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#232439 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
Eric Portapotty
Oh wait.
#232172 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
Eric Portapotty
#232089 Singaporeans In Valencia
Eric Portapotty
As you would know, Valencia CF is one of Spain's great footballing institutions, with their La Liga win under Rafael Benitez, their regular forays in European competition, and the likes of Pablo Aimar, David Silva, David Villa and Isco having played for the club.
However, due to some terrible mismanagement from the board and the financial crisis it has seen the club buried in loads of debts - debts that they wouldn't be expected to pay off.
And with an old stadium they couldn't sell and a new ground they couldn't afford to finish building, these were hard times for Los Che.
Well, imagine their surprise when someone stepped in and offered to solve all their problems:
(I couldn't find a picture of him that wasn't unflattering, but when you're as loaded as him you won't really care)
A former stockbroker, Peter Lim eventually became one of Singapore's richest men, and his passion in football led him to make bids for some of the biggest clubs in the world - Liverpool (despite being a self-confessed Red Devil), and Valencia.
It was with the latter that he would make his mark in world football, and marked Singapore's biggest contribution (well only contribution, actually) on the global stage.
And who would be taking charge of this revitalised team?
Quah Kim Song is widely regarded to be one of Singapore's best footballers, a decent striker in his own right during the 70s.
Making his European managerial debut at the ege of 62 might be slightly late for some, but hey, if you're good enough, who cares?
#231868 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
3 games this month, all in the latter fortnight:
Austin Robinson - nuff said.
We were by far the better side here, and fully deserved the win. (Man it's nice to be able to say that.)
Robinson has quite the offday today, and we were very, very lucky to get the equaliser after staging a late onslaught.
It also means that Robin will 'only' score in 6 straight matches.
Well we're now in the playoff race points-wise, but with the extra games played it might prove to be a false hope.
There was also a transfer out that I left out last month:
The backup GK complained, and has his wish to seek pastures new granted.
Finally:
No idea how much we will actually benefit from this, fingers crossed it can teach the centrebacks to defend properly.
#231865 FM2015 Leagues Megapack - 75 new leagues for Football Manager 2015
Eric Portapotty
#231855 Transfer Rumours 2014/15
Eric Portapotty
#231604 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
I was hoping for us to push on from our first win, but having been second best for most of the match it was always going to be difficult.
A 2nd win, and more importantly, a 1st clean sheet of the season!
Damion Moses-Garvey with both assists - always nice to see a rubbish player have an occasional speck of brilliance.
Dealt our 1st thrashing of the season, Moses-Garvey really enjoying his time in the limelight.
Austin Robinson also has 5 goals in 4 games now, been a long time coming really.
Finally broke the 1 point/game mark, but we're still nowhere near challenging for promotion, and neither is my job safe yet.
#231497 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
It looked set to be yet another appalling day in the office before Byron popped up to round the keeper and score.
Was still an appalling day, mind.
So, so hopeless in finishing, and we paid the price through a corner - defensive setpiece preparation is clearly useless.
We could've pushed on for a win here, if it wasn't for Keithroy Samuel who lost his man - twice - to gift them the win.
Transfer listed him afterwards, I'll still be playing him (not like I have a choice when everyone else is even more rubbish) but he needs a proper kick up the arse.
Fucking fuck knows what happened here, I genuinely thought we could get our duck broken here, only to witness another setpiece meltdown.
Way to rub it in, guys.
FINALLY, revenge has scarcely been more important.
Obviously we could've done with better defending do prevent a nervy conclusion to the match, but a win's a win.
See, this the shit that I've been needing to deal with, when you can't even count on your best player (hands down) to drag you out of the shitter.
I'd be lying if I wasn't preparing myself for the P45 already.
But I'm still here, hope that I can summon my inner Pardew to keep the gig.
Now here's a tidbit to end:
They've just paid us more than what our sponsors do in a year - and for what, a reserve game? Proper bonkers.
#231464 Full Name Leagues of World.....
Eric Portapotty
You're a member at the SI forums as well hammer, go look around there
#231462 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Oh, if only he could defend properly as well.
------------------------------------
So much for a good preseason.
We were completely outclassed, the attack never got going and Sandy Point simply took their chances.
Early doors and all, and hey, we still have a winnable cup tie to look forward to isn't it?
We did have the upper hand in this game, but playing a back 3 against a 4-5-1 was always going to be suicidal.
Not that I'm good at learning lessons - we were ripped to absolute shreds on the counter.
In conclusion, anyone have Alan Pardew's number?
