2016
5 games, 5 losses
The Fenerbahce fans must be wondering what on earth the chairman was thinking by hiring Brown. Even though he has only played 5 games, every one of the games has ended in defeat. Did Brown come back from paternity leave too early? That will be the question on everybody’s lips.
A scathing attack from the fans the other night was unleashed on Brown by a lot signing “you don’t know what you are doing”, followed by “Broony is a wanker” This must be hard to take for Brown so early on in his career… He had this to say:
Monaco Magnificent...Latest from the Crepe Cup...Matchday 5
Languishing in Division Three is tough for Monaco…a small principality with a history of punching well above its weight and now it would seem that once again it has found its feet.
Matchday 5 in the Crepe Cup and after all the hype and inevitability that many thought would see Division One side Lyon romp to the group win it is Monaco who have sealed the deal. Unbeaten in 5 matches, unbowed by the apparent greatness of others…Monaco have won the group.
Marseille put up little resistance to Monaco last night at the Velodrome, behind to a Falcao penalty after only 7 minutes their only real fight came when Ben Yedder converted in the 14th minute to equalise…from then on it was one way traffic and with the killer punch of a second from Vieirinha on the 44th minute it looked like the night might end in a bit of a rout…a mood not helped when Diarra saw red for Marseille on 59 minutes but once again Mandana proved his worth to the home side and kept the scoreline to just 2-1 although in fairness Marseille had little to offer for large chunks of the game and their inconsistency must be starting to concern their manager as they try and consolidate at least a play off berth in the league.
For Monaco its all about looking forward now…the group is won and they can now start to dream of greater things as the Regional Cups progress to future stages.
Over at Parc OL things were going from bad to worse for Lyon…early promise in the group has gone now and slump is the word on the street as they lost once again to a PSG side with second in the group very much in its grasp now.
Pastore had the visitors ahead in the 20th minute and for long spells both sides seemed content to spar with each other as they looked for a way through…up stepped the ageless Totti in 81 minutes to equalise…Lyon sensed a late chance to push on and kill the game and then for another week in this competition the slump hit…Motta securing his Man of the Match accolade by heading up the other end and putting PSG on the road to victory just a minute after Totti had leveled…cue much jubilation from the visiting support and the parking of the PSG bus as they rode out the final few minutes to put second place firmly within their own hands.
Matchday 6 will decide the runners up spot…PSG will start favorites with 7 points, a neutral goal difference and a trip to Marseille who may or may not turn up as a footballing unit depending how they feel on the night such is their indifference at times this season…a win for PSG secures second…its in their hands…
Lyon play Monaco knowing they have to win to have any chance, no other result sees them through unless you want to get into the nitty gritty of Marseille beating PSG, Lyon drawing and goal difference getting involved…its win or bust really for Lyon now and even that might not be enough for the runners up spot…not at all what the pundits thought would happen five weeks ago.
But take nothing away from Monaco…the plucky buggers are hard to beat and many sides might yet come unstuck against them in this competition…onward to the final round of fixtures next Wednesday.
Copa Del Burro - Matchday 5
Matchday five kicked off with four mouthwatering fixtures. Group A saw Atletico Madrid take on Villarreal. Group B featured dicision 4 strugglers travelling to Bilbao, in group C, Sevilla hosted Sporting Lisbon, and in the group D clash, Malaga went to Espanyol.
As we have become accustomed to in this competition, there was action in all four fixtures. We will run through them now, starting in Madrid.
Group A - A. Madrid v Villarreal Att: 12,807
Pointless Villarreal of division 5 travelled to Madrid to face Atletico. The club from the basement were always the outsiders in a group alongside the two Madrid sides. Following their last game in this competition however, a 5 - 0 defeat to Real Madrid, Andrew Kelly's side have been in fine form. After that defeat, they went into last night's fixture having won their last 6 in all competitions. Atletico on the other hand, have only won once in their last 6. It was all set up then for a terrific encounter.
The visitors had the first opportunity after just 5 minutes, but Gerard Moreno's effort went wide of the post.
A couple of other half chances went begging before the first big action of the game on 37 minutes. Alessandro Cerci was slipped in by Draxler and finished magnifficently. Unfortunately however, just as the Vincente Calderon was erupting, the linesman put his flag up. It was a tight call, and the home fans, players and officials were clearly unhappy, but the goal was chalked off.
If they were unhappy then, things got worse with the dismissal of Koke right on the stroke of half time. He was adjudged to have brought down Manu Trigueros, the only light relief being that Moreno put the resultant free kick well over the bar.
The second half was a relatively quiet affair. Nothing at all going on for 15 minutes, and then just a couple of half chances. That all changed on 74 however, when Sandro put the division 5 side ahead. The already Vincente Calderon became a scene of desolation. The home fans that had made the effort started to head for the exits.
1 - 0 to Villarreal is how it ended. To rub salt into the woun, Atletico's defeat also handed the group A top spot to city rivals Real with a game to spare.
Group B - Athletic Club v Levante Att: 9,443
Both sides went into this game in very poor form. Levante boss Parfitt also electedto mix his side up somewhat. New signing Modou Barrow was given his debut, whilst Moses Odubajo and Angel Romero were given rare starts. Following good performances in the youth competition, there were also senior call up's for Odisseas Vlachodimos in goal, Matt Miazga in defence, Hideki Ishige and the highly rated Bart Ramselaar in midfield, and striker Isaac Success.
The young goalkeeper was called into action within 6 minutes of his debut, doing well to keep out a Ferreira Carrasco effort. Ten minutes later though, class told as Carlos Bacca gave the home side the lead, prodding home from an Mbokani assist. The Bilbao strike pairing looked dangerous, and forced another fine save from Vlachodimos just on the half hour mark.
A couple of minutes later came the visitors first effort. Young Japanese midfielder Hideki Ishige getting off a stinging strike from an Angel Romero assist. Bravo saved well however, and that miss was to be rued just 60 seconds later. Bacca grabbed his second, with Carrasco this time credited with the assist.
With Levante 2 down at half time, Success & Ramselaar were withdrawn. First team regulars Diego Souza and Clinton N'Jie coming on as the replacements.
