ChaosClive

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2024 After the great form of later November/December, that he was confident that the board would offer a new contract, as his current deal would be up soon, and he needed reassurance that he would still be in a job come the end of the season, as he really did not want to go back and work at the shopping centre. Happily the board offered a new contract, and Clive signed before even realising he would not be getting a pay rise. A new year came with a crash back down to Earth for Geroskipou, only managing 2 points from 4 games. Two 4-2 losses compounded the worry for survival in Clive's mind, being throughly outplayed in both, and never really being in the game at all. A bright spot was obviously the 1-1 draw against then-league leaders Karmiotissa, where an early Marios Ilia goal was enough to gain a point that in Clive's mind, would be valuable, especially as not many other sides around the bottom of the table would be able to get the same result. The game against Xylotybou was a massive let down, and Geroskipou missed out on the chance to go 6 points clear with only 9 games to go. New loan signing Sasa Mugosa pulling the goal back to seal the draw. Updates points target - 11 points from 9 games. Some more loan players were incoming during the winter transfer window, most notably big target man Sasa Mugosa, who scored the only Geroskipou goal on his debut against Xylotybou. February Fixtures 2 league games waited for Clive in February, he thought to also organised some local friendlies to give his side a much needed morale boost too, as Omonoia Psevda were in the hunt for a promotion space and would not let up against anyone, and Agia Napa had beaten his team 3-2 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2023 What a month for Geroskipou. Although not a perfect 5 wins from 5 that the fans had come to expect in the lower divisions, December was a month that saw Geroskipou pull out of the relegation zone, and finish the month 3 points clear of the drop zone. Turned out that Olymp. Nicosia went on an unbeaten run starting with their win at Geroskipou in the first match, but then two consecutive 1-1 draws against high fliers Achna and mid table Onisilos sandwiched in between a shock win against Othellos and a laboured win against bottom boys APEA inspired Clive to take his men out to their old stomping ground, the T T Bar for a deserved New Years Eve celebration. Updated points target - 13 points from 13 games. During Geroskipou's 'hot run', Olymp. Nicosia sought after Clive's signature, but obviously he turned this down, citing travel distances and the fact that his work at Geroskipou was not done. The same could not be said for Clive's long standing AssMan, who turn coated and signed for relegation rivals Xylotybou, giving Clive a sour taste in his mouth, even more determined to smash them in the reverse fixture. The HoYD emailed Clive through a report about the upcoming talent coming through in March, but Clive did not hold out hope, as nobody of yet has played a competitive fixture for the first team. January Fixtures A tough month coming up, 3 losses expected, the one positive was the last game of the season against Xylotybou, and Clive's chance to get one over on his Judas ex AssMan.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou November 2023 November was a solid month for Geroskipou, despite only picking up 3 points from 4 games. Clive looked back over game films and match stats and knew that his team was on the way to figuring out this Second Division lark. Geroskipou were unlucky to lose to Agia Napa and Deryneia, out playing both sides, and it was frustrating for everyone involved not to get at least 6 points from the month. Making things worse, was on the day that Geroskipou lost to Deryneia, somehow Xylotybou were 2-1 down to Pafos until the 91st minute, where they levelled the game, and then 2 minutes later, right at the depth, Pafos crumbled and Xylotybou ended up winning 3-2, leapfrogging Geroskipou in the process. It could also be argued that the Pafos game was also tight enough to warrant a draw, but it wasn't to be. Funnily enough, the Ysponas game was the least convincing of the 4 games, but 3 points were secured. League Table Geroskipou dropped back into the relegation zone, but with the better goal difference and better head to head against 14th place Xylotybou. Updated Target - 21 points from 18 games. December Fixtures Clive looked at the upcoming fixtures, and was delighted to see APEA as the last match, as this was a must win game and a chance to get some more points and getting closer to that 30 point target. If Geroskipou could also sneak a win against Olymp. Nicosia to bookend the month with wins, Clive would be a very happy man.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October 2023 A better month for Clive and Geroskipou, picking up 4 points from 4 games, in line with the teams pre-season targets. They only narrowly lost to Karmiotissa, who were predicted to finish 2nd in the league and a more convincing defeat against current league leaders Omonoia Psevda. But in the second game of the month, Geroskipou picked up their first ever win in the Second Division against Xylotybou, a win that Clive thought could be very important come the end of the season. A draw against PAEEK in the final game of the month secured Geroskipou another valuable point in the hunt for survival. Geroskipou finished October 2 points ahead of the relegation zone, with almost a third of the season gone. The updated points total that Clive had written on the wall on his office was now 24 points needed from 22 games. Upcoming Fixtures Looking into November, Clive thought that Geroskipou may be able to steal a win and a draw against Ypsonas and Deryneia respectively, and the games between Agia Napa and Pafos write offs, with the main aim to keep the score as low as possible.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou September 2023 Going into the start of the season, Clive knew not to hang too many hopes on the cup, which showed as his side lost 5-2 on aggregate against ASIL. The league was more important, and he knew that a fast start was the best start, and in fairness, picking up 2 points in September was vital. At the start of the season he told his players to aim for 30 points (1 point per game) in order to survive going straight back down to the Third Division. A laboured draw against APEA, and a 3-3 thriller against AEZ, which was sandwiched between 2 close defeats had started them on the right path, now the target was 28 points from 24 games. Also, in early September, Clive decided to bolster his ranks even more, both with 2 free signings, and a handful of loans that were not able to be completed in the pre-season. One point of concern for this season was the salary bills for Geroskipou, as shortly after the season commenced, the spend per team was released, with Geroskipou a full £333,000 off the second most frugal side Xylotybou. But in lighter news, all of the studying that Clive had done over the summer had paid off, and he was now the proud owner of a Continental C Licence!