#231450 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Like I said previously, we blew a ton of cash in improving training facilities that may or may not bear fruit before we eventually go under.
But hey, no taxes!
We're gonna need more than that guys.
It's funny, because top scorer Keithroy Samuel was subsequently released and is currently without a club.
I'll be surprised if SPD don't come back down.
Well deserved, partly because he was so good, and partly because everyone else was mostly shit.
Transfers:
Archibald has been signed to cover for Terrance Leader, who will be away now and then for the Caribbean U20 Championship qualifiers.
More importantly though, is his Professional personality - I'd love to have him tutor Leader if I could, but their squad statuses prevent that so he will help out with the youth intake GKs.
A fast CB - a rarity around these parts.
He also means that I'll be playing with a back 4 more often, because if last season was anything to go by the back 3 without speed is a recipe for disaster.
As for the departures...
Jones had the mental ability, but never developed the physical side of his game, nor was he going to play regularly enough to do so.
Newton, Blanchette and Crawford all wanted a regular wage and I was hesitant on adding to the wage bill.
Not that Blanchette was ever likely to stay anyway once Newtown came in - it'll be interesting to see him there though, he never had the ability to play as full-back, much less a wrong-footed one, so he could well turn out to be a dud.
Friendlies now:
Well we've beaten the beatable, and and put on an apparently decent display against Newtown.
Highlight of these games would definitely have to be this:
19-year old Kishorn Percival with a freak volley from the halfway line, and with his weak foot no less.
Now that that's done and dusted:
Putting pressure on an 18-year old goalkeeper and a DM who literally just came through the youth system, what could possibly go wrong?
And the bookies have reacted in the same way, putting us as sole favourites.
Thing is, they also have last year's runners-up (Security Forces) at last, on Evens - shows you how much the bookies know.
Not that complaining helps when even the board is buying into this bullshit.
As a result I've gone big on the bonuses again, couldn't care less about the cups but the league is a must.
Speaking of the cup:
Both ties look winnable...
Wish me good luck, because the alternative would be the dole queue.
#231264 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Eric Portapotty
Soles fucking hurt though.
#231207 American Toffee
Eric Portapotty
Congratulations
#230046 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Managed to get a point after going behind, but we didn't possess the killer instinct to bring home the win.
Oh.... We've choked on our most important match of the season, when holding out for the draw would have given us a fighting chance, not to mention actually going on to win.
Hindsight suggests that I should've started Austin Robinson, but I wasn't keen on starting him for 3 matches in 8 days.
We couldn't even give the fans something proper to cheer about our final match of the season, a dead rubber.
a 2-goal lead, and we still needed to wait till the 88th minute to get the winner.
See, the Superstars loss really cost us, though looking at the table drawing with Patriots was probably the bigger killer - though at least prospect and debutant Gerard Crawford got his first ever goal.
Either way, next season then.
Heh, that's 3 weeks of Atiba Gumbs' wages and a bit.
Well deserved, our strikeforce can scarcely do without him.
Players of the Season
Best player by a country fucking mile this season, 12 of our 13 wins came when he played, with a wins/games ratio of 60%.
But it isn't so much that he improves the team when he does play, it's just that the forwards look so awfully starved of clinical ability with him in the side.
Gumbs is one of the first names on the teamsheet and for good reason too, one of our better players as well.
Thing is he's shown an occasional lack of interest in games, which isn't good news because there's been slight interest from other clubs.
Still 8 assists is output, a league-leading output at that.
The stats don't lie (neither do they flatter here) but the fact is he's the best we've got, and without him we'd be doing much, much worse.
He's been called up to the national team (with Zephaniah Blanchette), though only the latter won a debut cap.
Speasking of Blanchette, he's been utter dogshit because I played (and continued to play) him in central midfield.
Still, I have faith that he'll one day become a half-decent creator.
Okay... what else:
I'm just relieved we didn't get the sack.
Despite that I've been rewarded with new facilities - this looks like a massive mistake now, because I've just plunged half of the club's cash into this. We''l need to go up fast or this could go tits up.
#228026 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Aye, in the nick of time too.
----------------------
Austin Robinson making it 8 from 5, and his 14th in all competitions - I think it's safe to say that he's our most important player by far.
But having subbed him off as a precaution after taking a knock, I was greeted with this piece of news:
It's one thing being our best player at the moment, and it's another (much worse) problem being much better than the other strikers at the club, regardless of form.
Seriously, the other forwards seem to feed on his confidence, and without him it's much more turgid.