It mattered little to the home side however. Korkorin put his team 3 up on 47 minutes. As the half wore on, N'Jie had a couple of chances for the visitors. The attack at least looked a little more dangerouss with him in it. The dismissal of Odubajo for a couple of yellow cards twenty minutes apart didnt help however, and 6 minutes after he recieved his marching orders, Mbokani rounded out the evening, grabbing a well deserved goal for himself, and a 4th for Bilbao.
Group C - Sevilla v Sporting Att: 11,536
Two more out of form sides clashed in group C. The game was a goal fest however, and started with a bang as the visitors took a 4th minute lead courtesy of Adrien Silva.
On 41 minutes that lead was doubled, as Mane struck one into the top corner. Truthfully, the Portuguese side could have been 4 or 5 up by half time, but they were let down by poor finishing. Sevilla had offered nothing though, and were thankful to be on 0.
The story looked set to continue in the second half, with Gutierrez making it 3 - 0 just five minutes after the break.
Sporting continued to spurn opportunities, but Sevilla at least made a game of it in the second half. They missed a few chances of their own before Pareja pulled on back to make it 3 - 1 on 73 minutes. The game still looked beyond the Spaniards though, with their Portuguese opponents continuing to create, and spurn, opportunities.
There was to be a grandstand finish though, with Sevilla getting a second, again through Pareja, on 87. It was to little to late though, and the harsh truth is that anything other than an away win would have been an injustice. Houdini Smiff has plenty of positives to take from this game, whilst Jamie Alldridge must be scratching his head wondering how he will coax a Sevilla side bereft of confidence away from the foot of the division one table.
Group D - Espanyol v Malaga Att: 7,415
The smallest attendance of the night was for the group D clash. Those that missed it though, really did miss out.
Doug Earle and Greg Billington have both taken on difficult tasks, but both are sure to improve the fortunes of their respective sides, and will one day surely work at the sharp end of Top 100. If this game is anything to go by, the more often they face each other, the better.
There was more than one early goal last night, but none as early as the home sides opener in the first minute at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat. Doug Earles side were given the lead as young on loan Dutch sensation El Ghazi put Pavoletti in, and his strike dipped over Kameni and into the net.
Recent addition Nathan Redmond had a chance to make it 2 - 0 after just 4 minutes, but his shot went wide.
There was a second goal on 7 minutes however, but it was an equaliser rather than the home team getting further ahead. Nordin Amrabat's free kick was struck to viciously for the keeper to get anywhere close to it.
As the half wore on, bith keepers made classy save after classy save. Tike was getting on though, and on 41 the referee awarded the visitors a free kick. That man Nordin Amrabat was again given the opportunity with a dead ball, and he didnt dissapoint. It was driven hard along the ground, and flew in off the upright with the keeper again not even close.
After 58, Amrabat went from goal scorer to goal provider. His pass let in Darder, and the strike had enough on it to beat the keeper and give Malaga some daylight with a 3 - 1 lead.
Earle decided he had seen enough. El Ghazi, Vossen and goal scorer Pavoletti were all withdrawn, and replaced by Ginczek, Coulibaly, and vetran Samuel Eto'o, who was earlier this week thought to have attracted a cheeky bid from Levante.
If that is true, and if Levante had anybody wacthing last night, they may be back with another offer. Within seconds of joining the action, the Cameroon hero set Borini up, and it was 3 - 2 and all to play for with half hour still left on the clock.
The game was there for whoever wanted it most, but on 78 Malaga were handed the opportunity to finally put it to bed. They were awarded a penalty, and the spot kick was expertly dispatched by Hemed. The keeper went the right way, but he was never even close to taking it.
5 minutes later though, and Eto'o had his second assist. This time he played in fellow substitute Coulibally to make it 4 - 3. Still seven minutes left, so could Earle's side grab a point?
Unfortunately for them, no. The final few minutes were played out with Malaga keeping posession and running the clock down.
The result ensures that no matter what happens in the final week of group games, Malaga will be the only side progressing to the knock out stages with a 100% record.
There are just one more round of group games left before the knock out aspect of the competition starts. The final round of fixtures see's Villarreal host Roy Keane's Real Madrid in Group A. In Group B, Levante host the fearsome Barcelona. Porto host Sevilla in Group C, and the Group D game is Celta Vigo at home to Espanyol.
*****
Team of the week
| Asenjo - Villarreal |
| C Romlu - A.Club |
| Kolodziejczak - Sevilla |
| Pareja - Sevilla |
| Jucilei - A. Club |
| Silva - Sporting |
| Ferreira Carrasco - A. Club |
| Amrabat - Malaga |
| Bacca - A. Club |
| Mbokani - A. Club |
| Mane - Sporting |
Achilles Cup - Match Day 4 Update
With just two games to go the battle to get to the final was all but decided last night but not without controversy in Istanbul.
Fenerbahce 0 v 1 Olympiacos
Fenerbahce Chairman Aziz Yildirim stated after the match “I want someones head on a stick for this”, after an administrative error lead to new Manager Brown fielding the Youth team. With team sheets submitted and half the first team squad in the Sticky Vicky massage parlour the error came to light too late for the line up to be changed leaving Brown to watch and hope in his first Regional Cup match in charge whilst opposite number McLean was seen fist pumping and doing a highland jig as he heard the news.
If McLean had thought this was going to be a walk in the park however he was soon to find the Turks youth side resolute and stubborn opponents having obviously been well drilled by Brown in his short time at the club. Despite continuous pressure it took the Greek side until the 52ndminute to breach the stalwart Turkish rear guard action when Milivojevic netted after Fortounis finally unlocked the defense.
The result leaves Fenerbahce relying on either their victors or fellow Turkish side Besiktas slipping up in the remaining two games for them to have any hope of progressing whilst Olympiacos need one more win to secure their place in the final.
Galatasaray 1 v 2 Besiktas
This defeat ended Galas slim hopes of progressing and leaves them fighting to avoid the wooden spoon whilst leaving Besiktas on the brink of progressing.
