ChaosClive

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March 2028 As Clive's 300th game in management came, he thought about the good and bad memories that have come, from winning cups and the great escape to the bottling of the STOK Winners Cup back in the first season of his career. Both the THOI and Onisilos games went by without major issue, with loanee Viegas scoring all 3 goals in a 2-0 and 1-0 win respectively, and also picking up 5 in the 2 friendlies. Viegas and Zalikas now were the on form pair up front, both being near or near enough of the goalscoring charts for the season. The gap was now 4 points at the top, although despite the growth of the club in recent years, Clive knew that promotion to the First Division, however good, would only harm the club in the long run, as they were not yet fully ready to go up. April Fixtures Doxa and Deryneia were sandwiched inbetween PAEEK. PAEEK was a must win, and the Doxa game would be a good chance for Clive to change his mind about promotion to the top division. Deryneia was a write off, considering the long standing history of results.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2028 The 3-0 win against Omonoia Aradippou gave Clive some hope at promotion, now only being 5 points from 2nd with 8 matches to go. This hope came crashing down however as Geroskipou looked dreadful in the other league match of the month against Agia Napa, losing 2-0. As a result of this, he banned his players from a night out on the strip, something that he thought would have been motivating to push them on in the promotion hunt. March Fixtures THOI and Onisilos were both winnable matches, and coupled with the typical mid season friendlies, Clive hoped that this could create some good form going into the final stretch of the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2028 This month really was a Jekyll and Hyde sort of situation for Geroskipou, firstly, an unlucky defeat to Olymp. Nicosia, then they demolished ASIL, but on paper the score should not have been 6-0. Another tight loss against Achna followed by another big win, this time against Omonoia Psevda. The last game was the most frustrating though, with a chance to go within 5 points of promotion with 9 games left, Clive could only watch in dispear as Othellos' goalkeeper decided this was the game to turn into prime Buffon, making 11 saves and seeing Zalikas hit the post twice as they held out for a 1-1 draw. Now Geroskipou were 7 points from promotion, luckily their head to head records were better than most teams above them in the league after the first set of matches. 9 games left now, and promotion was starting to look like a tough ask despite being in such a good position only a few games earlier. February Fixtures A good oppertunity to right the ship, 2 winnable games were coming up for Geroskipou and hopefully this was the chance that they needed to steer themselves toward promotion.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2027 A big attendance for the Pafos game did not equal a big performance from Geroskipou, as they went down 3-1 with new signing Magi scoring the only goal of the game. The APEA game was disheartening, and dropped Geroskipou well out of the promotion hunt. Aris came next, and Zalikas went from hero to zero back to hero, as he scored in the 6th minute, was then given a straight red in the 34th minute. Luckily for him, his teammates were able to hold off the Aris waves of attacks and see the game out 1-0. Just after the halfway point, Geroskipou were sitting on 31 points, based on previous seasons, Clive knew that the magic number was around about 60 points for promotion. Other News Some more interest from top First Division teams, this time Nea Salamina came in for Clive. This is Magi, the new DC, who can also fill in at MR. An athletic jack of all traits type of player, signed on suprisingly little money. January Fixtures

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2027 To call a spade a spade, this was a poor month for Geroskipou in Clive's opinion. Although a good display started the month off well against THOI, a 2-2 draw with Doxa followed, in a game that was filled with errors leading to goals. Despite the game against PAEEK being a win, Geroskipou left it late, with a 89th minute winner. Finally, bogey team Deryneia easily downed a sluggish looking set of bodies to round the month off with the first loss of the league season, but only on top of the league due to a better head to head record against both Achna and APEA. December Fixtures Pafos and Aris Limassol looked difficult, both teams only 1 point behind Geroskipou, luckily, APEA were close to relegation, so a 3 point game should be easily managed.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2027 A long but successful month for Geroskipou, with big wins against Achna and Agia Napa, which was the first game in the new stadium, hence 426 in attendance instead of the usual 250. The three games against Onisilos did leave a bitter taste in the mouth, especially as at least two of the games were winnable. Not the end of the world though, as Geroskipou's unbeaten start to the season saw them sit in 1st with just under a third of the season completed. Other News November Fixtures Clive sat his sqaud down and let them know the next few games would be key, THOI and PAEEK were struggling and had to be beaten. Doxa and Deryneia were doing okay, but were beatable.