At least we no longer have to worry about falling out of the playoff spots as a result.
And so it proved - Lester Williams was fucking awful with his 'finishing', and the defences were the better areas of performance for both sides.
The striking malaise continued, but at least we didn't lose this one.
16 shots, 8 on target, and we still needed a late header from a setpiece to open the scoring - we really, really, need work up front.
We finish well inside the playoff spots, not bad considering I was odds-on for the sack at one point.
Yay.
Oh and by the way, I was wrong about how the playoffs work - instead of being a knockout format it's actually a single round-robin:
Chop chop, everything to be settled in 6 days.
Finally, due to some bug in the game all the youth trialists had been signed without my approval; oh well, if they don't turn out to be dud I'll be OK with it.
Here are some of the better ones:
Ward is the aforementioned highest rated player (who as you can see is rubbish), Liburd looks like he could do a job now, Jamal is a very good defensive option thanks to his speed, and Zevon... well he's an extra body in attack.
Playoffs next, wish me luck!
#227852 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Well I'd need to be given the opportunity to play those matches!
But yeah, at the very least there's the solace of those extra games.
--------------------------
A win here was the pre-requisite against the league's bottom side, and thankfully we duly did what was required.
Also, Austin Robinson - what a player.
Rode our luck here a but apparently, our goals were a bit dodgy with regards to on/offsides, while St. Paul's had their own double ruled out.
If this was real life there'd be calls for an investigation I would imagine.
Probably my fault here, once we got the opener I immediately got the team to settle into a less tiring system, which backfired when we let them through for the comeback goals.
Robinson was great agin though, went on a lung-busting run down the right to deliver the cross for Byron to score.
AUSTIN ROBINSON IS GOAT
That is all.
The Keys victory was, erm, key, because we've now got a points buffer over the playoffs-chasing pack.
The delusions of 1st-placed grandeur are now over, but I've to count my blessings that I'm not looking for a new job!
We've got our new youth intake as well:
The guys are ranked by potential in descending order, so Thrizen Ward is supposedly the highest rated player - except he's rubbish - but at least he's not Archibald or Moses-Garvey, who are really rubbish.
The HoYD likes this guy:
He's making me consider shifting out Austin Lake, this season's signing who hasn't done anything of note so far.
I might sign some other guys, will show them in the next post.
#227771 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Credit where it's due, we had 9 shots on target and the opposition stopper was more than a match to all of them.
Which made it hurt even more when we did concede, right at the death.
The next match was against Patriots as well, a great opportunity to settle the score almost immediately:
Even worse than the 1st match, we didn't look like we were up for it from the start, and promptly gave a very meek performance.
Next up was Village Superstars, we hadn't beaten them in our previous 2 meetings if you remember, so I wouldn't expect this to be any different considering our form:
What a surprise - actually having the mentality to fight back from a deficit, and having a penalty decision in our favour for once.
Doubly funny was this:
Could've sworn I was in considerably heavier pressure than the manager of the 2nd-placed side, so this was genuinely shocking.
Here we see the team having the mentality to let slip a 2-goal cushion.
Could've built up some form, but no we had to shoot ourselves in the foot.
Prematch odds didn't favour us at all, and so it proved.
After the SPD match:
Could be the end of the road soon, guys.
Incredibly, we could still be level on top of the league if we win all our games and other results go our way.
Whether I'll be able to see out the games in hand is another matter altogether.
#227754 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
We could (and should) have been punished for our rubbish defending, but Byron was there to save the day.
This was double negligence on my part - a failure to plan for the opposition's 4-5-1 properly and then hastily changing to a makeshift back 4, with all slow, lumbering centerbacks.
That''s January's games done, after which a couple of signings were made during the transfer window::
Drops a tier from a schools team, where he was already overage.
Kimaree Newton was out for a couple months due to a torn hamstring, so we were playing without a proper destroyer in that time, so Isaac provides another option for that role.
There was another signing, but it technically isn't a transfer because it was another in-house discovery:
I'm a sucker for great mentals, so if you completely disregard the sheer lack of physical ability (as was done with Austin Jones) he could actually be a decent player.
His versatility helps too.
Anyway, February beckoned, 5 games:
And we started it well enough, and as you can see Isaac also made his debut, before going off with a knock.
Not so good here, rubbish shooting as usual.
Even more rubbish defending here, and I learnt that a back 3 will be completely oblivious to a winger's run to the far post because they're all too busy ball-watching.
I mean, enough goals were scored, but fuelled with revenge we should have taken the win here.