The visitors took the lead on 3 minutes with a Rhodolfo strike, Inan equalised for the hosts on 67 minutes before Besiktas sealed victory when Portillo netted in the 78thminute.
Gala boss Prince will feel on the balance of play his side should have come away from the game with some reward but knows he can still have a say in the outcome of the table with games against Olympicaos and Fenerbahce to come. Besiktas manager Vogeleer however will now be looking to secure the 2 points needed to see his side to the final.
| Match Day 4 Table | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| Besiktas | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| Olympiacos | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Fenerbahce | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| Galatasaray | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 1 |
Match Day 5 Fixtures – Weds 6th April
Olympiacos v Galatasaray
Fenerbahce v Besiktas
Putin Cup - Match Day 5 Update
With group leaders Dynamo having a night off it was an opportunity for the chasing pack to close in and as it turned out tonight’s results could hardly have left this group any more finely balanced at the half way point.
Zenit 0 v 1 CSKA Moscow
Zenits poor form in the competition continued as their inability to hit the back of the net again cost them dearly as CSKA took the opportunity to nick all three points and go top of the table with a 55thminute strike from Fabra.
Without a point and with only one goal to show from their four outings in the Cup Zenit manager Hassan knows his sides chances of progressing in the tournament have gone from slim to anorexic whilst his opposite number Smith will be grateful of building a points cushion prior to their week off from the action.
Lokomotiv Moscow 2 v 1 Spartak Moscow
Lokomotiv swapped table position with Spartak after edging a tight Moscow derby. All the goals came in the first half with Soldado (19) and Corluka (33) scoring for the hosts before Movsisyan (38) replied for the visitors.
Despite the defeat Spartak chief Houston can take comfort from his side still being in contention to progress whilst Lokomotiv supremo Owen will go in to their derby with Dynamo next week knowing a victory will put them at the top of the table with CSKA not being in action.
| Match Day 5 Table | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| CSKA Moscow | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Spartak Moscow | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Zenit St Petersburg | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |
Match Day 6 Fixtures - Weds 30th March
Lokomotiv Moscow v Dynamo Moscow
Zenit v Spartak Moscow
Youth Cup - Knockout Stages Overview - AMENDED
With two match days remaining in GROUP STAGE of the 2ndSeason of the Youth Cup let’s look at those sides confirmed and with the possibility of reaching cash rich Knock Out stages of the COMPETITON.
GROUP WINNERS (GREEN AND BOLD = CONFIRMED)
Villarreal
Atletico Madrid OR Atalanta
Lokomotiv Moscow
CSKA Moscow
Newcastle United
Bayer Leverkusen
Man Utd OR Dortmund
Fiorentina OR Chelsea OR Napoli OR Benfica
GROUP RUNNER-UP (GREEN AND BOLD = CONFIRMED)
Juventus OR FC Porto
Atletico Madrid OR Atalanta
Zenit OR Schalke OR VFB Stuttgart
Sassuolo OR Tottenham
AC Milan OR Olympiakos
Real Madrid
Man Utd OR Dortmund
Fiorentina OR Chelsea OR Napoli OR Benfica
FORMAT for KNOCK OUT STAGES
As it needs to be completed asap and not clash potentially with World Cup Club the following FORMAT will be adopted.
Youth Cup Schedule Update
Obviously if you fail to set you XI and active subs within the rules you lose 3-0 automatically
Obviously if you fail to set you XI and active subs within the rules you lose 3-0 automatically
2nd Round and Quarter-Final Draws to take place at the same time: (APRIL 3rd)
April 9th
2nd Round
1st place in group will play Runners up – 8 ties in total
Winner goes through to quarter-finals
IF matches end as a score draw, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc then there will be a fictional extra time where 3 goals will be scored.
each factor result in 1 goal: 1) team with most possession 2) team with most shots ON target 3) Team who scored the first goal
each factor result in 1 goal: 1) team with most possession 2) team with most shots ON target 3) Team who scored the first goal
IF matches finish 0-0 then there will be a fictional extra time where 2 goals will be scored 1) team with the most possession 2) teams with the most shots ON target. IF it is 1-1 after fictional extra time then the team with the most Possession + Shots ON target will progress.
April 16th
Quarter-Finals
8 winners from 2nd Round.
Draw made alongside 2nd round with the SIDE with the most POINTS from the group stage getting home advantage – IF POINTS are the same it will be decided upon GOAL DIFFERENCE, GOALS SCORED, GOALS CONCEDED or TOSS OF A COIN
Again Winner goes through to the semi-finals
IF matches end as a score draw, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc then there will be a fictional extra time where 3 goals will be scored.
each factor result in 1 goal: 1) team with most possession 2) team with most shots ON target 3) Team who scored the first goal
each factor result in 1 goal: 1) team with most possession 2) team with most shots ON target 3) Team who scored the first goal
IF matches finish 0-0 then there will be a fictional extra time where 2 goals will be scored 1) team with the most possession 2) teams with the most shots ON target. IF it is 1-1 after fictional extra time then the team with the most Possession + Shots ON target will progress.
April 23rd
Semi-Finals
4 winning quarter-finalists will be in the Semi-Finals. Semi-Final will be a seeded draw with accumulated points in the GROUP STAGE + POINTS in the KNOCK-OUT stages being taken into account. (Points in knock-out stage will be 3 for a win, 1 for a draw etc AFTER 90 minutes)
Over 1 leg.
Again Winner goes through to the Final
IF matches end as a score draw, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc then there will be a fictional extra time where 3 goals will be scored.
each factor result in 1 goal: 1) team with most possession 2) team with most shots ON target 3) Team who scored the first goal
each factor result in 1 goal: 1) team with most possession 2) team with most shots ON target 3) Team who scored the first goal
IF matches finish 0-0 then there will be a fictional extra time where 2 goals will be scored 1) team with the most possession 2) teams with the most shots ON target. IF it is 1-1 after fictional extra time then the team with the most Possession + Shots ON target will progress.
April 30th
Final
TBD whether it will be over 1 leg or 2… It will depend entirely on the commitments of the sides in the Finals in terms of Regional/World Club Cup Commitments.