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2023/24 Pre-Season After Clive returned to Cyprus, having been studying for most of the summer for his new coaching badge, he did his usual thing of calling up free agents to try and get them to come over for a trial. This season however after he made his first call, the chairman called him up, saying that he was selling the club and therefore Geroskipou had been placed under a transfer embargo. This put a massive dent in Clive's pre season plans, as he knew that teams had to act fast, and the longer this circus went on, the less players he could potentially snap up. Painfully, it only took until the 10th July (10 days after players had been released) for the takeover to be completed. Transfers This meant that Clive was now scrambling for signings, not ideal when his team was going into their first season as massive underdogs already. Clive tried to make the best of the free agent market, but good players had already either been snapped up, or were asking for too much money. The players that he did bring in though were first team quality, especially Paris Nikolaou in goal, Evgenios Stylianou up top, and Kyriakos Mouzouros on the right wing. The lack of wage bill resorted to a LOT of loans coming in. Some of these players, Clive knew would be recalled for not playing enough, but as long as he filled out his squad with options to start the season, he did not mind. Some familiar faces departed Geroskipou in the off-season. All had been good servants for the club, but the Second Division would be a step too far for them, so Clive decided to cut his losses and move on. Friendlies After all the transfer business was concluded, APOP Geroskipou played some local teams for morale purposes, this didn't start off too well, losing to Geroskipou 4-2 in their first game, but after that, went perfect 4 from 4. On the eve of the first competitive game in the Cypriot Cup, Clive was shocked to find that his team was 300-1 to win the league. He thought it would have been at least 500-1. September Fixtures The Cypriot Cup was not important to Clive, his main focus was on the league. The first month of fixtures looked challenging, but he would be happy to come away with 2 or 3 points.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2022/23 Season Review A great season for Clive and Geroskipou. They were about to venture into the unknown yet again, but Clive was shocked when the budget reports for the Second Division clubs were released, particular when it came to wage bills. Clive was somewhat relived when he got the following email from the chairman though. He got another email just before he was about to step onto the plane to go back to England after an emotionally draining season. It was about time the Geroskipou moved out of the park that also doubled up as the training ground, as the club was losing out on valuable income in the form of ticket revenue, still only being able to comfortably fit in 250 people. After Clive got off the plane, back in the rain of Gatwick airport, he received yet another email. This was supposed to be his time off! But he opened it up. It turns out that after the success of the season, the board had signed him up to study for his Continental C Licence. Looks like he was not going to have a break after all. Clive's Cuttings

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2023 As stated in a club memo the day before, Clive's side were 1 point above Elpida Astromeriti for the hunt for the 2nd automatic promotion spot into the Second Division, and needing 6 points from a possible 6 to mathematically secure it. This was an especially stressful period for the team, given that these 2 must win games were either side of the Lower Division Cup Final, another game that they were desperate to win to defend their title. The first game against Assia came along, and with Clive's boys knowing that Elpida were playing Champions, and heavily favoured Ypsonas, this was the perfect moment to snatch 3 points and with other results going their way, be promoted before the cup final. The game started off frustratingly, with a Christoforou strike just before the half ruled out for a tight offside call. And when the half time whistle came, despite signs of dominance, the score remained deadlocked at 0-0. The second half started as the first half finished, shots coming from all directions towards to Assia goal, but their keeper managing to snuff out all attacks. Then in the 62nd minute, Nikolaou pounced and rolled the ball home to make it 1-0 Geroskipou. 3 minutes later though, a corner for Assia was whipped in and nobody challanged Johansson in the air, who headed from close range to bring the game level again. In desperation, Clive threw men forward, and 12 mins later, a long diagonal ball found Moulazimis, who scored from a tight angle. 2-1 Geroskipou. A tired but fired up Assia side then spent 3 minutes chasing shadows before Andreou snapped, and was shown a straight red to make the rest of the game a lot easier for Geroskipou. Then in the 86th minute, another classic long ball hoof found Nikolaou, who clinically put his shot past the keeper to ensure a 3-1 win for Geroskipou. In the other game, Elpida had managed to salvage a draw from Ypsonas, this did not help Geroskipou, as despite the massive goal difference, places are decided on aggregate scored between two sides should points be level come the end of the season, so Clive's men knew that they needed at least a draw on the final day of the season to guarantee promotion. Despite Clive's best efforts in training, he could not help his team's mind wander given the circumstances of the league and a big cup final coming up. As he lined up in the tunnel, fully suited and booted despite the hot May sun beating down on the pitch, he couldn't help but be worried about losing to Achyronas, a team that he had beaten 4-1 and 3-1 in the league already this season. This showed as he was very timid throughout the game, it was a perfect storm and the oppertunity Achyronas needed, as they went up after 3 mins. Vitor got Geroskipou back into the game with a strike from just outside the box, but Geroskipou were being matched for one of the first times this season. A disallowed goal for both sides bought the half to a close at 1-1. Not much happened in the second half until 64 minutes, where from out of nowhere, Matt Pritchard, a loanee from Assia, was shown a straight red for a two footed lunge around the halfway line. Clive was furious, sent Pritchard down the tunnel and told him to leave the stadium after he had his shower to cool off. From there, it was only a matter of time before Achyronas scored, and it came in the 85th minute through Tano. Despite getting a man sent off in the 87th min, Achyronas held on for the most memorable win of the season. After the match, Clive got onto the phone to Assia, to tell them that Pritchard was going to be returning from his loan earlier than expected. Geroskipou's players all agreed with Clive on this one, and did not even say goodbye to him when he left the training ground the next day. After the cup final, morale was at an all time low, trainings were a disaster, with players not able to make simple passes to each other without any live defence in the way, and the general way the team ran though drills felt different, like the final league game against ENAD could all go horribly south. Geroskipou started the game with no pace, no energy, and no passion. It was only in the 38th minute, when