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Only having one player on the team of the year seems weird. Also, hope you didn't forget my request!
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Feb 21, 2014 13:44
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Well, at least the Eintracht didn't get relegated. And it's always nice to see Union Berlin up there. Also, hooray for snagging really good young players!
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Feb 21, 2014 14:30
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Camoes posted:Only having one player on the team of the year seems weird. I did not.  Academia now has 50m quid in their bank account. It's good timing, when I got to them they were in the red. Suck it, Benfica and Porto! All hail the new masters of Portugal!TorakFade posted:
It is, which is why he's our backup. I'm hoping with a year or two of seasoning he'll be able to improve, but Higgs is going to be playing every game. It could bite us in the rear end if he gets hurt, but keepers are usually pretty healthy and seldom need a day off due to fatigue. He's a budget signing, I'd rather not waste a lot of money on a goalie who doesn't get much playing time and last season we were paying Al-Beloushi and Higgs a combined 3,300 a week as compared to only spending 2,200 a month on Higgs and Taylor. Our wages, btw, are at about the same level they were at last year (and generally where they've been since I took over as manager). There's still a month left in the transfer window as I write this, but even with another signing or two it leaves me a lot of maneuverability when we get to the January window.
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Feb 21, 2014 15:17
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habeasdorkus posted:I did not.  yesssss thanks!
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Feb 21, 2014 15:22
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Chapter the First: A fullback, my kingdom for a fullback. June 9, 2017-August 1, 2017 We're sadly not getting sent to camp this season, I'm not sure what the criteria are for a training camp but we didn't meet them this year. So no ghost stories in the woods this year, and hopefully we'll see a concomitant decline in injuries.  Everyone returns healthy and ready for training, our extensive team rotation has essentially kept any of our players from wearing out and needing extended vacations beyond the standard year end break.  I moved the expiring contracts to the reserves so that they wouldn't clutter the senior team screen, especially as I'd brought up a lot of the youth players to practice with the first team for the pre-season. Al-Beloushi takes umbrage to this.  There wasn't any option where I could tell him that I was just organizing the squad so I instead acted like a jerk to Al-Beloushi. I'm sorry Naser! You didn't deserve that!  ♫All around the world statues crumble for me♪ Beat it, Sugar Ray. I'm replacing you with someone who's better at your job. I upgrade several coaching positions as the current coaches reach the end of their contract, we now have four stars in all the non-goalkeeping categories for the senior and reserve squads.  We get our defensive midfielder. Now all that's missing is perhaps a fullback. Dean Harper Defensive Midfielder  Harper has a lot of the same qualities as Simpson, but is slightly less impressive mentally while possessing greater physical gifts. It would be nice if he was slightly more creative, but as our defensive midfielder he won't be called upon as a playmaker. He's also got a fair amount of versatility, able to fill in at centerback and left back in a pinch. In any case, he's a huge upgrade on Kadhim.  One of our new scouts informs me of a Belgian right back who would fit our team very, very nicely. He goes elsewhere. Nothing is ever easy.  Meanwhile, several teams want to sign Matthew Poole away from us. It's just not going to happen unless they offer far more than he's worth.  Because there's been limited player turnover we start with a high level of familiarity with our tactics, meaning that we'll be back to tactical perfection much sooner than if we had brought in a whole new team.  Our club has seen a meteoric rise in the quality of our reputation, we're now at “national” level, which puts us in the same range, reputation wise, as the midtable and lower Premier League clubs. Ingame it means that players are going to be more interested in signing with us than they were before, allowing us to pick up better talent. The amount we rose was pretty amazing, we were solidly regional before last season, I have to think that making deep cup runs and winning League Two are what really pushed it as high as it's gone. We're also higher than Tackleford, which has just a “regional” reputation.  Fiddlesticks. I'm going to need to find another backup keeper now. Damnit, Taylor.  Backup keeper, second attempt. Cian Fox Goalkeeper  He's not very good, but he's better than our current youth keepers. He's also got two intact hamstrings. Higgs is going to get virtually all of the playing time this season, and once Taylor gets back I'm likely to send Fox on loan for the second half of the season. It does ruin my hope of saving money at the backup keeper position, between Taylor and Fox we're spending about £1,100 a week, or almost what we were paying Higgs to start last season. At Drogheda Town, June 24, 2017 Friendly  This marks the first time we've crossed an ocean to play a match, even if it's just a jaunt to Ireland. The hosts of our first tuneup, Drogheda, shouldn't have a chance against the awesome firepower of our League One team. Crush em, boys! Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson (c)< Cobb, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Rogers, Thomas, Peters, Curran, Reid, Poole, Harper, Shirra, Holland, Coulson, Price, Baker. Well, we don't crush Drogheda, but we are up three-nil after the first forty-five, thanks to goals from Gorman, Harrison, and an own goal that opened scoring in the 21st minute. We thoroughly dominate the game, and this match meets all my expectations as our first match of the new season. There are a few injuries, Ioan Peters and William Harrison both have minor knocks and Daniel Thomas has to be pulled in the 60th minute due to something more serious. Hopefully they don't require much missed time. Interestingly, this is listed as occuring in the 2016-2017 season. FM apparently considers English seasons to be June 30th through the next calendar year, regardless of when you set your pre-season start. Man of the Match: Ryan Gorman   Drogheda 0-3 Wrexham  I really do need to add another fullback. We're down to three healthy ones at the moment.  It would have been a surprise if they had picked anyone else.  I should start paying more attention to when I give these out, they could get expensive in the future.  