Under the Hammer mid point special
Welcome all to another instalment of Under the Hammer. First I will introduce Benny Ball (pein).
So welcome can you tell what you have been doing this last week. I am the man that gets you closer to the players, like who is getting on with who, partying all night or whatever these football players get up to. But I also meet you the fans to hear some of your stories that are tied with this great club. I have been following the development that the players have been discussing about moving to the new stadium at the start of next season. The players say they can’t wait to play the first game at the Olympic stadium. San Miguel says “it will be great to play in front of bigger crowds at home games the noise will be deafening. Just can’t wait for the new season.” José says “He hopes to be with the club when they move, it will be a great venue to play in each week.” I have also have been speaking with the fans about the move they have be fair mixed responses like one man (he will remain nameless to save any embarrassment).
He goes on to say “that have this bigger stadium will allow us to close the gap on your fellow London teams and compete and beat them.” I also asking him would h like to share the stadium with your fellow London teams while they build there new stadium. " I personal would like to see the Rottenham Rotspurs or Chumpsea play there home games here. If they want to play games they can share will Charlton or Leyton Orient. There stadiums are big enough for there manky fans. If they want to share the ground with us then I would demand a 2million fee for every home game they play here." well that was something, and as promised I kept your name out Stephen. Oh! oops sorry. Right that’s it for me I will hand you back to Timmy.
So first game up was against Udinese Calico. This was above the drop battle a win for either team meant breathing space. Udinese had West Ham under pressure from the off and almost scoring in the opening minute, but Adrian had it covered. This was the only really attack mustered by Udinese in the first half. West Ham created a few half chances but other than that it was a very dull 45. Opening 5 minutes started with a bang, like both managers went through both sets of players as both had very good chances to score but still the deadlock was not broken. It looked as if it would end a draw until Valencia set up Noble to make it 0-1. The goal with 13 to go took the wind out the sails for Udinese as the couldn’t get a shot on goal. A fan in the crowd had to go to hospital with a broken nose after being hit in the face by the ball because he was to close to the corner flag.
Then we entertained high flying Torino. They showed why they were flying as West Ham goal was bombarded for the first half. Second half Nicky change there formation to ease the onslaught and it help a rare attack from Naismith, made Zieler work. But before the hour mark Sau makes it 0-1 to Torino. The goal didn’t have the desired effect that Torino wanted. It just brought a wave of attacks by West Ham, which brought about a Valencia goal with 5 mins to go. Torino had made a push for the winner, but got intercepted and a counter attack came and reckless tackle by Baselli, resulted him getting his second yellow and an early bath. The last minute of the game West Ham had a free kick which was pinged in by Sakho and Suarez just pulling it wide. To finish 1-1. After the game Mr Thomson says we could have stolen the 3 points at the end but a draw was the better outcome as both teams played well.
We caught a flight out to Italy. To face the Italian mafia Genoa. Bribing there way to second in the league. Before the game Frank had set up a flyby (should have been a drive by) of pigeons thanks to his friend Tweety (Gino) for setting it up and its the new thing that takes place at every home game. So back to the action. The big talking point was the Rafinha sending off. The look on Frank face when he saw the red card made him whisper something to his assistant manager, then head down the tunnel. So with down to 10 men Genoa still had very good chances but couldn’t find the net.the second half was as by far the worst half of a football match I have ever seen. After the game Mr Thomson was very disappointed with the team that we should have won playing against 10 men for near 70 minutes. Also a few days after this game a missing person report was filed for the referee. I could only hazard a guess he is sleeping with the birds… no i mean fishes.
Transfer Roundup at Villa Park
After yesterday's report, we have a smaller report on the transfer activity here at Villa. But before that, there was a Youth Cup game v Leverkusen yesterday. As I had said, we didn't have much hope. And in the 10th minute, we conceded, threw Julian Brandt converting from a Calhanoglu free-kick. 1-0 to them. However Adryan played in Derlis who equalised in the 37th minute. But no, Biro assisted Calhanoglu a minute later to give them the lead again. Frustrating. We somehow managed to equalise late in the game with John assisting Hodorogea for a rare goal. 2-2. Sadly Brandt assisted Carlos to give them the lead again a minute later and they eventually ran out winners 3-2. Deservedly so, with them dominating possession and shots. Calhanoglu got MOTM for them and Leverkusen are now through as group winners with Madrid going through 2nd, as they drew to Flamengo. So Keano sent me flowers but couldn't do the job himself, lol. Congrats Noisy on your success.
So we now move on to transfers. I was surprised to see the CSKA Moskva manager, Sir Walter Smith, himself in my office about 7 days ago. He was interested in few of my players, and gave me a straight up offer of Topal and Leandro for Kalas. This looked like a speculative offer from him and Topal was one that caught my offer, so I told him to drop a bid once his TB expired and I would think about it. The Bayern manager also showed some interest for Kalas but Tomas was looking for more game time and he would not get that at Bayern, so I rebuffed Gursimran's overtures. Mr. Smith came back offering Cragno instead of Leandro and this piqued my interest. A top-class centre half whom we were looking for ages and a U-21 Italian prospective keeper for Kalas? Deal.
But then I put Jordan Ayew on offer on the market and Mr. Smith came with another offer for Ayew, this time it was Kevin-Prince Boateng and cash for Ayew. We didn't need a holding mid though, plus Kevin is known for his tantrums, so I said no. I instead tried for Emenike instead, the highest goalscorer of this season among all 100 teams. It was at this point that a series of bids flurried into my inbox (far superior than the crap fax system used by Keano at Madrid). We settled upon exchanging Djuricic for Emenike, Topal and Cragno for Kalas. What a superb opportunity and deal. Who would have thought this possible? 3 for 2 with us, in my opinion, getting the better of those deals. Sure, in the long term he may win this deal but my approach is now short-term to get promotion. So that concluded deals between two Div 3 promotion contenders. Surprising, maybe, but the fans and I were thrilled with these deals.