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2027 A tight aggregate win against Olymp. Nicosia in the cup saw Geroskipou through to the Second Round once again, with Clive happy enough with the first leg perfomance to quickly forget about the battering they took in the second with a slightly rotated squad. In the league, Clive could have taken it as either 4 points dropped in the draws against Aris Limassol and Olymp. Nicosia, or 5 points gained in addition to a sneaky win against ASIL, who he knew would be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. With the previous year's form continuing on into the new season, Geroskipou saw themselves finish the opening month of in 6th, but still running close to everyone in the promotion race, and even forming a 5 point gap between them and the relegtation zone. October Fixtures Clive was looking to target at least 4 wins from October to solidify early dominance in the league, with Achna being the game most likely to trip his side up. The cup was again not important to him though as it seemed obvious that it did not help with Geroskipou gaining noteriety within Cypriot football.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2027/28 Pre-Season Right before Clive went on his post season break back to England, the long standing chairman Andros Efthymiou announced his expected retirement. Clive was a bag of emotions, mainly hatred and nerves, the hatred coming from the lack of funds coming in on his end, the nerves being the possibility of him losing his job depending on who takes over from Andros. Soon after though, the feelings of nerves went away, only to be filled with feelings of dread, as a fans trust took over. Even with Clive's limited knowledge of the inside workings of a football club, he knew that managing finances would now be soley on the teams perfomance, with the new board very unlikely to help out with any debts. The first chunk of money coming in was the regular tv money, again though, this would not help much in the long run, as the total was still tiny. Somehow though, a new sponsorship deal was announced, only £4k more per year though. Just to complile the misery, midway through Clive's holiday, the bank got in contact about the loan that the club took out at the end of last season. Clive came back from his holiday and got straight back into the nitty gritty of trying to get his side promoted on a limited budget, with future investments from the board not looking good. The first order of business was to resign Zalikas onto a new contract, as teams had started to sniff around. This contract took around 7% of the annual playing budget, but if he could continue his goalscoring form, he was Geroskipou's best chance for promotion. The next order of business was to bolster the squad, with Augusto coming back to the club on a free transfer to play in the CM(A) role in the middle of the park. In Clive's mind, this was £250p/w well spent though. Christou also came back to the club. This time on a free! With Kyriakou not wanting to come back to the club for another loan spell, Clive went to the foreign market for a backup striker, his scouts managed to find a Romanian called Moldovan to cover this position on a £0p/w loan. The pace shown in training made Clive think that the PF role may be very well suited to him. Two other players came in of note, Sofokleous to bolster the defense, and Theofanous as a backup on the left wing. Just before the first pre-season matches were played, another heavy blow to the finances came through in the mail, this time about the heavily anticipated stadium move. Results Another good looking set of results, again though, all just as tune up games to get the players all more comfortable with each other. Pre-Season Odds Although only a 1 place improvement compared to last season, Clive was half tempted to put on a tenner on his side as they had improved from 151.00 (150/1) to 51.00 (50/1) September Fixtures An interesting draw in the cup followed by a tough run of opening games. Clive knew this would be a real test on how his new look side would measure up for the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2026/27 Season Review Karatassos came in with a lot of pressure on him, but performed well in the circumstances, picking up 12 clean sheets and would have been player of the season if it wasn't for Zalikas having another standout season up front. There was a good spread of assists throughout the team, but Clive was worried that it was mainly Zalikas getting on the end of the crosses/passes, and that if he got injured, Geroskipou would be in a pickle. The board decided to cut wages by about £1k p/w, not ideal for a team that is already the lowest spenders in the league looking to get out. Clive's Cuttings