I haven't been able to renegotiate my contract yet, so it's not properly set up and thus for some reason I have an avoid relegation bonus clause. Mujkic has just about every bonus imaginable as I tried to sweeten his deal to get him to commit to the club.  A lot of these guys are still 18. I'm going to keep them on the U18's for as long as possible, but I might have to send some of them out on loan so they're not crowding the reserves and getting irritable at their lack of first team time.  Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.  And that's not even all of them. Several of the players are out of contract in a week, though, so we're actually shedding salary once you account for their wages coming off the books.  Look out everyone, Tackleford's spending again. Their big splash is a 1.3 million pound spluge on fullback Luke Middlemas of Millwall, who is a pretty fantastic young talent and who I looked at with longing eyes when he was transfer listed.  The board springs a new parent club onto the team out of nowhere. I was planning on having a board vote about who we linked up with, but Sky Shadowing is apparently tight with some Genoans and hooked us up with Serie A side Sampdoria. The good news is that they'll have some very fine players in their reserves to choose from, the bad news is that we can't scout them as we're currently limited to just the UK and Ireland.  Again, there's more to this list than just the players shown. Some of them have option years in their contract, but overall I'm going to be furiously negotiating around Christmas once more this season.  Great, a Championship club. Guess we're getting our giant killing boots out early.  Goodbye, Luke. I can't have anyone else over the age of thirty on this club. I am the patriarch!  Cobb's close to turning thirty, I don't trust him! Is that a grey hair? Out, out you haggard old man! Also, while he was decent last season he wasn't particularly great, and our new players should be better than he has been. I hadn't planned on selling him, but it makes sense for the club and thus he's out the door faster than you can say some folksy idiom. At Bangor City, July 2, 2017 Friendly  We've played Bangor City before, this should be another walkover where we can primarily focus on getting into shape, blending the new signings into the squad, and giving the youth players a chance to show why they should get a chance to play when it matters this season. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Harper, Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison (c). Subs: Fox, Thomas, McCarthy, Curran, Poole, Read, Price, Shirra, Coulson, Rainey, Baker, Upson. Bangor City are like boys playing against men, despite the fact that our oldest player is now 26 year old Tony Price. We can only put one in before the half, a header from Stewart Lewis, but just after the restart Bangor puts one in the back of their own net and then wonderboy Scott Shirra follows up with a goal. We cruise from thereon out, and while I'd prefer to be winning by greater margins I don't have anything to really complain about. Man of the Match: Sam Smissen   Bangor City 0-3 Wrexham  More international glory for England. Pfah.  I admit, we're playing all of our pre-season friendlies away from home because I don't want to degrade the pitch and risk it getting into horrible shape before the end of the season. At The New Saints, July 8, 2017 Friendly  TNS is a real step up from the first two teams we've played, and they beat us 2-0 two years ago. We're a better team now, and we really should be winning this match without a problem, but they're definitely a sterner test than the likes of Bangor and Drogheda. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Thomas, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Harper, Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Price, Harrison (c). Subs: Fox, Petit, Poole, Curran, McCarthy, Simpson, Shirra, Sinclair, Holt, Coulson, Rainey, Read. TNS strikes with celerity, and before five minutes have elapsed we're down by one. Stewart Lewis pulls us level in the 34th minute, but we can't score again before I have a chance to rage at the players. I keep most of the starters on to start the second half, but as the game wends towards the end I'm hoping one of the substitutes can at least salvage a victory. Matthew Poole does, scoring in the 86th minute to save us the ignominy of a draw with the smaller club. It remains to be seen how we do against the tougher clubs I have scheduled. Man of the Match: Stewart Lewis   TNS 1-2 Wrexham   Some of these Sampdoria players are really good, unfortunately they're all up for loan or transfer which means we might not get any of them because Sampdoria is trying to sell them all. I've put in loan requests for a whole bunch of them, I don't want to risk my second or third choice being sold while I'm waiting on the first choice to decide whether he wants to spend a winter in northern Wales.  Now we really need another fullback. I'm going to have to resort to playing people out of position in the upcoming friendlies. I've been searching like crazy for one, but there hasn't been a single decent option to cross my radar this whole time. At Brighton and Hove Albion, July 15, 2017 Friendly  Brighton and Hove Albion, aka one of the most quintessentially English monikered football clubs, has established itself as a Championship division fixture over the last five years. This is the type of match that will tell us what type of team we have. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Thomas, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Read. Subs: Fox, Petit, Poole, Curran, McCarthy, Harper, Holt, Shirra, Rainey, Morgan, Gorman, Baker. I wish I could report an upset, but Brighton is able to find a goal whereas we are not. We don't play badly, but we can't convert on our one big chance. We actually have more shots on target than Brighton, so this loss is somewhat hard done, and it's more heartening for our team's prospects than the narrow victory over TNS the previous week. Daniel Thomas is also injured in this game, I can only hope that it's not serious or someone is going to be playing out of position.   Brighton 1-0 Wrexham  That's a relief. We'd be completely shafted if we had three of our four fullbacks with significant injuries at the same time.  You're a lousy parent club, Sampdoria.  Seriously, a real stinker.  At least now we've got three healthy fullbacks, so we're not completely screwed for the moment.  Always go with high win bonuses when you can. It makes the players happy, and it's generally not that expensive. It does reduce the amount of money you have available for transfers, which I believe is a change from older versions of the game, but given that we have a wage cap of £42,000/wk and we're only spending £30,984/wk we can reallocate money if we need to.  I'd put money on us to get promoted at those odds.  