So Kalas, who joined us for 6 mil at the start of the season from Chelsea, left for Moscow, a place closer to home. His fourth club in this GW after Middlesborough, where he spent the first season at external, Chelsea, where he was for a few days, Villa and now Moskva. Tomas played just 4 games for us, getting a average rating of 6 with 2 yellow cards. A shame he couldn't achieve his potential with us, but we wish him the best of luck. Who replaces him in the team? Mehmet Topal, a 89-rated, 30 year old Turk. An experienced defender, he strengthens our defence tenfold. Mehmet was pleased to join us and hopes he can stay at Villa for an extended period after moving from Fenerbahce to CSKA recently, and now to Villa. We hope he will help us in our promotion battle.
Filip Djuricic was another one to leave us. He was with us since the start of the GW, after moving from Benfica to Villa in exchange for Amavi, who is now on loan at Chievo from Bayern. Aforementioned Gursimran took him from Villa to Benfica and then to Bayern. Anyway, Filip scored 11 goals and 4 assists in 38 games for us, and we wish him the best of luck. But we now have the highest goalscorer in the league, Emmanuel Emenike. He followed the same path as Mehmet. His combined stats for Fenerbahce and Moskva read as 31 goals and 9 assists in 39 games, which is brilliant. This season he has 17 goals and 5 assists from 19 games. No wonder he was in the Div 2 TOTS last season. Strange why his old manager wanted to sell him but we are happy with the deal and hope he brings the goals for us. He already scored a brace in his debut game. He could fire us to promotion.
Lastly, Alessio Cragno, the 21 year old keeper from Italy, rated 84, completed the deals. He came in for the 2.6 mil given to us as part of the Kalas deal. We hope he will do well for us and grow well here, playing in the Youth Cup. He will have good competition in Per Braveit.
Quick negotiations with the Stuttgart manager, Feargal, also saw Jordan Ayew make a move, not to Moscow, but to Stuttgart. It was sad to see Jordan go but he only scored 5 goals and 2 assists in 32 games for us, not good enough. Hope he realises his potential at Stuttgart. In return, we got a quality left-back in Emiliano Insua, who will be our new starting LB, and the legend Didier Drogba. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with such a legend of the game. If the Drog and Emenike fire us to promotion, it will be worth it. Drog has already gotten 3 assist in 2 games which is a great start.
Insua's signing meant that we had four left-backs in the side. One had to go which meant that Martin Ollson had to leave us for external, back to Norwich. He joined us at the end of last season and played 7 games for us. Hopefully he gets a new club soon.
So that is it for the transfer round-up. Hopefully we can continue to do well and get promoted. Thanks for hopefully bearing with me till the end.
Come on you Villans!
So we now move on to transfers. I was surprised to see the CSKA Moskva manager, Sir Walter Smith, himself in my office about 7 days ago. He was interested in few of my players, and gave me a straight up offer of Topal and Leandro for Kalas. This looked like a speculative offer from him and Topal was one that caught my offer, so I told him to drop a bid once his TB expired and I would think about it. The Bayern manager also showed some interest for Kalas but Tomas was looking for more game time and he would not get that at Bayern, so I rebuffed Gursimran's overtures. Mr. Smith came back offering Cragno instead of Leandro and this piqued my interest. A top-class centre half whom we were looking for ages and a U-21 Italian prospective keeper for Kalas? Deal.
But then I put Jordan Ayew on offer on the market and Mr. Smith came with another offer for Ayew, this time it was Kevin-Prince Boateng and cash for Ayew. We didn't need a holding mid though, plus Kevin is known for his tantrums, so I said no. I instead tried for Emenike instead, the highest goalscorer of this season among all 100 teams. It was at this point that a series of bids flurried into my inbox (far superior than the crap fax system used by Keano at Madrid). We settled upon exchanging Djuricic for Emenike, Topal and Cragno for Kalas. What a superb opportunity and deal. Who would have thought this possible? 3 for 2 with us, in my opinion, getting the better of those deals. Sure, in the long term he may win this deal but my approach is now short-term to get promotion. So that concluded deals between two Div 3 promotion contenders. Surprising, maybe, but the fans and I were thrilled with these deals.
So Kalas, who joined us for 6 mil at the start of the season from Chelsea, left for Moscow, a place closer to home. His fourth club in this GW after Middlesborough, where he spent the first season at external, Chelsea, where he was for a few days, Villa and now Moskva. Tomas played just 4 games for us, getting a average rating of 6 with 2 yellow cards. A shame he couldn't achieve his potential with us, but we wish him the best of luck. Who replaces him in the team? Mehmet Topal, a 89-rated, 30 year old Turk. An experienced defender, he strengthens our defence tenfold. Mehmet was pleased to join us and hopes he can stay at Villa for an extended period after moving from Fenerbahce to CSKA recently, and now to Villa. We hope he will help us in our promotion battle.
Filip Djuricic was another one to leave us. He was with us since the start of the GW, after moving from Benfica to Villa in exchange for Amavi, who is now on loan at Chievo from Bayern. Aforementioned Gursimran took him from Villa to Benfica and then to Bayern. Anyway, Filip scored 11 goals and 4 assists in 38 games for us, and we wish him the best of luck. But we now have the highest goalscorer in the league, Emmanuel Emenike. He followed the same path as Mehmet. His combined stats for Fenerbahce and Moskva read as 31 goals and 9 assists in 39 games, which is brilliant. This season he has 17 goals and 5 assists from 19 games. No wonder he was in the Div 2 TOTS last season. Strange why his old manager wanted to sell him but we are happy with the deal and hope he brings the goals for us. He already scored a brace in his debut game. He could fire us to promotion.
Lastly, Alessio Cragno, the 21 year old keeper from Italy, rated 84, completed the deals. He came in for the 2.6 mil given to us as part of the Kalas deal. We hope he will do well for us and grow well here, playing in the Youth Cup. He will have good competition in Per Braveit.