Dominated proceedings, too bad we only have a goal to show for it.
Hands down our worst performance this season, the defence was being ripped to shreds while the attack was nowhere to be found.
Lots of draws meant that despite our drop in form we're still in the playoff spots, though it's effectively impossible to derive any useful information from the table, such is the amount of games in hand so many sides have over one another.
#226721 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
We were largely outplayed, but somehow got a winner.
If we took one of our few chances last time out, this was the opposite.
In fact it took the opposing stopper to fail to claim a cross properly for us to score the opener.
In contrast, Terrance Leader has shown just how good he is in these 2 games.
The table's even more unreliable than in Aruba it seems, I've managed to have 4 games in hand on the leader.
Told you the fixture scheduling would be brilliant.
Up for the Cup as well:
Lester Williams with a poacher's performance, though again we couldn't make life easy for ourselves at the end.
Oh yeah, just enough to pay the floodlights' bills.
Next up was fellow First Division side Village Superstars:
Man, if we'd just held on for a couple more minutes...
On a whole we probably did enough to win, but we were individually found wanting at those crucial moments.
Leader going off with a knock didn't help.
It's the January window up next, I might need to look for reinforcements to bolster this thin squad.
#226411 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Not the best way to start the season, and not a good 2nd half to sit through at all.
Still, a win is a win, and an opening victory at that.
Uhh, okay... I'll take them when they come I guess.
An even worse game to sit through, despite the scoreline - it was our 3-5-2 against a wide 4-3-3, which leaves us 3 v 1 (and overstaffed) at the back, and giving the opposition wide forwards the entirety of both flanks to use.
They'd given us multiple warnings, but somehow we took our chances and came away with a comfortable score.
Looking good, but it's early days.
It's also the end of the transfer window (a couple of days into November yes, but pedantry is a no-no, yes?) and there's been activity:
3 guys just to make up the numbers, and since we're allowed 3 per season.
Backup GK on a free, not the best but he's just a backup so no biggie.
Top tier side, so it's understandable. More understandable than Croes, anyway.
Speaking of Croes, have a look at this gem of a season review:
That's some next level over-achievement mind, but even better was Croes being one of the worst signings - still baffling how he convinced himself to put pen to paper on that deal.
#226334 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
I'll need it man, thanks
Oh yeah, it'll be the same old, same old.
--------------------------
(No longer with Estudiantes FYI, it's Mantab time now)
Anyway, if there's only 1 thing you need to know about football around these parts:
Newtown are kings here.
Sure, they've ended up choking in the championship playoffs, but they're more or less odds-on in the regular season.
Another thing you'd like to know is that like in Aruba, everyone plays at the same ground:
Which is great news for us obviously, with 5 more teams in the league pyramid and 1 more cup competition than in Aruba I can't wait for the inevitable scheduling madness.
This is what we'll be dealing with - Saint Kitts and Nevis' 2nd tier:
Simpler here, 2 straight down, and a promotion playoff not unlike England's Championship.
The transfer window's a bit surprising though, but it shouldn't prove to be any problem for us at the moment, since it's not like we've got interested targets.
What does the media think of our team, then?
Leader does have a great future, while Samuel has shown glimpses of his defensive ability.
Here are (some of) the rest of the guys:
The wrong-footed leftback turned central playmaker - it'll pay off eventually, though I'll expect him to have a good few complaints.
He's the captain though, so he'll need to keep his mouth shut or I'll be fucked.
Seems reliable enough, and given our squad size it's best to make use of what I have.
Solid player, Professional attitude, and vice-captain.
He's rubbish, but at least he's equally rubbish with both feet.
And 5 goals in 5 preseason starts isn't rubbish, really.
Lots of Leaders here eh?
Best CB here, though that's not saying much.
There were a couple of ins and outs to complement the team as well:
You'll notice that they're all quite tall, well what's not to like about some more aerial dominance?
The releases were all done before my signing, and a couple of the other departures aren't too damaging, but there's one the sticks out like a sore thumb:
He didn't want a proper contract when I arrived, and won't sign period when Newtown came knocking.
Depressing news this, I'd wanted to build the team with him in mid to some extent.
There's also another signing:
Taking a leaf out of the Estudiantes book and looking in-house, he's good as a calming influence.
Unlike in Estudiantes though, he's my only such addition - really can no longer be arsed to reject transfer requests.
So this'll be the squad for the next couple months:
Quite a small squad, much, much easier to handle than having to accept transfer requests every other day.