We're picked to finish 12th, if we outperform the preseason predictions by eight spots like we have the last two seasons we'll finish fourth and be in the promotion playoffs. I don't know if we'll do that well, but League Two really isn't that much worse than League One, the real change in team quality comes when you get to the Championship, and then again when you reach the promised land of the Premier League.  Oh for cryin' out loud. I know you want to show off how swole you are for your teammates, Peters, but have you given any consideration to the fact that I'm trying to run a friggin football team here and I need players who are healthy? At Aston Villa, July 22, 2017 Friendly  Aston Villa is a storied club, with seven first division league titles in their hundred and forty three year history. They were relegated from the premier league last season, which has to gall their large number of supporters. Despite the fall to the Championship they still have multiple players earning more than our entire team combined. They're giants, not on the level of Liverpool or Chelsea, but a team with history and prestige. They're still not as old as we are, though. By the time they were founded in 1874 Wrexham had been around for a over a decade. Newcomers. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense. Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Poole, Lewis, Thomas, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Price, Harrison. Subs: Fox, McCarthy, Petit, Curran, Harper, Shirra, Sinclair, Upson, Rainey, Coulson, Baker, Read. We jump out to an early lead with a trademark Harrison breakout, but Villa respond with a quickfire double in the 21st and 29th minutes. They're not dominating the stats, we're creating the better chances as Harrison causes their defenders repeated heartburn, so I keep the first team on after the half to keep building their fitness. Harrison scores a second goal, this time from a corner, and we're level. A Villa defender hacks down Tony Price in the 75th minute, earning a penalty, and despite being slow to get up from the hard tackle Price converts the opportunity, and we're leading 3-2. I'm excitedly planning my victory speech in the third minute of stoppage time when Villa scores just before the final whistle, and while it's disappointing to draw after having been ahead so late in the game it's still an excellent result. Man of the Match: William Harrison   Aston Villa 3-3 Wrexham Nothing of note happens in the four days between the Aston Villa fixture and the Tackleford friendly, though I do continue to page through every last potentially available fullback in the British Isles and yet still come up with no potential additions. At Tackleford City, July 27, 2017 Friendly  I have a bad feeling about this game. I've been leaving a lot of our first team players out of the match day squad because they're now fully match fit, and playing backups and youth. This is the culmination of that process, and we're going to be missing a whole bunch of our usual players. Tackleford is a good team, and are most certainly not following the same fitness regimen we are. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense Starting 11: Fox, Tench, Poole, Petit, Thomas, Harper, Simpson (c), Holland, Coulson, Gorman, Read. Subs: Higgs, Harrison, Lewis, McCarthy, Bailey, Sinclair, Shirra, Fulton, Rainey, Upson, Morgan, Baker. We hold on for dear life throughout the first half, we can't create any type of offense and Tackleford batters our defense. It's still 0-0 at halftime, though, and I'm starting to think we can pull off a draw. Those nascent hopes are squished shortly after the second half whistle when Tackleford scores thrice in the span of ten minutes, and we lose miserably to our rivals. I need to stop scheduling these friendlies, or I need to start treating them as big matches, because I hate losing even meaningless games to these wankers.   Tackleford City 3-0 Wrexham  No reason to upset the applecart, Simpson and Williams are still first team starters and will be on the field enough to merit their positions as captain and vice-captain.  As we approach opening day I send the youth players back to their position, and order our Director of Football to sell three of our reserve players whose contracts are up at the end of the season and who aren't going to play a role in the club's future.  We made £900,000 in season ticket sales this year, an increase of over 50% from the previous year. That leaves us with a very healthy balance sheet going into the season, we shouldn't even need a cup run to turn a nice profit this season.   I'm not sure what to take away from our pre-season. We didn't run up the score against our easiest opponents, but we played Brighton level and nearly beat Aston Villa before a much weakened squad was thumped by Tackleford. All of the matches were away, which makes our performances against the Championship squads even better and is a partial excuse for our loss to Ed Philips miserable band of mercenary maroons. Hopefully our giant killing boots are warmed up, Hull City is in just over a week in the League Cup and are as hard a first round opponent as we could have been drawn against. 
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Feb 21, 2014 18:49
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What does it take for FM to decide there is a rivalry between us and tackleford?
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Feb 21, 2014 19:09
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Well doesn't sound that bad, except for all those injuries. Also a little request, could you check out how's my home team doing? It's Perugia, starts in Italy's Lega Pro in 2013-14. Just curious to see if they managed to claw their way to Serie B, they should be in a good position to do so within a couple years.
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Feb 21, 2014 19:11
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Geokinesis posted:What does it take for FM to decide there is a rivalry between us and tackleford? There already is, and the hidden Narrative Generator(TM) is making it so we will lose every game against them until the eventual duel to decide the Premier League winner in the last match of the season.
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Feb 21, 2014 19:15
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TorakFade posted:Also a little request, could you check out how's my home team doing? It's Perugia, starts in Italy's Lega Pro in 2013-14. Just curious to see if they managed to claw their way to Serie B, they should be in a good position to do so within a couple years. Perugia is still in C/1. They finished second two years ago but couldn't win the promotion playoff. Geokinesis posted:What does it take for FM to decide there is a rivalry between us and tackleford? I'm not sure. I've been saying as many mean things as possible about them whenever I can, though. First time I've ever developed a rivalry. steinrokkan posted:the hidden Narrative Generator(TM) is making it so we will lose every game against them until the eventual duel to decide the Premier League winner in the last match of the season. This, too.
