THIS WEEKS FINES

 

DIVISION 1

EW 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). CB . Jingo

 

DIVISION 2

NH 20k Fine. This player cannot play (inj/susp). AM D. Trost

GU 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). GK F. GinJr

 

DIVISION 3

 

CUT PLAYERS

 

PURCHASES FROM THE DRAFT

 

AA bid 815,454 for DS 8 20 named O. SylfarJr

AA bids 605,343 for DM 7.25 20 named V. Diaby

FI 161,000 for GK J. VanBeveren age 20 NSL 6,25  (From TB)

 

TRADES

 

TB -> FU

AS J. Rowbottum 4,50 20

AS G. Heuveling 4.50 20

150K

FU -> TB

DM A. Yakubu 9.00 24

 

TB sends BS

FB    A. DeZeeuw  5,00  20

FB    J. Dicks    5,00  23

FB    L. Croft    5,50  20

BS sends TB

DM D. Elisque 8.50 24

 

PRESS REPORT

DIVISION 1

Alcohol Anonymous

A HISTORY OF SAEFL (Season 4) – SAD DEPARTURES AND NEW ARRIVALS

 

With season 3 seeing CA again (Peter : What you mean again ?) winning the league – breaking the IQ dominance.  AA again finished second.  TB and FI were promoted, with NW winning the cup.  Player of the season was GOONIE, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored an amazing 42 goals for NH.

 

So, what would season 4 herald for SAEFL?  Certainly a few surprises as a new breed of player stamped their mark on proceedings.  But bigger shocks lay in store …

 

Season 4

 

As always in SAEFL, the beginning of any new season hails excitement, as managers scan opposition teams to find the players that have gone from nearly stars to megastars.  Let’s take a look at some of the early runners and riders, and some of the youngsters that were bubbling under:

 

TJ GK The Cat in the Hat 10

TJ CF GOONIE 12

MR CF Dalglish 12

TH MF Juninho 11.5

FI DS I. Borgsen 10

CA FB B. Berlinnin 9.25

CA AM Todi 9.25

GU DS McGoo 11.5

NW DM F. George 10

OC MF R. Keane 9.75

EU CB D. Mills 9

EU CM J. Cole 10

NH AM T. Sheringham 12.5

JG CF J. Rowbottom 9.5

LU WH A. Nartov 10.5

 

The obvious picks from these men are McGoo, Sheringham and Nartov.  All quality players on the up. GOONIE continued his demise – but at 12 NSL, TJ was hardly complaining J

 

The first week sees the first shock of the season.  IQ, the team to beat for the first season in SAEFL, get outplayed and defeated 10-5 by TJ, with GOONE and Taz Man taking it to their mighty opponents.  Would this win see the start of a bright dawn for The Jazz?  Sometimes dawns can close quicker than you think.

 

With MR beaten by TB in an epic 20-19 encounter, and CA only managing a draw against GU, AA stole a march on their likely championship contenders with a solid victory over TH – oldies Jardel and Davies doing a good job for the Alcies.

 

In my first full season in SAEFL, my side OC manages to sneak a win against AS.  The 7-6 win was hollow though, and this kind of limited result immediately made me realise that to make OC into a power house, I would need to radically shake up the whole place in a move that I expected to take 4 or 5 seasons to fully flourish.  Little did I know that the plan would falter so quickly.

 

What’s this?  JG in division 2?  Crumbs!  Mind you, the writing was on the wall for a quick return to the top flight as although they only got a draw out of another strong team in NH, CF J. Rowbottom was already putting in the kind of displays that would make him a legend of the game down the line - CF S.Rowbottom*/*** 9.5 19.38 2 goals.

 

To show you this deal shows you what a good trader Mike is, and why he has remained a constant in the top flight of SAEFL from its inception:

 

NW - DL
28 yo CB Nsl 8.25 M. Fish
28 yo CB Nsl 8.25 S. Campbell
24 yo S Nsl 8.75 V. Montella
29 yo CF Nsl 8.75 I. Zamorano
plus $250,000
DL - NW
20 yo CB Nsl 7.5 S. Ward
20 yo CB NSL 6 K.Monkou
20 yo MF Nsl 8 B. Thornley
22 yo S Nsl 7.5 S. Stritzel
20 yo CF NSL 6 J.Holmes

 

In particular, S. Ward, B. Thornley and J. Holmes would become serious players in the league in years to come.  Not all of them would remain at NW mind you J

 

Ah … the memories of being “the pressman” – I had already decided that as a freshman in SAEFL, I needed to eek out some sort of reputation – and if it could not be through my side, it would be through my press and my all round contribution to the league (It was also a good way, with the EB deadline, of building up my cash reserves):

 

“After Oaklane's mascot, Oakkey the Ostrich, nearly committed murder after last months defeat at the hands of Alcohol Anonymous, he will, unfortunately, not be available to entertain the masses (??) of OC fans, as he is, at present, in rehabilitation (most of the players are at the Betty Ford clinic).  Still, never mind.  This year, a new training schedule has been set up by the coach, Ibe Bonkers.  It is based on the formula that, as nearly all the players are Italian, they will perform much better on the pitch after consuming copious quantities of Pizza and Lasagna.  So don't expect to score many goals this year, all opponents, as the GK is aiming to fill the whole goal within days.... he trains especially hard!

