facing five of the bottom seven. That's all well and good on paper, but you still have to get out on the pitch and do the business. And we did so in style. We sailed through April with three big wins, including the result over Neratovice that sealed their relegation. Three consecutive clean sheets was also very welcome. We made life hard for ourselves against Kraluv Dvur by giving them a two-nil head start, but battled back to steal all three points before finishing the season with a last day victory. ------------------------------------------ We ended the season one place and four points worse off than last year. The gap between promotion and another year at this level was a lot bigger though. Last year we were equal on points with Pisek but they had a better head-to-head record, this time we were never in the conversation and trailed Slavoj Vysehrad by 19 points. It's especially sickening that it's one of our city rivals that left us in their dust. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Krcek missed a penalty against Benesov, but then scored one against Lokomotiva Vltavin. Individual record: 3 goals, 3/5 penalties. Overall record (4 goalkeepers): 8 goals, 7/16 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies A 3-0 win over Lokomotiva Vltavin was a fine way to ensure our fans go into the summer with at least some bragging rights. ------------------------------------------ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 30, 2021 Author Share Posted November 30, 2021 Admira Prague - May 2022 For a third year in a row Jakub Michalek was our most important player, though I'm sure if Alessandro Golinucci hadn't been signed away in January he'd have pushed him close. For the first time we ended up with two players for double figures in goal, plus another on nine. And that's the most green average ratings too. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Krcek is now our equal highest scoring goalie, though our penalty conversion record is still below 50%. ------------------------------------------ Pleased to get two upgrades pushed through in May, though I don't know where we've got the cash from to do this. We basically get our sponsorship income in the summer, then nothing else the rest of the year. And although our player wage bill is minimal, our coaching staff do have proper contracts, and that's where all our money goes. ------------------------------------------ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted November 30, 2021 Author Share Posted November 30, 2021 2 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said: A frustrating season to say the least. Absolutely. Frustrating sums it up perfectly. We ended the season well though, so fingers crossed we can keep the momentum going into next year. I doubt we'll ever overhaul the big B teams, but we need to stop the silly losses to midtable teams, and then try to steal some points from the smaller B teams. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted December 2, 2021 Author Share Posted December 2, 2021 Czech Republic - 2021/22 round-up Slavia Prague are on a roll. They went into the Championship stage one point behind Sparta Prague, but kept their nerve to clinch the title on the final day when their rivals slipped up. They then turned this into a third double in a row with another cup victory. Slavia Prague, Sparta Prague, and Sigma Olomouc all finished bottom of their Europa League groups. The national team finished second in the World Cup qualifiers, placing behind Belgium (but ahead of Georgia, Scotland, Armenia, and San Marino). The next Nations League B campaign has begun with a win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, and a draw with Slovakia. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted December 2, 2021 Author Share Posted December 2, 2021 Admira Prague - July + August 2022 We had a summer of constantly offering our players new contracts (with zero pay of course) to stop them from being stolen away. We didn't lose anyone of note, just a few youngsters. To try and strengthen our squad we brought in a new goalkeeper, two midfielders, and a striker. Same expectations as last year. The board want top half, I want to be competing for promotion. ------------------------------------------ We drew a second tier side in the cup and gave them a good game, but after a red card we were stuck with ten men for more than 55 minutes and that was too much to overcome. ------------------------------------------ We started the season with two derbies and picked up two wins. We've beaten Motorlet before but not in the last two seasons, so a big win over them is a sign of our intent. And we followed that with an even more impressive victory against Slavia Prague B, beating them for the first time with a one-two punch in the 72nd and 73rd minutes. It should have been three wins in a row, but despite having 22 shots against Cesky Brod we couldn't get past their keeper. We kept up the winning habit with three more victories in August, though there was a setback with a poor loss to MAS Taborsko. ------------------------------------------ Still early days, but we've put ourselves in the mix. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jiri Krcek should have started the year with a bang, but missed his penalty on the opening day of the season. Individual record: 3 goals, 3/6 penalties. Overall record (4 goalkeepers): 8 goals, 7/17 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies A good month with two wins over our rivals. We now have a winning record against Motorlet again, we've got our first win against Slavia Prague B, and we've reached double figures for total victories. ------------------------------------------ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 Promising signs for the season ahead. It's a marathon, not a sprint however, so expectations should remain tempered for now. Hopefully more of the same is to come! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted December 3, 2021 Author Share Posted December 3, 2021 Admira Prague - September + October 2022 September was a frustrating month. We went undefeated in our four games and picked up a win over Dukla Prague B, but in the three draws we had countless chances to score. Usti nad Labem and Pisek are two of the sides that were relegated last year so I didn't necessarily expect wins against them, but we should be beating Zivanice every time. We picked up just as many points in October despite results being a lot worse. We didn't deserve a 3-0 loss against Pribram B, but they were clinical and we were as wasteful as ever. We needed a last minute winner to put away our whipping boys Lokomotiva Vltavin, and the win over Viktoria Plzen was an unexpected bonus. A third minute sending-off ruined our chances against Klatovy in a match I had high hopes for, before Sparta Prague B handed out the usual defeat. ------------------------------------------ Stuck in our usual spot. Nowhere near the top, trailing the B teams, and one senior side ahead of us blocking the route to promotion. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jakub Krikava opened his account with a penalty against Pisek, but as none of our goalkeepers ever seem to be competent from the spot, he then missed next time out against Dukla Prague B. Individual record: 1 goal, 1/2 penalties. Overall record (5 goalkeepers): 9 goals, 8/19 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies We've been on a decent run against our rivals, with the two victories in the last couple of months taking us to six wins in a row against Prague opposition. But the loss to Sparta Prague B snapped that streak, and instead made it six losses in a row to them. ------------------------------------------ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneBramage Posted December 4, 2021 Author Share Posted December 4, 2021 Admira Prague - November + December 2022 First interview offer of the save. Trebon are in the same league as us, in their first season at this level. They sat 12th at the time, several places below us. I didn't attend. ------------------------------------------ Maybe I should have gone to that interview. We were unbeaten in three games before that, but then lost four in a row afterwards. I can accept the losses to the B teams, but conceding a 93rd minute shot to lose the Motorlet game was a kick in the nuts. ------------------------------------------ Really poor. That's this season written off, we're now in the scrap to finish between 7th and 10th. ------------------------------------------ Goalscoring keepers Jakub Krikava scored in both wins at the start on November, a penalty in one game then a free-kick in the next. Individual record: 3 goals, 2/3 penalties. Overall record (5 goalkeepers): 11 goals, 9/20 penalties ------------------------------------------ Derbies The tide has once again swung against us with a draw and two losses this period. That's now four games without a derby win. ------------------------------------------ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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