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2027 A great month results wise, but still frustrating personally for Clive. A month with 3 wins from 3, making it 5 wins from the last 5 games was topped off with a 6-0 mauling of Pafos. The form table looked great for Geroskipou, Clive was wondering why they could not replicate this 5 more times and then promotion would be almost guaranteed. Final Table The final table saw Geroskipou jump to 8th, finishing only 12 points away from the promotion places, and 24 points from relegation, so in Clive's eyes they were now an established Second Division side.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2027 It was always an annoyance for Clive that his side always chose the last few games of the season to show what they were capable of. This season, it was a 3-0 win against Pegeia, followed by a 4-1 win over Doxa, who now only sat 5 points ahead of them in the table. May Fixtures Clive wondered if the form could continue into May, although he had his doubts as only 1 game was a certainty in Omonoia Aradippou. The other 2 games were too dicey to predict, with Pafos and Agia Napa both well above them in the table. If they could win all 3 though, a top half finish was more than possible.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February/March 2027 Being the committed man that he was, Clive was jetting back and forth from Cyprus to the AFCON to watch both his sides play, leaving him little time to rest, which is why February and March seemed like one big month for him. On the club front, there was a single win against Onisilos, where they turned on the style to win 5-0. This was a great response to the 2-0 loss against Akritas a few weeks before. Going into March, it became apparent that his players were demotivated with nothing to play for in the league, as they lost 3-1 to table toppers Karmiotissa and to round out the month, another failure to beat Deryneia cemented the fact that they had a new arch rival. Sitting comfortably in mid-table, although it is a far cry from when Clive had hopes of promotion after 9 games. April Fixtures Both league games in April were targeted as wins, with Pegeia sitting bottom and Doxa being a chance to show some resemblance of the team that Geroskipou were early in the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February 2027 - AFCON Special Qualifiers Main Tournament Nigeria eased through to the Second Round, with the draw coming in the last match of the group stage, with a completely changed starting 11. One thing that worried Clive was that his side had conceded in every game of the group stage so far. But so long as his team scored more, he did not have much to worry about. The Second Round pitted Nigeria against Uganda, which a fully rested side won with ease 4-0, including a hattrick from Okereke. The QF pitted Nigeria against Senegal, which was a tight and tense game. The only goal came from the spot to send Nigeria through to the Semi's. Before the Semi Final, Clive told his players that whoever won this next game would more than likely go on to win the rest of the tournament, so with fire in their bellies, Nigeria raced out to a 1-0 lead within the first minute of the game. They doubled it on the 38th minute and then it was just a case of keeping Mali at bay. Despite Mali pulling a goal back, Nigeria held on to reach the final. The final was played in front of 52,000 people. Nigeria dominated the whole game, and Clive's prediction came true at the final whistle, with Nigeria winning the AFCON with a 2-0 win against DR Congo. In the tunnel after the game, Clive found the president of the Nigerian FA and formerly handed in his resignation. The president did try and convince him otherwise, saying about the World Cup and how well Nigeria could do under his leadership. Clive had Geroskipou to think about though.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2027 Obviously things just 'got out of hand' at the NYE party, as Geroskipou would go winless for the whole of January, including a loss in the cup, again getting to the QFs but no further. The string of poor performances saw Clive's men drop into 10th, with 9 games left, promotion was pretty much out of the picture, but so was relegation. Finance News February Fixtures February looked promising for Clive, with Akritas and Onisilos both being just outside the relegation zone and having poor seasons.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2026 Clive was overjoyed at the club's New Year's Eve party, as Geroskipou were unbeaten in December, which included a 5-1 win over Agia Napa and a 6-0 win over APEA. Draws against Pafos and Omonoia Psevda were small blemishes on the celebrations, as both were winnable games. The cherry on the cake was a 1-1 draw with Ermis Aradippou in the cup. The improvement saw Geroskipou end the year at 9th in the league, with a win in the next match seeing them possibly move into 5th, and right back into the promotion race. Other News Finances are doomed. January Fixtures Some more big games, first against Aris Limassol in their game in hand, then the return leg of the cup. The month ends with games against 8th, 11th, and 1st.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2026 The month started off so promising for Geroksipou, overturning the deficit in the cup with a convincing 6-0 win against Pafos with Zalikas getting 5. Then, the wheels came off. It started with a predictable loss against Karmiotissa, followed by a good draw against Deryneia. Then Doxa enjoyed the 3 points after a good fightback in the second half. Lastly, a disgraceful attacking performance which included 0 shots on target condemned Geroskipou to a single point from 4 games. A string of terrible performances see Geroskipou drop to 8th. December Fixtures Clive thought that the 6-0 against Pafos could hopefully boost confidence for the next game in the league. Apart from the Agia Napa game, Geroskipou could also get wins for the rest of the league games.