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Feb 21, 2014 19:40
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Hey habeas, what did the Villa team look like? Did they still have any of their alternate-universe counterparts?
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Feb 21, 2014 20:09
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loving Tackleford  These injuries are worrisome, you probably shouldn't recruit an entire team's worth of full backs who all have osteogenesis imperfecta.
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Feb 21, 2014 20:11
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beru04 posted:Hey habeas, what did the Villa team look like? Did they still have any of their alternate-universe counterparts? Just an aging Agbonlahor and Leandro Bacuna, from what I can tell.
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Feb 21, 2014 20:24
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Those Genoans were more friendly to me than most of the people I met with about forming a link between our clubs! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cash a check. It is most certainly not bribe money. It's totally bribe money.
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Feb 21, 2014 21:35
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I know they're still solidly mid-table in the Championship (which I'd settle for in RL!), but how are Bolton doing after their bankruptcy last season? I'm picturing a squad of 18 year olds and has-beens, there's no way they'll have many high-earners left, right?
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Feb 21, 2014 21:42
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habeasdorkus posted:Just an aging Agbonlahor and Leandro Bacuna, from what I can tell. Darn. Well, it's usually a bloody miracle if Villa keep hold of Benteke past the first summer.
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Feb 21, 2014 21:54
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ForeverBWFC posted:I know they're still solidly mid-table in the Championship (which I'd settle for in RL!), but how are Bolton doing after their bankruptcy last season? I'm picturing a squad of 18 year olds and has-beens, there's no way they'll have many high-earners left, right? Bolton's wages actually aren't that bad, they still have a dozen or so players earning over 500k a year, but only one guy earning over a million. Sky Shadowing posted:Those Genoans were more friendly to me than most of the people I met with about forming a link between our clubs! Sampdoria is a decent link! I just wish we had linked earlier so I could have jumped on their reserve side. If we get promoted the players are almost certainly going to want to come over next year.
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Feb 21, 2014 23:16
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habeasdorkus posted:Bolton's wages actually aren't that bad, they still have a dozen or so players earning over 500k a year, but only one guy earning over a million. Oh, who's that? At a guess it'd be Holden or Lee (equivalents, while we're on fake names I guess.)
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Feb 21, 2014 23:33
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habeasdorkus posted:What's the team? I can let you know what they've been up to. I'm a Grêmio supporter. Apparently we're midtabling it up in the league. Could be worse.
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Feb 21, 2014 23:56
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I'm quite interested to see if Rangers have clawed their way back up to the top in Scotland.
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Feb 22, 2014 00:10
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Rangers aren't all the way back, but they're in the SPL again. They finished 7th last year, I'll check in at the end of the season if they've gotten back into the duopoly. eta: Scotland's pro league is so weird. How are the Glasgow teams so dominant? Edinburgh is just as rich if not richer a city, but Celtic and Rangers have accounted for all but 15 or so of the 100+ top division titles in Scottish pro-soccer history. It's insanely lopsided. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Feb 22, 2014 |
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Feb 22, 2014 00:20
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habeasdorkus posted:Rangers aren't all the way back, but they're in the SPL again. They finished 7th last year, I'll check in at the end of the season if they've gotten back into the duopoly. They are dominant because basically 2/3 of Scotland supports one or the other, it kinda came about slowly over time usually springing from religious issues and both teams generally being the most successful. Nowadays though, you will have more Rangers and Celtic fans in say Inverness than fans of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Also, nobody likes Edinburgh.
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Feb 22, 2014 00:30
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How can you not like Edinburgh? That was one of the coolest cities I've been to in a long time. Are the locals jerks? Because I can understand that, people from Connecticut are complete jerks despite the state having some interesting things in it.
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Feb 22, 2014 00:39
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Edinburgh's a beautiful place to live (ahem!) but the two teams (Hibs and Hearts) have been lousy for a long time, Hearts went into admin this year and will almost certainly be relegated, which means the city will host Rangers fans twice a year again. Balls. Historically speaking, Glasgow is an industrial hub on a par with Liverpool/Manchester/Newcastle, and has a clatter of teams in addition to the auld firm. Edinburgh (historically) is a pro-union royalist burgh replete with history and posh anglophiles (see Durham, the home counties), which are not generally conducive to the production of fitba teams. Sorry for  , the place is dear to my heart but you've a better chance of catching a decent curling match.
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Feb 22, 2014 01:24
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habeasdorkus posted:Rangers aren't all the way back, but they're in the SPL again. They finished 7th last year, I'll check in at the end of the season if they've gotten back into the duopoly. Glasgow historically was a city of over a million people and something like 40% of Scotland's current population lives in the West coast lowlands area of which Glasgow is the centre. Edinburgh is the capital today, but that didn't really matter for most of Scotland's post-industrial history due to all political power being centred in London. Edinburgh never saw the same population or industrial growth Glasgow did, and while Edinburgh might be rich now, Glasgow was an economic powerhouse in the late 19th and early 20th century. Combine that with the deep sectarian divide between Rangers and Celtic and the exportable nature of that conflict to the rest of Scotland and Ireland and you have two very profitable teams that float on a sea of easily exploited hatred. Mind you, it could be worse. At least it's just Catholics vs Protestants, and not Jews vs Gas Chambers like Ajax and Feynoord.