Quick negotiations with the Stuttgart manager, Feargal, also saw Jordan Ayew make a move, not to Moscow, but to Stuttgart. It was sad to see Jordan go but he only scored 5 goals and 2 assists in 32 games for us, not good enough. Hope he realises his potential at Stuttgart. In return, we got a quality left-back in Emiliano Insua, who will be our new starting LB, and the legend Didier Drogba. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with such a legend of the game. If the Drog and Emenike fire us to promotion, it will be worth it. Drog has already gotten 3 assist in 2 games which is a great start.So that is it for the transfer round-up. Hopefully we can continue to do well and get promoted. Thanks for hopefully bearing with me till the end.
Come on you Villans!
The new and improved RCD Espanyol!
Just over half way through the season and fans are finally beginning to see the potential of the new Espanyol side. Since arriving, 5 games ago, Earle has seen the team more than double their points in the league to 13 points. Two draws, with AZ and Udinese, provided a slow start to Earles reign. A loss to Malaga then left the club in a seemingly no better situation than before the employment of their new manager. However during their week long stay in Italy to face Torino and Genoa glimmers of hope emerged. Going 1-0 down to Torino looked to send the Spaniards into panic mode launching an 'all out attack' mentality resulting in Kalifa Coulibaly equalising before Tomas Rosicky earned Espanyol their second win of the season. Following this victory they headed into their next fixture with far more confidence which showed as Fabio Borini scored twice in the first half to gain a lead which Genoa couldn't come back from. Next up for Espanyol is a tough game against Cologne. They are now within 9 points of escaping the relegation zone which has given many fans and players a new mind-set on the rest of the season.
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| (Nathan Redmond) |
It is also expected that Earle will be cutting his squad before the end of the season. It is thought that Tom Huddlestone, Andreas Weimann, Scott Brown, Younes Kaboul and Jelle Vossen will all be departing once they are available. Earle stated that he wants a "small, compact squad with a positive relationship amongst all players" rather than "a large pot of players who don't necessarily get along or work together well". With that said fans are expecting the team to be set to around 25 players.
With 18 games left Espanyol are certainly still in the fight for survival, with several new faces and the potential for more Earle is hopeful the newfound morale will carry the squad upwards through the table.
What's up at Villa over the last month?
Since 20th February (the time of my last post), I've been really busy and have had no time to post again. A lot has happened since them in Top 100, so let me try and cover everything Villa over the last month. Here goes....
So I over-estimated the abilities of my boys against Madrid. We were blown apart by Roy Keane. Deulofeu opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Ryan Thomas doubled the lead by HT. Did we have hope by now? Maybe, a bit of hope. That was gone when Tibbling made it 3-0 in the 57th minute. By this point I was thinking of reporting Deulofeu for outright bullying as he bagged a penalty and another goal to complete his hat-trick by the end of a game. A red for Thomas did not help us either. 62% possession and 22 shots, 10 on target for them. In comparison we only had 10 shots and a whopping 1 on target. Completely out-played. But with Madrid's resources they were the ones with pressure to beat us, so I guess Roy got away with this game. Look out for the return tie next Saturday....
The first team then flew off to France to face Monaco, a side that were relegated to D3 this season. I myself flew in from Madrid. Sadly we faced an in-form Subasic in a game that could have gone either way looking at the statistics. An excellent point away from home against a side that has Falcao, Moutinho, Walcott and Le Coq. More than a match for Golden Bear's side.
The first game of the Regional Cup came up in a few days, and thankfully at home. Not for the fans though, as we lost 0-5 for the second time in three games. Chelsea were far too good for us. Goals for Hendo, Alexis, Aranguiz, Costa and Isco condemned us to a loss, even with Cesc's red they were far too good. But an expected win for James Mckenzie, who we are in good terms with following his quick sale of Kalas to us earlier in the season.
We met another superior side in the league the next day, as Ajax came home. This time it was much much closer with us falling to them 0-1. Close game, but a deserved win for the Dutch side who dominated the whole game. The evergreen Lampard netted in the 70th minute to give his side all the points. Michael H has had his side play great football all season and they are currently leading the table after 20 games, so there is no harm in losing to a top team.
We had another home game which was welcome. This time Levante came home for the Youth side. After the Madrid debacle, we weren't too confident but still out-matched them on paper. And this time I was fuming at our luck, as Levante converted their only two shots all game to win. One time transfer target Matt Miazga scored early on before Issac proved to be a Success by scoring late in the first half. Derlis finally scored a goal for us, the first in 5 but we couldn't come back. Adryan assisted Derlis for his goal. Bratveit didn't have a good game and Vlachodimos had a blinder yet again. Tom Parfitt, who sold me Ruben Garcia back in late October, still my record signing at 10mil, did well. I respect his work at Levante so it's a good win for them. Although they, like us, aren't going anywhere in the Youth Cup with Madrid and Leverkusen far too good for anyone else.
We next had a long trip to Moscow to face fellow high-flyers CSKA Moskva and their in-form Emenike. Still we were leading 2-0 till the 66th minute courtesy another Derlis goal and Ruben scoring as well, surprisingly his maiden goal for us. Eder assisted both goals. Vazquez scored however and then Emenike converted a penalty to get a point for his side. However with their dominance I consider it a point gained rather than 2 lost given their dominance in the league. Hitz had a rating of 10 and MOTM, but still did not make it into the TOTW. What a shame. Good game Sir Walter Smith, with whom we would have more interactions later on in March.
We finally (!) won, our first in 7, kick-starting March with a bang. We welcomed home Cruzeiro, who like us are gunning for promotion. This time we were evenly placed but we were far too efficient in front of goal. Veretout scored early on with Veretout doubling the lead late in the game to win us an important 3 points. Scocco, our hero early in the season, assisted both, getting the MOTM and a 3rd TOTW appearance. Veretout also got his first TOTW appearance. Good on the both of them. Our best buy arguably in this GW. Tough luck Warren Livesey and good luck for the rest of the season (except in the return tie against us). A near-capacity crowd for the game which was great to see.
We faced another Brazilian side at home a few days later. Flamengo, whom we beat in the first game. I was expecting a win, to be honest. Under-estimated them. We had more possession but they had a few shots more (same on target though). CB Vojnovic opened the scoring, but Tanase assisted Derlis for yet another goal. 1-1. Clayton gave them the lead again just before HT though. Derlis equalised through a penalty to make it 2-2, but Vojnovic scored again. Bonatini made it 4-2 and this was too far for us to come back from. Well done Mark Phelps, who out-played me. Good game for the fans to watch though.