It's a bit of a faff looking at it, so basically one of my starting CMs is a right-footed LB, while I have no RBs.
As a result:
I've never played with a back 3 before (and have always disliked playing against it), so this'll be an interesting experience.
With the pace in that defence though...
I've also kept the 4-4-2 because this is FM and it's four-four fucking-two.
Also got my backroom men:
Needed to place an advert to get him, definitely overestimated the reputation of the club.
An interesting appointment, the best of a turgid bunch, fingers crossed his determination rubs off on the new youth intakes.
Again, probably the best of another bad bunch.
Don't know why I picked him to be honest, maybe his tactical knowledge will show in his team reports?
All were signed to a year's deal, allows for flexibility to upgrade should we earn promotion this season.
Glad to have that support behind us, eh?
I want that top spot this season (or promotion at the very least) - the 2nd tier isn't as reputable as Aruba's top division, but promotion will (fingers crossed) be able to attract the likes of English to join me here.
Enough of all that though, it's friendlies time:
Beating Newtown was never going to happen, not in my 1st ever match with these guys.
We should have beaten West Ham though, and really should have done the same against Bath.
At least we ended well, managing to beat parent club St. Peters Jrs..
As you'd have seen from before, we're expected to push for promotion, but 2nd favourites has upped the ante - and then some - for us.
Should be winnable? Erm, I don't know...
#226078 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Bummer, really wanted that job to be honest.
But that did get me thinking: maybe it is time for me to seek pastures new. And so I have:
Obvviously the club wasn't plesaed at me applying for numerous jobs in the likes of Martinique, Cuba and Barbados.
Eventually I did snag a new gig though, but not quite what I was expecting...
With that I end my journey with Estudiantes (for now anyway), joining the likes, of Paya Lebar, Eleven Wise, Smouha and Nima du Manga as the bloody obscure clubs that I've enjoyed a good long stay at.
Anyway:
The chairman wants to bounce back up to the top flight, but as always a new nation is always an unknown quantity and I'l have to see if I can actually do so.
This was last season's Player of the Season, not looking good if he's the guys they're counting on.
However this man is widely regarded to be their best player, and rightly so.
Other than that.... the goalkeeper's not completely useless, the left-back is our most inventive player (and hence will play in central midfield from now on) and I've got no one in the staff room.
Which wouldn't be so bad if some of my old staff had followed me out of Estudiantes, which they didn't.
Aye, a big chunk out of the wallets for firing the previous backroom, fingers crossed they won't want to experience such an ordeal again so soon.
#226009 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Eric Portapotty
Combat rations aren't anywhere near as bad as people make them out to be though.
#224168 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Eric Portapotty
Oh and we march 12km to the campsite, with a 15kg fieldpack, a vest and the rifle. What joy.
#223174 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Good win, breaks us from our rut.
Then 3 matches in 5 days, including 2 against RCA (thanks fixture scheduler):
Squeaky-bum time it was, holding on to that narrow win for once was such a good feeling.
Then another regulation defeat of Bubali, though I'm now inclined to think that the referees do genuinely have an agenda against us.
Still, having conducted the routine berating of the 2 offenders I returned to this:
Some of these guys deserve a spanking, methinks.
Definitely thought that another choke was bound to happen, but Croes got us back with a spectacular drive and de Waard did the rest, doing well on the tip of the strikerless diamond.
Oh yeah, suck it RCA.
Icing on the cake I suppose, not that we were at our best anyway.
Losing 11 points on us is a proper choke on the part of RCA, didn't expect it to end up with such a commanding advantage.
Awards time:
So, so well deserved.
He didn't manage to get us the vital edge we needed in the subcontinental level, but he did more than enough in the league.
Derek Croes nowhere near, surprising.
Lake with 'only' 12 league goals, 19 overall.
Probably fair enough, Bubali weren't expected to be third favourites, so to do so is impressive.
Youth intake now:
Lots I won't use in all likelihood, really.
English's fave, he's got the pace but lots to improve if he's to feature in anyway next season.
Baten I like, half-decent technical skills and a Fairly Professional personality should put him in good stead.
Still, as I've said I"ll have a look at them and then decide on my future - they don't look good to be honest, so I might consider alternatives.
Bath have just been relagated from Saint Kitts & Nevis' 2nd tier to the non-league, so can't be managed and is therefore irrelevant, while taking charge of La Fama would just be fucking stupid.
Which leaves Hard Hitters, newly promoted to Jamaica's 3rd tier, a new semipro status, a team of amateurs for me to cull and an empty staff room for me to fill.
Thoughts?