a hopeful long ball fluked its was to Christoforou, who passed the ball past the ENAD keeper that it looked like someone lit a fire under Clive's boys. 2 minutes later, Kezos had the ball in the back on the net, only for it to be disallowed for a push in the build up. Then on 45 mins, Nikolaou also had a goal chalked off for offside. Half time came and despite the score probably being 3-0, it was only a 1-0 cushion. Clive had some tough choices to make, either keep things how they were and risk being caught at the back, or drop the midfielders deeper to grind out a result, but no having as much firepower upfront and being overly reliant on the long ball. He chose option 2, which heavily backfired, as after 55 minutes, the score was back to 1-1 and ENAD had the ascendancy in the game. After instructing his players to go back to the original plan, in the 76th minute, Christoforou slotted home to earn Geroskipou some breathing space at 2-1. ENAD were not going to take this lying down, and in the 82nd minute caught the Geroskipou sleeping with a surprise quick counter attack, something they had not done all game, and made the score 2-2. As the minutes ticked down, Clive heard confirmation from the home fans that Elpida had won their game. Geroskipou dropped back, wasted time and slowed the game down to a snails pace, but more importantly held on to the game and it finished 2-2. The remarkable rise continues for Clive and his team, gaining promotion to the Second Division at the first attempt by a single point! Clive could barely believe it in the dressing room, and as per usual, went on a long session with his team to celebrate.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April 2023 Clive had 3 games in April. Luckily, the first two games of the official run in were against the two sides rooted to the bottom of the table, which his team swiftly dispatched. The big challenge was going to be against Elpida Astronmeriti, a team that was so far up Geroskipou's backside that they could almost feel them. Before the match Clive told his players that promotion was almost assured if they went out and beat them, but as per usual, his defence was not listening to a word that he said, and shipped 3 goals. 90 minutes later the players looked dejected, with the gap now only 1 point between the two sides. Along with this, the chance of the title was also gone. Looking at the run in, Clive was happy that out of the two sides, his team had definitely not picked the short straw, having to play 2 sides in mid table, playing for nothing, but Elpida Astromeriti, despite their opposition not having much to play for apart from pride, were much stronger opponents.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou February/March 2023 An up and down few months for Clive came, February being bitterly disappointing but March at least providing some rest bite for both him and his players to recuperate for the season run-in and promotion push. February started well with a 3-1 win over Digenis Morfou, but then losing to 3rd place Ypsonas and 4th place MEAP made Clive question his teams ability to cope with pressure and if they were actually good enough to be promoted to the Second Division. The first game in March however, saw Geroskipou exact revenge on Ypsonas, battering them 4-1 in the Lower Division Cup Semi's to see them reach their 2nd consecutive final in the competition! This was followed up 2 weeks later by a convincing 3-0 win against mid-table APEP to regain some form in the league. Around this time in the season saw Greek teams come in for some of Clive's unused experiments, which he was not upset about, given that his squad was more inflated than Paul Pogba's ego at this point. Also in March, the newest batch of academy graduates came through into training, Clive took one look at them, and sent them packing with their P45s.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou December 2022/January 2023 First thing first for Clive was to get started on his New Years resolution that he made at the start of the year, "Better late than never" he thought to himself as he went to sit his National A Licence exam. A few days later he received an email saying that he had passed, and to quote the Cypriot FA "Was on the way to becoming a competent manager" This email but have been sent by some sort of Mystic Meg type, as for the next 2 months, his Geroskipou side went 7 wins from 7, and made it into the Semi-Final of the Lower Division Cup. Some fairly convincing batterings of teams too, but only 1 game with a clean sheet, Clive had no idea how to stop this leaky defence of his. But this form saw them shoot back into 2nd place in the table after the unconvincing November games. For the first time in Clive's short career, he was now both the cat and the mouse, instead of the mouse, and he was starting the feel the pressure from Elpida Astromeriti, who he had drawn with in November. Throught November, December and January, Clive bought in some players to both try and sure up Geroskipou's failing defence and try to bolster their midfield ranks. Brining in a load of free transfers that had not been picked up by other clubs since the start of the season and to give their careers a bit of a kick start. Obviously as these players were on non-contracts, Clive had no obligation to play any of them, but discovered a couple of diamonds in the rough, notably Christos Nikolaou, Marios Sotiriou, and Fotis Kezos It was also in the January window that clubs came sniffing around some of Clive's boys, luckily, all 3 players that left were bit part players and easily replaceable.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October/November 2022 The Geroskipou DOF suggested that Clive should sign some Greek players as fringe players for little to no money, so Clive duly obliged, and knowing nothing about them, signed them all on a non-contract basis (Spoiler: They would never play a first team game). October started as September finished, with a 1-1 draw. But then form took a sharp upturn, beating MEAP 4-3, Olympos twice in 2 weeks, 3-1 in the Lower Division Cup and then 7-4 in the league. Clive thought that this was the pinnacle of his career, until the week later, where his offense scored another 7 goals, with his defence only conceding 1! November was a dodgy month for Clive, with his first ever month without a positive win ratio in his career, is this where the wheels fall off of this unheard of run in league/s? His boys were outplayed in the loss vs ENAD, but somehow could not put their chances away in the second loss against Assia.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou August/September 2022 Clive and his team started their Lower Division Cup defence well, with a 3-0 win against Pegeia in the first round, clearly a good omen for the months to come, not losing throughout August and September, although, in Clive's eyes, they did drop 6 points in the 3 draws after giving away their leads in all 3 games. Still, this gave them a healthy top half position, and given that the pre-season odds were for Geroskipou to finish in 8th, this was a promising sign. One issue that Clive still could not shake, and what was made worse by the media, was the fact that his defence crumbled like a wall built by a blind builder, consistently giving up goals. Clive put this to the back of his mind, as Geroskipou's attacking play was so clinical, that it didn't matter at the time, pointed out by a 7-2 win over Amathous in the middle of September.