Next up was a league game away from home, but not too far as we travelled to Stoke. However against a side that was as good as us, we went behind to an early goal from Hector Herrera, the Mexican back at Porto now. Guerrero made it 2-0. He has been in form for the Potters, with 11 goals at the time of writing. Diouf added to the scoreline to make it 3-0, by which time the game was gone. Djuricic scored his 5th goal of the season for us (and his last, as we know now), to finish the game 3-1. Ruben with the assist. A disappointing show from the boys. The stats show both sides were equally balanced too. A red for Guerrero didn't help us either (do reds ever help us?!). Injuries for Gueye and Ayew did not help matters. Well played Muz Muz, as Stoke look to finish in the play-off spots too.
We had an interesting game then, against Liverpool. A friendly, but I wanted to see how we do against Pool. Unfortunately Gordon Kinnear (or Gino) did not play his best team, playing his reserves from the game the previous day. Holding mid Sanchez assisted holding mid Gueye for the only goal of the game. Fairly balanced game otherwise. Good luck Gino on the rest of your season.
However we lose the games that actually matter. We welcomed Besiktas to Villa Park, where Franco Zuculini opened the scoring early on. Scocco equalised to make it 1-1, assisted by Veretout, and it looked it would remain that way, but talented midfielder Özyakup gave his side the lead and the 3 points. Disappointing result against a side mid-table. Okore got injured for a few weeks too. Congrats Gerrit Vogeleer on the result.
In the next game I had to send out our rotation XI against Palace at home, again. Éder, who does well whenever he plays, scored two in the first 20 minutes. The first, a penalty, and the second, assisted by Sinclair, who started the season well but has stalled a bit. They got one back in the 79th minute courtesy of Wes Hoolahan. Hitz got MOTM for us. A fairly even game and The Linder would be disappointed with that result, but swings and roundabouts. Important 3 points for us.
Another Regional Cup game. This time we travelled to the Emirates Stadium for a tough game against Arsenal, but a great test too. Fernando and Willian got the goals for them but we did pull one back thanks to Gueye, assisted by new signing Drogba, who was clearly pumped for the game. We also had a debut from Topal at CB. 2-1 to Arsenal, but we were unlikely to win this and we did well to lose against such a quality side. Trickster Costa got sent off for them but I am sure Michael Bowes was relieved they did not lose to us. We are now bottom of both the Youth Cup and the Regional Cup, what an achievement. Good exposure for the squad though.
Back to Thursday's game now. We flew off from London to Eindhoven. New signing Emenike had a crazy day where he flew from Moscow to Villa to sign, then to London, where he realised the game was over and the team had left. He made the flight alone to Eindhoven. Still, he was clearly delighted to be with us, and scored to give us the lead. Moreno equalised but then Emenike scored again to win us the game. It was new signings combine for us as Drogba assisted both goals. Both have got off to a flier for us. Hitz got a MOTM again and a rating of 10, finally getting himself into the TOTW. No appearances for Emenike and/or Drogba though, a pity. Instead Moreno can get in for scoring but losing and conceding two. Still, we had official debuts for Insua, Drogba, Emenike and Topal. They did well. Good game Heath Brown though, fairly balanced but I think we deserved to win this.
Today we face off in the Youth Cup against Leverkusen. We are now in Germany for the game but I don't have much hope for this. I received a letter and flowers from Keano wishing me the best for the game, to beat Leverkusen. How nice of him. Imagine if we can pull off a shock today. New signing Cragno will play, hope he will help us not concede goals. Good luck Noisy.
Tomorrow we face off a struggling Sampdoria, who were relegated to D2 last season but haven't been able to adapt here. Still it will be a tough game. Good luck Gav Harmer.
So that wraps up a month's worth of games. I should hopefully have a report announcing our 5 new signings in the next few days. A packed few weeks of fixtures coming up, phew! Hope we can do well.
Thanks for bearing with me till the end.
Come on you Villans!
So I over-estimated the abilities of my boys against Madrid. We were blown apart by Roy Keane. Deulofeu opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Ryan Thomas doubled the lead by HT. Did we have hope by now? Maybe, a bit of hope. That was gone when Tibbling made it 3-0 in the 57th minute. By this point I was thinking of reporting Deulofeu for outright bullying as he bagged a penalty and another goal to complete his hat-trick by the end of a game. A red for Thomas did not help us either. 62% possession and 22 shots, 10 on target for them. In comparison we only had 10 shots and a whopping 1 on target. Completely out-played. But with Madrid's resources they were the ones with pressure to beat us, so I guess Roy got away with this game. Look out for the return tie next Saturday....
The first team then flew off to France to face Monaco, a side that were relegated to D3 this season. I myself flew in from Madrid. Sadly we faced an in-form Subasic in a game that could have gone either way looking at the statistics. An excellent point away from home against a side that has Falcao, Moutinho, Walcott and Le Coq. More than a match for Golden Bear's side.
The first game of the Regional Cup came up in a few days, and thankfully at home. Not for the fans though, as we lost 0-5 for the second time in three games. Chelsea were far too good for us. Goals for Hendo, Alexis, Aranguiz, Costa and Isco condemned us to a loss, even with Cesc's red they were far too good. But an expected win for James Mckenzie, who we are in good terms with following his quick sale of Kalas to us earlier in the season.
We met another superior side in the league the next day, as Ajax came home. This time it was much much closer with us falling to them 0-1. Close game, but a deserved win for the Dutch side who dominated the whole game. The evergreen Lampard netted in the 70th minute to give his side all the points. Michael H has had his side play great football all season and they are currently leading the table after 20 games, so there is no harm in losing to a top team.