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Feb 22, 2014 04:44
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I still got the feeling Phillips is sabotaging your team. Probably to hide the fact that Tackleford is a bunch of over-hyped thughs.
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Feb 22, 2014 05:03
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KDavisJr posted:I still got the feeling Phillips is sabotaging your team. Probably to hide the fact that Tackleford is a bunch of over-hyped thughs. Yeah, I get that feeling too. 
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Feb 22, 2014 05:13
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Reveilled posted:
I've always been glad that my natural sympathies towards football clubs have through sheer luck been anti-fascist. Roma over Lazio. Ajax over Feynoord. Barca over Real Madrid. Liverpool over Margaret Thatcher.
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Feb 22, 2014 06:58
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habeasdorkus posted:Yeah, I get that feeling too. Oh, you sonnuvabitch. This time it's personal
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Feb 22, 2014 08:23
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habeasdorkus posted:I've always been glad that my natural sympathies towards football clubs have through sheer luck been anti-fascist. Roma over Lazio. Ajax over Feynoord. Barca over Real Madrid. Liverpool over Margaret Thatcher. It says a lot that when I view my own choices in football teams, it tends to lean towards nationalists. Rangers, Linfield, Chelsea, Hamburg, Real Madrid etc... 
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Feb 22, 2014 17:30
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A Tartan Tory posted:It says a lot that when I view my own choices in football teams, it tends to lean towards nationalists. Fitting for your username though.
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Feb 22, 2014 20:10
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habeasdorkus posted:Yeah, I get that feeling too. Wait was this before or after our 'friendly' match with them?
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Feb 23, 2014 04:09
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It was before our league match with them. The game pays very little attention to friendly matches, even between bitter rivals with people/coaches who hate each other.
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Feb 23, 2014 04:12
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Chapter the Second: A brief reminder that we're still minnows. August 1, 2017-September 1, 2017 We've still got a month left in the transfer window, but barring the addition of a heretofore elusive fullback I'm pleased with the team we have. That we're spending less than we did last season is also quite pleasing, we don't have any players who are being overpaid and my holding the line in contract negotiations on promotion salary increases kept our wages from inflating this summer.  I'm still not finding any fullbacks that fit the club. Hopefully this spate of injuries isn't repeated during the season.  And this is why it's so important that we signed him to a new contract right after getting promoted. We don't have to sell him if we don't want to for the next two years, and he can just deal with it.   That doesn't mean I want him sulking and being unhappy, so I'm pleased that he realizes he's being a brat. That's a lot of self-awareness for an 18 year old. At Crawley Town, August 5, 2017 League One  Crawley is expected to be about as good as we are this season, and are deserved favorites as we're playing away for our first match. I want at least a point from this match, we've yet to get off to a hot start in my tenure with Wrexham and I'd like to try how that feels on for size. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Thomas, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Fox, Smissen, Poole, Harper, Price, Coulson, Baker. Our first season in League Two couldn't have any better a start when Harrison puts us on top after 10 minutes. Chris Todd equalizes for Crawley, though, and I have to say we seem to be witnessing many more own goals than we had been before the midpoint of last year. I'm not sure if a patch tweaked the settings or the random number god has just decided to embarrass fictional footballers more often. Crawley takes a three-one lead after two more late goals, and despite one answering blast by Harrison it's Todd's folly that proves the difference. I'll have to keep waiting to see how a fast start would feel. Man of the Match: William Harrison   Crawley 3-2 Wrexham Two Premier League clubs are interested in Gary Petit, which means we make a £40,000 profit on him. While it's not a huge amount in itself these deals can provide a sizable boost to our balance sheet when they happen in large numbers, and we're still poor enough that this much money is helpful to our bottom line. The screencap of this has gone missing, so you'll just have to take it on faith that he wasn't actually abducted by aliens.  We only sold 300 more tickets than last year but the price was hiked up to £375, so we made a whole lot more money than we did last season. That and Sky Shadowing wasn't skimming off the top.  I think they're getting into a habit of expecting victories versus higher division clubs. vs. Hull City, August 8, 2017 Capital One Cup, First Round  I don't understand why fans are cautiously optimistic. Yes, we have played well against higher division sides. Yes, this match is at home. But just look at that Hull team:  They're just playing a higher class of football than we are. It's not that I think we're doomed in this game, but if we do pull off a victory it'll be after Hull takes 25 shots and can't find a goal while we pick up one on a counter attack. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Poole, Smissen, Harper, Simpson (c), Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Fox, Thomas, Lewis, Holland, Price, Gorman, Baker. Hull batters us from the start as I expected, and we're giving up so many opportunities that I have to pull our defense in even further. Higgs is spectacular in the first half, making several stunning saves, and holds a 8.1 rating after the first. The pressure finally gets through to us in the 52nd minute, when Poole accidentally opens the scoring on behalf of Hull. They don't take their boot from our neck, and while the scoreline looks more impressive for it they didn't need two goals in the final ten minutes to beat us soundly.   Wrexham 0-3 Hull  Another tidy profit turned. I'm also in the process of moving two U18 players, Fulton and Sinclair, whose contracts are up next June and who aren't our best prospects at their position. vs. Preston North End, August 12, 2017 League One  We've lost three straight games and four of our last five. It's time to snap this stretch of poor play. Preston North End, please roll over and die for us. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Fox, Thomas, Poole, Harper, Price, Coulson, Baker. This match is immediately different in tenor from the Hull. The game, as the kids say, was brought, and we take the lead on new signing Mark Holland's first goal. Preston threatens throughout, our defense unable to prevent them from getting great opportunities, and we're fortunate they can't score. Holland seals his man of the match honors along with the match itself in the 82nd minute. Preston finally scores a few minutes later, but it's too little, too late. Man of the Match: Mark Holland.   Wrexham 2-1 Preston  Good. Now stop hurting yourself, you idiot.  Did you read the title of the last chapter, Leyton Orient?  Boo. Agents are the worst. Now I have to give Smissen a new contract six months earlier than planned. He gets a £350/wk raise. vs. Leyton Orient, August 19, 2017 League One  Leyton Orient has spent most of their recent history bouncing between Leagues One and Two, much like Wrexham had. They flew too close to the sun the last two years, getting promoted to the Championship and then relegated, and the resultant mess has seriously damaged the club's current prospects. They're a good team to face off against, and they can watch us on our way up while we ignore their descent back into mediocrity. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Coulson, Gorman, Harrison. Subs: Fox, Thomas, Poole, Harper, Price, Rainey, Baker. There's more than one Premier League manager in the stands today watching Chris Todd. He puts on a performance that will confirm their notions of his quality, taking the man of the match award. The whole team plays their best game of the young season, and we coast to a two-nil victory that sees Leyton only get two shots on target. Almost every player will have praise coming to them at the next film session, but new signing Gorman reacts poorly to my calling him out for having a poor game. Man of the Match: Chris Todd   Wrexham 2-0 Leyton Orient  You little twit. Just because I called you out for underperforming?  The situation hasn't changed? What? No wonder you were available on a free transfer. No one can put up with your temper tantrums. Enjoy a time-out in the reserves, you upjumped, preening, snot-nosed narcissist.  It's a dangerous world out there, this is why I work inside at a job that requires no physical activity.   More sales, their contracts were expiring at the end of next year and I didn't have a space for them on the senior team. That brings us to a total of £150,000 for those four players, none of which we paid a penny to sign originally. Just wait a few years, we'll be making even more money off of flipping youth prospects.  I'm going to be irritated if I have to bring Gorman back into the team before he's had a proper time out because of injuries. At Mansfield, August 26, 2017 League One  The one nice thing about having already bombed out of the Capital One Cup is that it really reduces fixture congestion early in the season as a lower league side. We're able to spend much more time practicing, and the new additions have more opportunity to gel with their teammates before being on the pitch together. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Poole, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson, Holland, Bailey, Price, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Fox, Thomas, Curran, Harper, Holt, Rainey, Baker. This game is a tale of two halves. We're the clear winners of the first half, but despite two clear chances and two half chances we can't put one over the goal-line. Mansfield plays like a team possessed in the final half hour when Price is hurt and Harrison subbed out, and while we only give up one goal despite being under bombardment it's still enough for them to take all three points.   Mansfield 1-0 Wrexham  This is our last piece of business of the window, I'm slightly disappointed we couldn't get more for him. We take a slight loss from having him on the team given his salary over the last two years.  Market's closed, and our team is trimmer. We've gone from 45 players on payroll to 38, and I'll have to be more aggressive in restocking our youth team next winter to keep it up to snuff.  Not a bad start, but also not a good one. The loss to Hull doesn't bother me, it was going to be a tough match no matter what, and with better luck we probably would have taken at least a point from Mansfield. Still, it's three losses in five matches, we'll need to do much better if we're going to win promotion. 
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Feb 23, 2014 04:19
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Sunderland looks like they are set to crush this league.
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Feb 23, 2014 05:31
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Cthulhu Dreams posted:Sunderland looks like they are set to crush this league. Hey, guess who we play in the next update.
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Feb 23, 2014 05:35
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habeasdorkus posted:
£400 was a pretty fair price for season tickets, I'm glad we sold even more than last year. Uh, I, of course, meant £375. Yes, season tickets were only sold for £375. I sold them for £400 and skimmed the extra £25.