Clive English - Return to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2022/23 Pre-Season Going into the 22/23 season, Geroskipou's first in the 3rd Division, Clive knew that some players would be poached from lower division clubs, given the fact that some of the playing squad was irritable now that money had become involved, and with some contract discussions breaking down over players being too greedy, they left on free transfers. This exodus of players reminded Clive of what Kenny Dalglish had said some time ago: In light of his weakened playing squad, Clive delved once more into the free agents market, bringing in a LOT of trialists over the summer months and trying to negotiate a reasonable deal for both club and player. It was not a massive squad overhaul, but enough of one that upset a few of the more regular players that had been at the club from the start. Clive also went after anyone that was willing to join on loan for free in the top 2 divisions, with some handy players coming in, a prime example of this was Nuno Guimaraes, who was far too good for the squad, but there would be no hope in hell in brining him in on a full transfer, even if he was released by his club at the end of the season. After a few weeks training together, Clive cobbled together some friendlies to build some match fitness, 3 against lower division teams, which were easily won, and a game against 2nd division side Xylotybou, where a solitary goal from Vitor was enough to hang onto a valuable draw.

Clive English - Return to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2021/22 Season Review Shortly after the last game of the season, Clive received the following emails in his inbox. Clive saw this and it reminded him of the provisional offer that he received at the start of the season about a contract of his own. For the next few days he refreshed and refreshed his inbox, and waited by his phone to hear something about this but nothing came. Just as he started to think about possibly looking on the job market for a Second or Third Division job, or maybe even something back in England, he received an email with an official offer. £60p/w was enough for a months worth of shopping, which helped a struggling Clive, he also took a massive gamble and dropped whole day from his shift rotation at work, knowing if somehow Geroskipou could win promotion to the Second Division, he would be able to work full time at the club. If the gamble did not pull off, he might also loose his main income, as they were not happy to let him drop a day. Clive's Cuttings As he did last season, Clive kept cuttings and records from the season to build up a record throughout his time at the club.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou April-May 2022 With the league pretty much secured after Olympus only taking 5 points from February and May, Clive wanted to take full advantage and start rotating players to see if there was anyone who caught his eye for the Cup final later in May. The rotation started straight away, with Osei grabbing yet another hattrick in a 3-0 win over Latsia. The next match, despite playing a near full strength side, more leaky defending allowed Iraklis Gerolakkou to come from 2-0 down to grab a point. 2 weeks later, a convincing 6-2 win over Elia Lythrodonta confirmed the STOK Elite Division for Clive and his team! Third Division here they come. Moving into May, Clive took a gamble and played a full strength side against mid table side Atlas Aglantzias, knowing that the boys would need to be game sharp the week after in the cup final, despite the risk of injury. Luckily nobody was injured, but the performance was shaky, and despite winning the game 4-0, it was Artemi, in goal for Geroskipou who picked up the man of the match award. This both scared and reassured Clive, knowing that he could trust his goalkeeper in this form, but also they were outplayed by a mid table side. Cup final day came, with great excitement in the town, 250 people flocked into the ground to watch their team try and win their 5th trophy in 2 seasons. The game could not have gotten to a worst start, with Clive seeing Achyronas putting the ball in the back of the Geroskipou net, but sighs of relief came from everyone seeing the linesman's flag up for offside. 3 minutes later however, the linesman's flag stayed down after a horrible backpass was pounced on, 1-0 Achyronas. It didn't take long for the game to descend into ping pong football. 2 minutes later, Nikolaou raced through on a long ball to neatly tuck it in. 1-1. 5 minutes after that, a cross was not dealt with at the back (to nobody's shock), and a header bounced off the crossbar into the feet on an Achyronas winger to make it 2-1. in the 33nd minute, a scramble in the Achyronas penalty box resulted in a rushed cross from Osei across the face of goal for Nikolaou to poke home, 2-2. Against the run of play, just before the break, Nikolaou bought the ball forward from an Achyronas corner, and released Osei down the middle, who did not need a second invitation to get a goal to go with his 2 assists. 3-2 Geroskipou at half time. During the break, everyone looked joyful, given the fact that they had survived an onslaught of attacks in the first half and managed to be up still. Clive told his players to relax and that he sneakily read his opposite number planning to push more men forward, so adjusted his wingers to start in a deeper position to help with defensive problems. The second half passed by quickly, much to Clive's delight, until in the 76th minute, Achyronas centre half Pachipis soared into the air from a corner to finally equalise and make the score 3-3. Geroskipou found it within themselves to go for it, and Achyronas picked up 3 yellow cards in the final 15 minutes for persistant fouling, and Clive knew that they were now on the ropes, tweaking back to the original plan of his wingers pushing up the field to attack the full backs. Geroskipou were unable to find a 4th in regulation though and the game moved to extra time yet again. Like the start of the second half, the first half of extra time flew by, with nothing of note taking place during the first 15, by this time, Achyronas were now tiring, but Geroskipou were still firing on all cylinders. Clive knew that one goal would be enough at this point, with Achyronas appealingly playing for penalties, content to sit back and defend. He sent his boys out for the second 15, and it took 5 minutes before the deadlock was broken, with a corner being broken up, Geroskipou's men stayed in the Achyronas box, a cross was fizzed in and slid in from Sotiriou to make it 4-3. Achyronas looked broken, but had no punches left to throw. Straight from kick off, a long clearance found its way to Nikolaou, who had 2 bites of the cherry, admittedly straight at the keeped before Sotiriou took over and scored his second in the space of 60 seconds to make it 5-3. Ridiculously, the exact same outcome came from the next kick off, this time is was Osei to receive the clearance, and rounded his marker to squeeze in off the post, 6-3. Clive had never seen this level of defensive incompetence before, not even from his own team, which shocked and confused him, "How had these lot been in the running for the Third Division" he giggled to his assistant, who looked just as puzzled. For the last 7 minutes, the celebrations started on the sideline. When the referee blew for full time, just as last season, the fans rushed the pitch and celebrated with their team. The last game in the league marked the end of an era for club hero Chatzithomas who was retiring at the end of the season, and despite not playing many minutes since Osei's arrival, scored a hat trick in his last game in football before becoming a manager, inspired by Clive. The final league standings made for happy reading for Clive, highest goalscorers by 40 goals, and one of the better defences in the league was something that he was contented by. Geroskipou ended up runaway winners by 11 points and looked in good sted for the Third Division next season, being undefeated by Third Division clubs in the 21/22 season.