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2026 Another solid month for Geroskipou, despite the early wasted opportunity against Ypsonas, which was completely undeserved in Clive's eyes. His side quickly made up for this by winning the next 3 games though, before a defeat in the first leg of the cup against Pafos. The effects were still showing in the last game of the month against a newly promoted Pegeia side, where tired bodies could only draw 1-1. A big blow came in the game against ASIL, where star striker Katsantonis, who was averaging a goal a game, tore his thigh and would be out for the majority of the season. Geroskipou were still in the drivers seat for promotion, but only just, with a big pack forming just behind them. November Fixtures A massive month loomed in November starting with the return leg of the cup against Pafos, with Karmiotissa, bogey side Deryneia, Doxa and Omonoia Aradippou all following.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2026 Geroskipou started the season the way they finished the previous one, with an impressive showing in the first 3 games of the season, with the first 2 seeing them easily into the Cypriot Cup Second Round. A 5-0 win against Omonoia Psevda followed before the first blip of the season against APEA, a team that Clive knew that they should be beating. Then the big shock of September was a 4-2 win against promotion hopefuls Aris Limassol, with Zalikas and Katsantonis both bagging a brace before finishing the month off with a tighter 1-0 win against Othellos. The most important thing was that at the end of the first month, Geroskipou were clinging to dear life on 1st place. October Fixtures Looking at the month ahead, Clive saw a few stumbling blocks, namely ASIL in the league and Pafos in the cup, but an easier October to ease their way into the season with.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2026/27 Pre-Season Back in Geroskipou, Clive had yet another tough summer transfer window of adding quality without any real kind of wage budget. The players that he had shortlisted were not interested in playing for such a small club, despite only being a few places from the First Division, as reputation-wise, Geroskipou were still mixing it with the teams in the Third Division and a long way off even the worst teams in the Second Division. With the looming threat of financial difficulty, Clive hoped for a miracle, and was downtrodden when rumours of a takeover bid started to be disputed in the media. On the 'plus' side of this dire situation, a new batch of TV money was coming in. At this point though it was a drop in the ocean of what Geroskipou needed. So with very little money coming in, the only way that the wage bill would be slashed was to release a lot of the players and have a mini rebuild. Clive got to work handing out the P45s to players that did not fit into his new system of being good footballers. This mass exodus allowed at least some players to come in, and for the first time in his career, and probably against his better judgement, Clive handed cold hard cash over for a player! Panagi hopefully could bring some sort of crossing ability into the team, and along with Manhas, Clive had almost completed the right hand side of his new look midfield. A lot more business was done in a short space of time, some important players looked to be Bousekas to fill in the BWM role, and Augusto to play alongside him as a CM(A). Christou came back on loan for another year from Achna, and Bernardo was also bought in on a free to partner him at DC. Karatassos was hopefully going to be a replacement for last season's hero Igor Bastos in goal, who did not want to come back for another spell on loan. Lastly, Sambu also came in to compete at DL. Results Some easy tune up games swung heavily in Geroskipou's favour and set them up well for another hard slog of a season. Pre-Season Odds After all that squad building, the media still thought that a 15th place finish and relegation was destined. September Fixtures

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2026/27 Pre-Season (International) Another hectic summer 'off' for Clive. After the successful U20 AFCON Qualifiers, Clive was looking in the international job market once again to see if anything peaked his interest. As it just so happened there were 3 jobs that he applied for, Cameroon, Liechtenstein, and Nigeria so he applied in hope more than anything. A few days went by with no responses, something he was used to back in England, until in one day, all 3 FA's came back to offer the job without an interview. Clive was flattered but in his mind, there was only one international job that he wanted. He had been promoted from within to take charge of the Nigerian senior side. They were ranked 14th in the world at that point and the top African team. The AFCON was also coming up and the boys in green were heavy favourites to win. Could Clive win his first major silverware outside of Cyprus?