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Feb 23, 2014 06:37
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Chapter the Third: The zebra shows his stripes. September 1, 2017-October 8, 2017 The last match in this set of games is our home tie against Tackleford. I'm very much looking forward to that one, I can promise that the result will be much different than our pre-season friendly. We also have what's going to be a very tough game against Sunderland, who are by far and away the giant in the league.  Now that our younger players are starting to play a role in the first team it's more frustrating when they're away on international duty.  The board promises component of the confidence meter is at a sky high 89% right now. I brought in several relatively young players to play for the first team and have promoted young players to the first squad, so with an average age that couldn't buy beer in the United States and no one over 26 on the squad I'm pegging those promises dead on. vs. Fleetwood, September 2, 2017 League One  Remember way back in update number two, when we got our heads handed to us just starting off at Tackleford? Fleetwood was our opponent. They might have forgotten about that pre-season friendly, but I haven't. Of course, we've got a very depleted squad at the moment because of international callups, so I'm hoping they can meet expectations. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack. Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Lewis, Curran, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Rainey, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Fox, Thomas, Poole, Harper, Price, Holt, Baker. The game sees a lot of play in the middle of the field, and while we're certainly the more dangerous team, having 13% possession inside Fleetwood's final third as opposed to their 7% in ours, neither side can score. Fleetwood does an excellent job battening down the hatches and denying us opportunties to break through. We get a draw, and it's a mild letdown.   Wrexham 0-0 Fleetwood  Looks like the US is going to make the World Cup after all. No job opening for me, yet.  HAWHAW! The Irish must have enjoyed that one. “That's for Cromwell, you f&#^ers!”  Meteor Mujkic is making his name on the international scene.  All I wanted to do was give him an atta-boy.   That's as easy a draw as I could have asked for, and we're at home.  Our choices for this match are a bit constrained. Gorman is being let out of the doghouse for the match, but his morale is in the pits. Because he's a wee girning bairn. At Chesterfield, September 9, 2017 League One  If memory serves me right we've played and beaten Chesterfield before. We're once again missing players due to international callups, and I'm forced to let Gorman out of the doghouse after a three week time out. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Lewis, Poole, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Price, Gorman, Baker. Subs: Taylor, Thomas, Savage, Harper, Holt, Upson, Read. Chesterfield spends a lot of time trying to break us down, racking up 20% of posesssion in our third of the field. It doesn't help them any in the first half, but finally pays off for them when they score two goals in two minutes shortly after the hour mark. Matthew Poole can pull us back to within one before the end, but we can't find an equalizer. We were outplayed, pure and simple. Man of the Match: Justin Bailey   Chesterfield 2-1 Wrexham  Bailey being in the team of the week is no surprise, but Holland has been very good to start his Wrexham career. He's got a 7.13 rating in six games thus far.  For a team that needed a miracle just to get to the second round of qualifying the US certainly turned things around. Looks like the head coach job won't be open any time soon.  Oh, this should be good.  The thing is that I'd be happy to give him some playing time, and he'd have gotten some if he hadn't spend so much time in the trainers room, but he's just ruined his chances of my doing that by being a jackass. vs. Stevenage, September 16, 2017 League One  We have played Stevenage before, beating them to advance to our Manchester City pay-day two years ago. We've gotten much better since. They haven't. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Lewis, Poole, Smissen, Harper, Simpson (c), Bailey, Price, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Taylor, Thomas, Curran, Holland, Holt, Gorman, Baker. Given our struggles this season, it's heartening to watch the team today. Stuart Simpson, playing a box to box midfielder role rather than as our anchor man, shows some panache in putting us ahead in the third minute. A mistake by Chesterfield results in an own goal during a corner kick to double that 20 minutes later and Tony Price scores his first of the year to make it three-nil just before half time. We don't let up on the gas. Lewis finds the perfect space to receive another Bailey corner kick to make it four nothing in the 52nd minute. Then Bailey scores himself in the 70th minute when he takes on what seems like the entire Stevenage defense to chase down a through ball. Our captain caps the performance with his second goal, getting on to the end of a cross from a Tony Price free kick. When the final whistle blows on a truly comprehensive hiding we have an average team rating of 8.63, the only starter who didn't play an excellent game was Harrison, who's gone into a slump. Man of the Match: Stuart Simpson   Wrexham 6-0 Stevenage  Just wanted to admire that score again. That's the sort of loss that that leads to managers getting sacked.  They should have just named our whole team.  Every single damned time it's “beaten Johnstone's Paint Trophy finalists.” Can't you leave off the “beaten” in that line? It's a burr under my saddle.  They're going to take their whooping on live TV! At Sunderland, September 23, 2017 League One  The Black Cats play at the magnificently named Stadium of Light, whose fancy name is an homage to the miners of the region that were the bedrock of it's economic development for many years.  They're showing the strain of being a League Two squad for the second year straight, the front line is still excellent and much better than we are but their backups are simply awful. A run of injuries can kill a thin team like this. Since they're currently healthy, we're parking the bus and hoping for some luck on the counter. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense. Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Taylor, Thomas, Poole, Harper, Price, Coulson, Baker. It's clear we're in for a screw job from the very start, when the ref whistles for a penalty after seven minutes when Simpson tackles the ball, only the ball, and nothing but the ball, not even touching the Sunderland player. It's an indefensible call, and I'm screaming bloody murder about Singaporean gamblers. We peg right back, though, with a perfect cross from Harrison finding Gorman's foot for the big baby's first goal in a Wrexham kit. Sunderland have the better of the game, but without the refs assistance can't score another goal. I'm starting to stew over the two missed points, but feeling confident about at least picking up a result, when the ref gives Sunderland another penalty in the 75th minute. This one is more disputable, but still a soft call, and if we were in the United States I'm sure a jury would find it a justifiable homicide if I gunned down this zebra this instant. We're forced to throw everything into the attack in an attempt to salvage a draw, which allows a final goal by Sunderland, the only one they could manage without a ref holding their hand.   