Clive English - Return to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January-March 2022 Clive tried to implement a curfew for New Years Eve, given that they had a game on New Years Day. After they arrived to get on the coach in dribs and drabs, with everyone wearing sunglasses, despite the clouds being out, and some of them even still smelling of booze, Clive realised he had failed. Luckily for everyone, so had the other team, and the most boring game of football ensued. Clive was not happy but did not bring up the partying at full time after the game finished 0-0, but asked for an improvement. The next two games were, both 3-0 shutout wins, increasing the lead at the top. February rolled around, and after a convincing 6-2 win, it looked like the wheels were going to come off, giving up a 4-1 lead to draw 4-4, and the next week give up a 2-1 lead to draw 2-2. This was concerning, especially due to the cup semi-final coming up against Ypsonas, who were relegated from the Second Division last season. Suprisingly Geroskipou held their own really well in the first 44 minutes of the game, keeping scoreless. This was until a pass found itself inbetween the cracks of Geroskipou's defence, and slotted past the keeper to make it 1-0 Ypsonas. Just as Clive was starting to make his walk into the changing rooms, Geroskipou won a corner, with no time left in the half, Savva jumped with his 6'7 frame and headed in yet another corner goal. Clive was happy to see his players in such an upbeat mood after the goal, still believing in themselves to go and win the match. This was made easier when a Ypsonas player was sent off for 2 yellow cards in the 64th minute. But after some trench building from the opposition, Geroskipou found it hard to breach the wall and get the second, all important goal. In the 2nd minute of injury time, after a hopeful ball was launched by the right back, Themistokleous, made its way over the heads of the Ypsonas centre half and into the path of Osei, who had scored 8 in the previous 5 and raced to neatly score in the corner. 2-1 Geroskipou. Despite shifting to a more defensive formation, some precise passing from 10 man Ypsonas gave their striker and chance to score a tap in from 3 yards out. Heartbreak for Geroskipou, who then had to play another 30 minutes of football against much stronger opposition. At the start of extra time, it was clear to Clive that Ypsonas were tiring, with a midfield 3 putting in a lot of graft with no more substitutions. He told his boys to attack the wings to see if the tired midfielders can keep up, and 5 minutes later, this had worked, with Kyprianou hitting a cross into the box that confused the defenders and allowed Nikolaou to poke home. 3-2. Into the 115th minute and Ypsonas are on the attack, although this fizzles out after a catch from Artemi. He takes no time in hoofing the ball upfield where Nikolaou's touch allows him to round his marker and put in a through ball for Kyprianou to take 2 touches and curl round the onrushing keeper. 4-2, and full time. Geroskipou and Clive had pulled off another miracle. The final would be played in May against Achyronas, yet another recently relegated side. Some of Clive's transfer business. In's Out's At around the same time as last year, some of the youth prospects came into training to see if they could cut the mustard. Unfortunately Clive couldn't see any of them fitting into his plans, so gave them their P45s with a good reference.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou October-December 2021 Clive's dream run continued deep into October, winning all his games in a convincing manner, only conceding 3 goals in 5 league games and managing to keep 3 clean sheets. His new look defence was finally keeping up their end of the bargain. In the Lower Division Cup, Geroskipou faced up against 3rd tier MEAP, who had been relegated from the Second Division and were one of the front runners to win the league. Clive was ready to take a battering in this game, but set his team up as he normally would. 38 minutes later though, he would start to regret this, as MEAP put the ball in the back of the net for the 3rd time. He wasn't even watching when, according to assistant, a MEAP defender tried to break the legs of his winger, Kyprianou. Clive turned just as Nikolaou was stepping up to take the spot kick, 3-1. At half time, Clive decided not to go mental, but with a calm tone said "We've got one back lads, as far as I'm concerned, we can put it in the back of the net some more". Left back Pelegais took this too literally, scoring a comical own goal to make it 4-1 MEAP just before the hour mark. With his head in his hands, Clive thought of a drastic move. He told his 6'7 centre half to move up top and play as a target man. Playing with 3 at the back against a team who were already playing a 4-3-3 might have seemed crazy, but Geroskipou had nothing to lose. 10 minutes later, after some disorganisation after a corner, a long ball was launched forward and Christoforou latched onto it and slid the ball past