P.s. You'll have lots of time to leave your opinions here, since I won't be available for the next 10 days at least. Ciao!
#222895 Barclays Premier League 2014/15
Eric Portapotty
Jonas' still contracted to you guys?
#222815 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
I suppose it's a solid enough win, considering our collapse in the regular season I'll take them when they come.
A win again marred by Oehler's utter idiocy - 2 bookable offences in a minute.
3 dismissals in 19 starts, I'm pretty fucking sure I'm not being overly harsh.
Wasteful, but 1 goal was enough.
Well 1 goal wasn't enough here, and we didn't even get one to boot.
Rangel Lugo and Lake were abysmal here, but it's always going to be so isn't it.
Since playing strikers didn't work, let's try playing without strikers... Didn't work either.
It's baffling how we and RCA have contrived to trip up so often in these playoffs, at this rate a third side will sneak up on us and run away with the title.
Awards time as well (well the speculation anyway):
de Waard probably deserves it by default, he's going too be productive no matter what team he's in.
I'd like him to be punished for stupidly joining a relegation-threatened side, but he does deserve it to be honest.
Oh and I seem to have forgotten to mention a transfer from last month:
He's not irreplaceable, and I pocket a coll amount of cash, not too bad.
#222772 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
(Will be going in chronological order this month, it's quite important to the context)
Oh so much for worrying - Rangel Lugo was on absolute fire, making penetrating runs everywhere and combining well with de Waard.
They're right in saying we'll have a tough time it seems, Harbour View are as good as their titles suggest, and Cienfuegos aren't exactly minnows as well.
On the contrary, Caribbean All Stars don't quite live up to their name, with a team full of greyed-out players.
A double from Lake, another comfortable win, marred by the stupid, stupid sending off of Oehlers - I'd warned the man during the interval, and he goes out and does this.
Shocking, hands down the worst 1st half of the season.
Credit where it's due, to come back from that to draw, but finding ourselves in that position in the 1st place was unforgivable.
Our 1st back beck in the Group Stage, we struggled to gain control, but it wasn't as if we were expecting to do so - with our 4-6-0 it was always going to be a counter-attacking system, and that was how our goal came about.
Comfortable win, a good way to rebound from our Harbour View loss.
And as it turned out this was matchday 17, and with the games in hand completed we had a point's lead over RCA.
Who will we play on matchday 18? Well...
3 of our most important games in 7 days.
And what a fucking way to start it - shameful, shameful performance from us, with the nadir of another dismissal for Oehlers.
And of course with the group stages being only a single round robin (with only the winner guaranteed qualification) there was no point in playing a proper team against Cienfuegos:
But lo and behold, the 2nd string deal a thrashing - a pointless thrashing I should add.
I would mention that the best 2nd-placed teams from the 6 groups qualify for the quarter-finals, but it doesn't matter since we didn't.
Would I find solace in the league?
No.
In the end, Derek Croes will bring his scoring prowess with us to a relegation playoff, in a transfer that has done neither club nor player any favours whatsoever.
It's Championship Playoffs month (and a bit) next, but with this collapse I'm seriously considering Bukinapreto's advice to start looking for another employer. It'll in all likelihood depend on our youth intake, I'll have to see.
#222606 The Ganja Trail - A Caribbbean Adventure
Eric Portapotty
Only 1 league game this month:
And a nervy one at that, Rensy Rolston doing his best to haunt his former club.
To our credit we came back well, Oehlers rampaging forward to great effect and Brison doing more than Lake in just over 20 minutes.
RCA, as it turns out have suffered a blip, but they do still have more points, so it's definitely not over yet, oh no.
Transfers now, and the frankly whack system of reputations in Aruba:
Now I'll have to clarify that these were probably all my fault for not handing them proper contracts, but come on, we're defending champions, and we've got a regional competition to play for, so why would you give this up?
Croes in particular, signing for a relegation-threatened club.
Fair enough for him, he's not a starter (behind Oehlers) an he'll probably do so in Britannia.
And I turns out that I've got a (rather neglected) prospect at RB by the name of Jean-Luc Giel:
Oh.
Enough of that shit though, time for some exciting developments:
Back in the subcontinental tourney, against the Vincentians (of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who knew?) of System 3.
A milestone too, would be spiffing to mark the occasiono with a win:
Wasn't to be though, we had loads of chances but couldn't make them count.
Could bite us in the arse in the away leg.
#221331 SS2 6NQ - Southend Utd
Eric Portapotty
Youre doing well mind, kutgw