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou Nigeria U20s 2025/26 Clive came into the Nigeria U-20 job with a baptism of fire against Brazil, but his new side fought valiantly, scoring a consolation goal in the 90th min to at least have something to show for the friendly. The U20 AFCON qualifiers flew by for Nigeria, with only 4 games being played due to the seeding for the 2 legged qualification matches. Their campaign started with the embarrassment of Mauritania 10-0, with Omeje grabbing 6 of those goals. Obviously a fully rotated squad was selected by Clive for the return leg a week later, with Nigeria only winning 2-0. Togo were to be the team to stand between Nigeria and the U20 AFCON. A solid 4-0 win in the first leg helped calm the nerves before another 3-1 win the following week. And that was that for international management for the season for Clive. He had managed to win all the matches that mattered and tick 4 countries off the travel globe in Brazil, Mauritania, Togo, and Nigeria.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2025/26 Season Review After such a massive swing compared to the season before, Clive hoped that now Geroskipou had managed to not only survive, but thrive in the Second Division, that they could really kick on and start realistically thinking about promotion in the coming seasons. Looking over his final squad list for the season, he knew that he would have to try and sign a lot of his current loans, namely Bastos, Christou, Panagiotou and Andreou, who were instrumental to the 6th place finish. A decrease in the wage budget was not expected, but Clive had faced worse challenges than £250p/w taken away from him. Clive's Cuttings Zalikas continuing his goalscoring form into the 25/26 season and becoming the top assist getter validated a new contract. Finances were at an all time low, and Clive was unsure how to fix it with the little money coming in from ticket sales only coming to around £40k per year, less than the yearly wage budget. Finances

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2026 With nothing else on the line apart from pride to play for, Geroskipou suddenly turned on the style. A 4-2 win and 2-1 win against the teams previously in 3rd and 4th, mainly with the help of Christou's head (4 goals including a hattrick for a DC isn't anything to sniff at) resulted in a 6th place finish. Final Table Another season done, this time, Clive was resentful of the dropped points in February and March, as these 8 points left on the table would have seen Geroskipou promoted in 2nd place. Other News 0

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2026 What a topsy turvy month. First thing that came through Clive's inbox after the new month began was an article from the Cypriot Football Messenger about the title race, Clive skimmed over it until he realised that ,according to the media, Geroskipou were still in the hunt, something that he had come to terms with them not being able to do. Although looking at the fact that 10 out of 16 teams in the league were on the list, he assumed that the media didn't know what they were talking about as per usual. The first game was against Pafos, were a Zalikas brace helped Geroskipou to another win against Pafos and actually putting them back into the title race, was this a mystical prediction from the media or just sheer dumb luck?? Obviously dumb luck, as the next game against Xylotybou was lost 2-0 despite the fact that the opposition were already relegated from the Second Division and Geroskipou dominated the game. Title race over. In Clive's frustration, he took to the touchline against Doxa without taking his usual snippings so would have to include it in this update They lost 2-0. May 2026 Two tough games to finish off the season, Othellos and Olymp. Nicosia, who were the only two sides still in with a shot of promotion. Clive expected nothing to come from these games apart from heavy losses. Youth Intake Nothing to see here.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou March 2026 And just like that, Clive's ambitions of promotion were gone. Another 4 points dropped against teams in and around them in the table effectively shut the door on promotion. Now Geroskipou were 8 points from 2nd place with 5 games to go. Clive thought about the maths, and if his side had not dropped 8 points in the last 4 games, they would be sitting in 2nd, admittedly by the slimmest of margins, but the top 5 were dropping points like they were going out of fashion. The one bright spot for the month was Katsantonis scoring 2 goals in 2 games to continue his hot streak for his new side. April Fixtures Pafos was obviously the harder fixture of the 2, with Xylotybou basically already relegated. But like Xylotybou, Geroskipou had almost no hope of getting what they wanted from the season either.