the keeper to make it 4-2. In the 86th minute, another corner was whipped in, and 6'7 defender turned attacker Savva leaped like a salmon and headed in from close range, 4-3. Surely not, Clive thought. In another moment of madness, he pushed both his wingers, and a central midfielder forward. Now playing a 3-1-3-2 for the last 4 minutes plus injury time against a rigid 4-4-3, the plan looked as if it wouldn't pay off. A throw in from the high on left hand side of the pitch was intercepted. With the MEAP full backs so far out of position they might have well been in the stands, Vasileiou managed to beat his marker and now Geroskipou had a 5 on 1 overlap. The ball made its way to the lumbering Savva, who has a vision rating of 2, and as expected, managed to pick out the wrong pass, overhitting his man aerially as well as the speed of the pass. It didn't matter though, as Christoforou sprinted to make the pass, ran toward the keeper and put it exactly where his first goal went. Everyone in attendance went ballistic, even though this meant an extra 30 minutes, the players were up for it, not even looking tired at full time. The first 30 minutes of extra time was largely uneventful, until the 4th official put the card up to show 1 minute of added time. From out of nowhere, and because he was only bought on at full time, Stouppis burst through a hole in MEAP's backline, received a pass from out wide, and jinked the ball past the keeper for the most unlikely of comebacks. Geroskipou had knocked out MEAP, and were the only club from the STOK Elite Division to get to the Quarter FInals of the cup. November went well for Geroskipou, despite dropping points against Atlas Aglantzias, they were riding high at the top of the league, despite the back 4's best efforts. December continued where November left off, winning 3 from 3 and managing to pull away from Olympos with a commanding 2-0. The QF of the Cup was nowhere near as eventful as the MEAP game, with a goal after a matter of seconds putting Geroskipou in front and setting the tone for the game. After being 2-0 until 70 minutes, 2 goals were scored in 2 minutes and Geroskipou won 4-0, The draw pitted them against Ypsonas, another team relegated the season before, and another team in the hunt for promotion straight away. Some more transfer business conducted by Clive, Pelagias to be the starting left back, and Osei to provide cover up top.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou July-September 2021 After a week of celebrations, partially due to the lack of funds in his bank account, Clive retired to his home in Konia, to think about the next season. It was decided that the club would stay amateur for the season, and if another promotion somehow happened, then a move to a semi professional model would be on the cards. Clive was determined to make the next step up as soon as possible, mainly so he could drop some shifts at his job at the retail park in Paphos, as a new contract was also offered verbally. Over the next months, Clive made a big binder that he stole from the security team at his job, to make a list of all the players that were available to bring in on loan, and those who were recently released from teams in the 2nd and 3rd tiers. He then painstakingly rang up players to have a chat about coming to play for him. After a lot of voicemails and hearing his own voice, he managed to cobble together what he thought were some excellent signings. He made sure that his loan signings were plenty, partially as he did not know what to expect in the 4th tier, but also, because he was using them more as trialists to weed the bad ones out and send them back to their parent club. He also had to let go some players that would not make the grade, he bought them into the shed after training one day, and it was a good thing that the Chairman hadn't bought that new chair like he promised over a year ago, as the 2 players being transferred were livid, saying they had not been given the opportunity to prove themselves. Moving into the pre-season matches, Clive felt mixed about the teams chances, so organised friendlies against both teams that were in the POASP Championship and Xylotybou, a team that finished near the top of the Second Division, and AEZ, recently relegated into the Third Division. He came out of the friendlies a happy manager, losing narrowly to Xylotybou, and pulling back to draw against AEZ, while beating the POASP teams with relative ease. The regular season started off with Geroskipou's first ever game in the Lower Division Cup, a tournament for teams in the 3rd and 4th tiers. A 4-2 win against Kormakitis, who were relegated to his teams league started the season off well. In the league, Clive's new signings proved inspiring, going on a tear, winning 5 of their first 6, the only loss coming against title hopefuls Olympos, who were lucky to be given a penalty. The great start to the season saw Geroskipou go into October 2nd in the league, with the only team to have beaten them so far in Olympos in first place, but only by 1 point.