We had another home game which was welcome. This time Levante came home for the Youth side. After the Madrid debacle, we weren't too confident but still out-matched them on paper. And this time I was fuming at our luck, as Levante converted their only two shots all game to win. One time transfer target Matt Miazga scored early on before Issac proved to be a Success by scoring late in the first half. Derlis finally scored a goal for us, the first in 5 but we couldn't come back. Adryan assisted Derlis for his goal. Bratveit didn't have a good game and Vlachodimos had a blinder yet again. Tom Parfitt, who sold me Ruben Garcia back in late October, still my record signing at 10mil, did well. I respect his work at Levante so it's a good win for them. Although they, like us, aren't going anywhere in the Youth Cup with Madrid and Leverkusen far too good for anyone else.
We next had a long trip to Moscow to face fellow high-flyers CSKA Moskva and their in-form Emenike. Still we were leading 2-0 till the 66th minute courtesy another Derlis goal and Ruben scoring as well, surprisingly his maiden goal for us. Eder assisted both goals. Vazquez scored however and then Emenike converted a penalty to get a point for his side. However with their dominance I consider it a point gained rather than 2 lost given their dominance in the league. Hitz had a rating of 10 and MOTM, but still did not make it into the TOTW. What a shame. Good game Sir Walter Smith, with whom we would have more interactions later on in March.
We finally (!) won, our first in 7, kick-starting March with a bang. We welcomed home Cruzeiro, who like us are gunning for promotion. This time we were evenly placed but we were far too efficient in front of goal. Veretout scored early on with Veretout doubling the lead late in the game to win us an important 3 points. Scocco, our hero early in the season, assisted both, getting the MOTM and a 3rd TOTW appearance. Veretout also got his first TOTW appearance. Good on the both of them. Our best buy arguably in this GW. Tough luck Warren Livesey and good luck for the rest of the season (except in the return tie against us). A near-capacity crowd for the game which was great to see.
We faced another Brazilian side at home a few days later. Flamengo, whom we beat in the first game. I was expecting a win, to be honest. Under-estimated them. We had more possession but they had a few shots more (same on target though). CB Vojnovic opened the scoring, but Tanase assisted Derlis for yet another goal. 1-1. Clayton gave them the lead again just before HT though. Derlis equalised through a penalty to make it 2-2, but Vojnovic scored again. Bonatini made it 4-2 and this was too far for us to come back from. Well done Mark Phelps, who out-played me. Good game for the fans to watch though.
Next up was a league game away from home, but not too far as we travelled to Stoke. However against a side that was as good as us, we went behind to an early goal from Hector Herrera, the Mexican back at Porto now. Guerrero made it 2-0. He has been in form for the Potters, with 11 goals at the time of writing. Diouf added to the scoreline to make it 3-0, by which time the game was gone. Djuricic scored his 5th goal of the season for us (and his last, as we know now), to finish the game 3-1. Ruben with the assist. A disappointing show from the boys. The stats show both sides were equally balanced too. A red for Guerrero didn't help us either (do reds ever help us?!). Injuries for Gueye and Ayew did not help matters. Well played Muz Muz, as Stoke look to finish in the play-off spots too.
We had an interesting game then, against Liverpool. A friendly, but I wanted to see how we do against Pool. Unfortunately Gordon Kinnear (or Gino) did not play his best team, playing his reserves from the game the previous day. Holding mid Sanchez assisted holding mid Gueye for the only goal of the game. Fairly balanced game otherwise. Good luck Gino on the rest of your season.
However we lose the games that actually matter. We welcomed Besiktas to Villa Park, where Franco Zuculini opened the scoring early on. Scocco equalised to make it 1-1, assisted by Veretout, and it looked it would remain that way, but talented midfielder Özyakup gave his side the lead and the 3 points. Disappointing result against a side mid-table. Okore got injured for a few weeks too. Congrats Gerrit Vogeleer on the result.
In the next game I had to send out our rotation XI against Palace at home, again. Éder, who does well whenever he plays, scored two in the first 20 minutes. The first, a penalty, and the second, assisted by Sinclair, who started the season well but has stalled a bit. They got one back in the 79th minute courtesy of Wes Hoolahan. Hitz got MOTM for us. A fairly even game and The Linder would be disappointed with that result, but swings and roundabouts. Important 3 points for us.
Another Regional Cup game. This time we travelled to the Emirates Stadium for a tough game against Arsenal, but a great test too. Fernando and Willian got the goals for them but we did pull one back thanks to Gueye, assisted by new signing Drogba, who was clearly pumped for the game. We also had a debut from Topal at CB. 2-1 to Arsenal, but we were unlikely to win this and we did well to lose against such a quality side. Trickster Costa got sent off for them but I am sure Michael Bowes was relieved they did not lose to us. We are now bottom of both the Youth Cup and the Regional Cup, what an achievement. Good exposure for the squad though.
Back to Thursday's game now. We flew off from London to Eindhoven. New signing Emenike had a crazy day where he flew from Moscow to Villa to sign, then to London, where he realised the game was over and the team had left. He made the flight alone to Eindhoven. Still, he was clearly delighted to be with us, and scored to give us the lead. Moreno equalised but then Emenike scored again to win us the game. It was new signings combine for us as Drogba assisted both goals. Both have got off to a flier for us. Hitz got a MOTM again and a rating of 10, finally getting himself into the TOTW. No appearances for Emenike and/or Drogba though, a pity. Instead Moreno can get in for scoring but losing and conceding two. Still, we had official debuts for Insua, Drogba, Emenike and Topal. They did well. Good game Heath Brown though, fairly balanced but I think we deserved to win this.
Today we face off in the Youth Cup against Leverkusen. We are now in Germany for the game but I don't have much hope for this. I received a letter and flowers from Keano wishing me the best for the game, to beat Leverkusen. How nice of him. Imagine if we can pull off a shock today. New signing Cragno will play, hope he will help us not concede goals. Good luck Noisy.
Tomorrow we face off a struggling Sampdoria, who were relegated to D2 last season but haven't been able to adapt here. Still it will be a tough game. Good luck Gav Harmer.
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So that wraps up a month's worth of games. I should hopefully have a report announcing our 5 new signings in the next few days. A packed few weeks of fixtures coming up, phew! Hope we can do well.
Thanks for bearing with me till the end.
Come on you Villans!