Sunderland 3-1 Wrexham  COACH SMASH   : (Standing, fist to the heaven in rage) If I'm wrong let the FA strike me down where I stand...(Several seconds pass with only the fluttering of cameras heard) : (Still standing) See?! : (Not sure how to react) Erm. You realize the FA isn't actually God, right?: (Nodding) You should tell them that. “Complete twaddle,” Bowman continued, while stuffing an unmarked envelope full of fresh £50 pound notes into the mail slot of the apartment where the referee for his next fixture lived.  I really wish I could be on the team that writes this stuff, some of the options are great.  That's what I thought, you spineless cows. At Swindon, September 30, 2017 League One  Get out there and take the points we should have gotten from Sunderland, boys. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Taylor, Thomas, Poole, Harper, Price, Coulson, Baker. It's an old cliché that luck the residue of design, and it's our dangerous nature on corners that creates the first goal of the night when Swindon clears a corner directly into their own net. Harrison gets his first goal in what seems like forever to give us a safe two point lead, and we ease our way to victory over the second half, where Swindon and Mujkic trade goals in the waning minutes. It's our first away victory, and our first away result of any kind, of the season. Combined with the generally good play in the Sunderland match this hopefully presages a better run of away form in the near future. Man of the Match: Mateo Mujkic   Swindon 1-3 Wrexham  My kvetching about the refs may have helped get us that result, we had fewer fouls called on us and more fouls given than would be expected. It could just be that this ref has a general bias towards away teams.  I'm sure he's going to start knocking them in all the time now.  At least, once he's back from his stint on the disabled list. Argh. I don't trust Baker for the Tackleford game, but he'll have to do.  It's very hard to tell our uniforms apart from Fleetwood's at a glance. This is not the first time where I've gone “Wow! How, did we get so many players on the team of the week!?” before realizing that most of them aren't our players.  That's what your mom said. Or something. I'm not hyped for this game.  TACKLEFORD! I SHALL EAT YOUR UNBORN WHILE YOU WEEP IN USELESS REPENTENCE BEFORE ME!  Okay, maybe I'm a little hyped for this game. vs. Tackleford City, October 6, 2017 League One  If you asked me whether I would prefer we beat Tackleford or get promoted, I'd choose the latter. But it'd be a near thing. I'm quite happy that I've stoked such a blaze of emnity in Ed Phillips, it warms the cockles of my flesh and blood heart to know that his electronic one seethes in hate for me. All this will be for nothing if they embarrass us on our own turf, though, so we absolutely have to win this game. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attacking Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Todd, Lewis, Smissen, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Gorman, Mujkic, Baker. Subs: Taylor, Peters, Poole, Harper, Price, Coulson, Upson. Tackleford never presents a real threat, mustering just five total shots and one half chance all game. They do a good job keeping us from overwhelming them, though, and we endure a tense nil-nil match for more than an hour. Needing a spark, I pull the ineffective Baker and the mercurial Gorman for Tony Price and youth striker Michael Upson. The spark is almost immediate, as we quickly earn several corners in a row. On the last of these Bailey finds the head of Stewart Lewis, and the ball thuds home before the petrified eyes of the Tackleford supporter's section. I keep pressing for a second goal, not willing to let Tackleford's players regroup and have a chance to tie, and Upson rewards me by plonking a perfect cross from the Meteor into the back of the net to drive home the dagger. The Stevenage result was fun, the Sunderland result was infuriating, and this Tackleford result is phenomenal. Man of the Match: Stewart Lewis   Wrexham 2-0 Tackleford Press Conference The Racecourse Grounds October 6, 2017 : (Inquisitively) Coach Phillips just finished his press conference a few minutes ago, and it seems like he has no intention of ending his feud with you. What is it about you two that causes these fireworks each time you face off?: (Concern Trollingly) That old horse wouldn't even shake my hand after the match. I wouldn't care if he didn't respect me, but what he does disrespects the game, and that's not acceptable. : (Personably) Do you think that the pre-match war of words between you and Phillips affected the match?: (Giddily) It sure did. Phillips doesn't have the mental capacity to handle both coaching and trying to come up with insults that can be printed in family papers.: (Following Up) And how glad are you to take the three points today?: (Giddy as a schoolgirl-ing-ly) I love the idea of him having to take the team bus back to Tackleford, stewing with regret. I also love all of the sad fans going home to that miserable, weird little city. Funny, I didn't have that problem. Then, I'm not an old, boring bag of foul breath like you, Ed.  This may or may not be the case.  But I did spend the last ten minutes of the match trying to figure out what horrible things I could say to him that would be indistinguishable to lip readers from boilerplate “good-game” cliches for the after match meeting. You're the one who refused to shake my hand. You've got less class than the little known sixth Spice Girl, Garbage Spice.  The taunting of Phillips and Tackleford can only go on so long before the  Between the Tackleford and Sunderland games, and the joy of watching us pulverize the team that used to exist in Stevenage, our supporters have had a lot to talk about the last few weeks. We're now into the playoff scrum, and our offense is clicking on all cylinders despite the injury to Harrison. If we can keep up this form League One is going to learn to fear our little Welsh warband. Season Competition: Predict how many points we finish apart from Tackleford. For example, if you think we finish 6 points ahead of them you'd post +6, if you think we'd finish six points behind them, you'd post -6. Tiebreaker is goal differential. Entries will be open until the posting of the next update. Winner gets one change made to the database, I'll try to do whatever you want (within reason) if I can. 
habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Feb 23, 2014 |
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Feb 23, 2014 07:04
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The only thing better than embezzling frankly embarrassing amounts of money from your player trading is beating the tar out of Tackleford and watching their manager search desperately for a high horse to climb onto.
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Feb 23, 2014 07:24
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Wow, I've played this game so well and I've never gotten to the point of having such a ridiculous war of words with another manager. This is pretty amazing.
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Feb 23, 2014 07:55
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We will finish 12 points ahead of Tackleford. +12. 6 goal differential.
JT Jag fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Feb 24, 2014 |
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Feb 23, 2014 08:02
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