Chaos Clive - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2020/21 Season Review At the end of season do, the local journalist came to write a short piece on the success of the newly reformed local club. He only asked one question as it really wasn't a big piece in the paper, "Where do you think this club can go?" Clive sat back in his chair, touched his tie and mused "I think the sky is the limit, when I came last year, I thought that this was just another start up club, but as the season has progressed and I can see how well the club is supported in the area, I think we can go the whole distance, and maybe someday win the First Division." The reporter chuckled to himself, nodded, and left the bar. Overall a solid year for Geroskipou, 3 trophies, a promotion, and free flowing, attacking football every match. Alongside the clipping from the piece in the paper, the newspaper had also included a little 'Team of the Season' lineup. Clive also meticulously kept records of his players and team records over the season. Just before Clive was about to go on holiday, he got an email on his personal email from the chairman containing some key financial figures. "Someone hasn't done their GDPR training" Clive said to himself as he opened up the email, and was shocked to find out that the club was actually paid broadcast revenue for the season in the 5th tier.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou May 2021 - Playoffs and STOK Winners Cup Clive stood in front of his players after a training session, they looked tired after playing 38 matches so far this season. He had to give them the bad news that they still potentially had 7 more games to go, assuming they can go all the way. After telling the squad this, despite his initial thoughts that the news will be met with dropped heads and a collective sigh from his team, they seemed raring to go, even one player quoting Dani Rojas, standing up and saying "Football is life!" to which came a cackle from the rest of the team. Clive left the changing room with his head held high, safe with how strong his team were mentally. This would not only be the first time in the STOK Winners Cup for Clive, but also his first time leaving the paphos district since he came to Cyprus. He pulled out all the stops, and instead of players making their own way to the games, he decided to organise a fun bus for every away trip that Geroskipou played. This started in the first game of the post season, an away trip to Nicosia, probably the furthest away trip possible in the whole pyramid. Geroskipou went behind on 43 minutes, but a goal just before half time and a second 30 minutes from full time ensured both a home Semi Final, and a great bus trip home. 6 days later, Geroskipou faced Eleftheri Ammochostos, and for once, the phrase 'Defense wins championships' rang true, shutting their opposition out in a 3-0 win to see them through to the Final, a chance for the quadruple in Clive's first season at the helm was on. The final would have to wait though, as both legs of the playoff Semi Final awaited. 3 days after the STOK Winners Cup Semi, Anagennisi travelled from Nicosia and the POEL League to face up against their POASP counterparts. It wasn't even close, the long journey took its toll on the Anagennisi players, going 4-0 down before the 15 minute mark, and by half time the score was 5-0. At half time, Clive told his players to conserve their energy for the second leg in 3 days time and the final of the STOK Winners cup 3 days after that. Geroskipou's men duly obliged, and despite conceding a goal late on, a trip to the playoff final was all but secured. For the return leg, Clive had managed to find some money in the club kitty to cover any lost wages of the men in the squad that he was planning to bring down for the match, so the coach drove everyone up on the Wednesday, in order for a meltdown on game day. His plan worked, as despite not being as close of a game, due to a rotated squad, Geroskipou still came out 2-1 winners (7-2 agg). The draw for the final of the STOK Winners Cup had not been kind to Geroskipou, being drawn away to Psimolofos, another team based in Nicosia. Luckily, there was a hotel that offered half price rooms since the team had been staying there so much, and the coach driver even got free tickets to all the games too. Christoforou put Geroskipou up 1-0 on 65 minutes, Clive thought that the match was done and he could add a third winners medal onto his bedroom shelf, but then 4 minutes from time, disaster. The turnstile that was his defence allowed a sloppy goal, his tired players falling to the ground with the thought of having to play an extra 30 minutes and potentially penalties. 42 year old goalkeeper Zajac must have saw this anguished look on his teammates' faces, and took matters into his own hands, spilling an easily catchable shot 2 minutes later to turn the game on its head. Clive stood in disbelief with his coaching team, nobody knowing what to do or say. There was not enough time to get back into the game, not with the condition the players were in. Despite throwing all his men forward, no more chances game their way. The first loss of the pre-season was a bitter pill to swallow, especially as it came so late into the game. All Clive could think to do was give a beer to all his players in the changing room and have a quiet word with them all individually, as his Greek was now at a point where he could hold a semi-decent heart to heart with them. Luckily, Geroskipou would not have to stay in Nicosia, as 2 days after the loss in the final, they travelled an hour or so back down south to Limassol, to play THOI Pyrgou in the first leg of the playoff final. Two games was all Clive asked from his team, and then their names would go into the club records books as the first team to win promotion to the STOK Elite Division. Clearly with the game a few days ago still in their head, Geroskipou raced out to a 2-0 lead at half time. Again, Clive asked his team to slow down at half time, but after conceding a goal 3 minutes after the break, giving THOI Pyrgou a chance to get back into the game, Clive urged his men to give it everything they have. This tactic clearly worked well, as when the referee blew for full time, Geroskipou walked off the pitch 4-1 winners, with only 1 game left in their long campaign. It was fitting, that in his and the clubs first season in organised football, they play their first and last matches at home, usually some of the people from the town come and watch, but today, the ground was filled with friends and families of players, eager to see them secure promotion and finally be able to spend some time with them, as every weekend had been filled with football. Geroskipou only needed not to lose 4-0 and promotion would be theirs. Someone special was obviously in the crowd for Chatzithomas, as he first won and scored a penalty in the 14th minute, and then straight from kick off, put himself in, chasing a bad back pass from a midfielder, to rifle home and put Geroskipou 2-0 (6-1 agg) up after 15 minutes. Just before half time, Geroskipou got a third. At half time, Clive told the players to play however they wanted in the second half, and to put on a show for their friends and families, as THOI would have to score 6 goals without reply just to get to extra time. The second half went by quickly, the players enjoying themselves, doing fancy flicks and playing as if it was a charity match. When the full time whistle blew, the crowd stormed the pitch, started hugging loved ones, and starting the celebrations early by bringing ouzo that they bought into the ground with them. Clive bought them into the dressing room quickly to say congrats and to enjoy their night. He then started walking out the door but his players grabbed him and feeding his ouzo and beer. The next morning, his head hurt and he could barely get out of the plastic chair that he had fallen asleep on by the side of a track, but it was worth it.

Chaos Clive - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou January 2021- April 2021 Over the course of the season, Clive began to improve on his Greek, which was vital due to the tail end of the season coming up, which included the chance of his first pieces of silverware in the league and the POASP Cup, with the Semi Final in early March. But the first focus was in the league. His high power offense scored 5 in the first game of 2021, but his defence, which he was always worried about when the opposition had the ball in his half, game up 4 goals, only narrowly managing to sneak a 5-4 win. The next 8 games though, there were no such problems, a 7-2 and 7-1 win cementing his sides lead at the top of the table, and then FOUR clean sheets in a row secured a 10 game win streak, this was then halted by a 2-2 draw with Kissos Kissongergas, admittedly, Clive had tried to rest as many starters for this game, due to the SF of the cup being 3 days after. Onto the SF of the cup. Clive had right to be confident, having beaten AS Evagoras Pallikaridis 7-3 and 7-1 in their previous league meetings, but did not want to take any chances. He fielded a full strength side and told them not to let up during the game, even if it meant embarrassment for the opposition. His men duly obliged, winning 8-1 in possibly the most lop sided Semi Final the POASP Cup had ever seen. But it didn't matter to Clive, he had got to a final. Having pretty much secured the title, it would take something extraordinary for them to lose out now. And then the wheels started to come off, after a 6-3 drubbing of Akritas, Geroskipou then lost 2-0 against CAAK. Luckily, all the other teams in the fight for the title were also slipping up, so Clive booked his local bar out in Konia, and took the players out before the next game. This seemed to work, as they beat KN Evagoras Pallikaridis 6-0 and Kentro Neotitas 4-0. The win against Kentro secured the league title, and the players that could get time off work had an open bus tour, on a Wednesday, with nobody in attendance. Cup final day came. Geroskipou were up against the team that had beaten them 2-0 the previous month in the form of CAAK. The match started badly, going 1-0 down in the 19th minute, but straight from kick off, Christoforou pulled one back. It was a touch of good fortune when CAAK had a man sent off, so when Theofanous got Geroskipou's second Clive was assured. But the revolving door that was his slow back 4 and statue of a goalkeeper was on hand to allow CAAK a way back into the game. FT 2-2. Extra time started, and with some words of 'encouragement' to his team, Chatzithomas scored 2 penalties in 5 minutes to put the trophy in one of his hands. Despite another goal from CAAK, 2 more from Clive's minions secured a 6-3 AET cup win, the first of his career. The rest of the regular season was rounded off by a win and a loss in the league. Around the time of his league and cup double, Clive noticed some new faces around the training ground, with some of them sporting wispy, blonde 'moustaches', he asked his Assistant Manager if he had sanctioned the local school to come and watch a training session. Right about then, another member of staff that Clive had seen around a few times in the season, that he had assumed to be someone in on some kind of adult level of work experience came up and told him that his newest batch of youth prospects were here to train. This came as a surprise to Clive as he didn't even knew the club had a youth team up until this point. "Okay, we can give them a couple of run around sessions and see if they are able to make the grade here." Clive said. Having only had a few sessions with the youth players involved, Clive quickly realised that this would be a waste of time, and that none of them could ever come close to being ready for his plans. He signed a few of them up on amateur youth contracts, but just to fill an under 19s side, that again, he never knew existed that his assistant manager was taking charge of.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou August 2020 - December 2020 The first few months flew by for Clive, so quickly in fact that he did not manage to keep any clippings from the local papers, with up to date league tables, cup draws ect. Off the pitch the only clipping that he managed to make was an email from a technical director, that he knew nothing about, to tell him that he had passed his National C coaching licence. He thought the only reason he would have kept this was to send it back to England at some point to be able to tell his mates that "He knows his stuff" On the pitch, however, things were going even better, his competitive managerial debut came in a 7-3 win over Evagoras Pallikaridis. A couple of draws in the following games was starting to make Clive regret his decision to come over to Cyprus altogether, especially after his team deserved the win in both games, and maybe they would see through his initial lies about knowing how to manage. But then, APOP Geroskipou went on a run of 7 consecutive wins, catapulting them to the top of the table, this was then followed by 2 draws, but his team had started to believe. The first loss of the season came in a rematch with St.George's FC, who were soundly beaten in pre-season, but they obviously had bought some ringers in for the match, as Geroskipou were powerless to stop a 3-1 defeat. December bought about another unbeaten run, 5 games, 4 wins, 1 bore draw. The first two games were against title rivals A.S Mandrion, and AEK Kouklion, creating a gulf at the top of the table despite having 13 games left in the season. Surely Clive's minions could not be caught in the race for the title, and a chance to be promoted in his first season at the club?

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou 2020/2021 Pre-Season After a few months of searching through the Cypriot yellow pages for free agent footballers, Clive managed to assemble a good looking squad on paper. The team was ready for it's first foray into the season with some friendlies against teams in the same tier in the pyramid. Clive was happy with both the attacking threat (19 goals in 5 games) and his defence, (7 conceded in 5) despite the 6-4 win in the second match. What was most pleasing was the 5-0 win against St.George's, who are in the POASP Championship this season. Clive was very optimistic about their chances and so were his newly formed squad.

Clive English - Back to the motherland - APOP Geroskipou Before the thread properly kicks off, I'm going to set out the pyramid of Cypriot football and the cups we can win. Also some of Clive's ambitions for APOP Geroskipou. Cypriot football pyramid I will link the whole Wikipedia article here, but in the database I am using, there are 12 teams in the first division instead of 14, and 2 promotion/relegation spots in all divisions. In tier 5, where APOP Geroskipou currently are, there is one playoff spot from 11 different regionalised leagues, all 11 are entered into a 2 legged playoff system, 6 teams entering in the QF, 8 teams total in the SF's, 4 in total in the 2 finals, with the winners of those matches gaining promotion into the STOK Elite Division. Cups in Cyprus There are 5 cups that we are able to win: POASP Cup (Only for POASP Championship sides) STOK Winners Cup (Only available by winning the POASP Cup) Cypriot Lower Division Cup Cypriot Cup Super Cup Aims for the save: League: Promotion to STOK Elite Division Promotion to Third Division Promotion to Second Division Promotion to First Division Cups: Win the Lower Division Cup Win the Cypriot Cup Win the Super Cup Win the EC2 Win the EL Win the UCL Win the Club World Cup Reputation: Become the most reputable club in the Paphos district Help Increase the reputation of the First Division 3.5 star club reputation Other: Have at least 3 Cypriot players in the starting line-up at all times Get Continental Pro Licence Build a new stadium Have the highest average attendance in Cyprus