 

Starting from next week - the OC Files!!!!  In-depth analysis into the players, and management of Oaklane.  Expect the unexpected!!!!!!!!

 

Finally, good luck to all the managers this year.  I wish you all a successful season..... just not as good as mine!! (well, you can always dream).

 

For 3 or so seasons, I built my press around a quirky squad and management with their own characteristics, adventures and oddities.  I also decided to give the club a new name … Oaklane anyone? ;)

 

Week 2 heralded a new and very exiting passage in the history of the league – international games.  ARG, ITA, USA, HOL (boo ;)), ENG, SWE, BRA and GER (does anyone know what these initials stand for?) faced off.  Go take a look, as names will spring out that, for any long-term manager, will be as well-known as Pele and Maradona in real life.

 

They say that the skills make the manager – and although I have none, it seemed like luck was on OC’s side in week as they picked the EU ONE lock with a CP to net another close (7-8 victory).  The win would herald the break up of the team, however.

 

Talking about CP, it’s interesting to see that not many sides were playing the counter-punch at this time.  WPs and the other attacking systems were very much ‘en-vogue’.  Take the week 3 cup games.  Of the 24 Div 1 & 2 sides, this was the make up:

 

SM 2; ONE 3; WH 3; OFF 1; MM 0; CP 0; BC 2; TC 2; TS 1; ENF 0; BC 0; LB 3 ZD 1; WP 6

 

So a clear win for the WP tactic, and while there were only 6 teams playing defensively, 3 playing counter tactics (SM and OFF), another 15 played offensive tactics.

 

It’s odd; when you look back at the past seasons in SAEFL, you realise that the league had developed at an early stage to a greater degree than you had expected.  There were a significant number of freaks in the league in season 4 – probably as many as there are today.  I didn’t expect to see more than 5 or 6 per season for the first few years, but week 4 saw 11 freaks in the league playing – and I guess one or two might have been rested.

 

Week 4 was also significant as it saw the introduction of a great freak.  Sylfar would light up SAEFL for many seasons.  306k well spent on 19 the 6.75 DS by Ed of AA.

 

Week 7 and OC are defeated 19-20 by a JG side that, with Bart at the helm, are on the bounce back.  The first defeat I suffered at his hands – but not the last (I’m waiting to repay that 31-17 defeat last week J)

 

Week 8, and MR, who had been in a bit of a slump, show their enormous EMPing power, taking out all 155 points worth on CA, who themselves net a respectable 130.  Not enough to get anything but a 11-4 hammering though!

 

With week 11 wiped from the SAEFL memory banks, it’s on to week 12.  Just to prove that great managers don’t always get it right, Vince plays 3 MFs, 2 Ws, 2 S and NO centre forwards  in a WP side as his CA side suffers a shock 14-16 loss to TJ.  Very unusual to see Vince make any errors at all – but I’m sure he had his reasons for the formation.

 

Week 13 sees ageing.  Berlinnin’s slow and steady rise sees him move to 9.5 NSL.  McGoo up to an intimidating 11.75, Dalglish to 12.5, Rowbottom to 10.5 and Djordic up to 12.5.  Now let’s have a discussion about who was the best from those lot!

 

Week 14 and IQ net 152 EMP v a devastated TJ.  OC also by a 20 7 novice called Thundercats.  Not a bad buy J

 

Week 15 is a very sad day for SAEFL, as Peter has to take control of AA, with Edwin leaving the league.  Ed was instrumental in building AA into the force they are today (well, other than the odd 31-17 loss L), and his move to pastures new was a shock to the community.  Peter therefore started his search for a new boss for the Alcies.

(Peter: It still amazes me today that No one wanted to take control of AA, they were such a powerful team)

Mind you, it wasn’t all bad – for once one of his ‘emergency manager’ teams actually won a game J J

 

Week 15 was also a sad day for SAEFL as CF Screwdriver – the original dangerman up front – was retired to stud by me (sorry). He was a old, haggared 31 year old 5.5 NSL player at this point – but if you have been reading my press in recent weeks, you will know that this was not always the case.  62 games and 94 goals says it all.  D. Barratt (OC, 6.75 30 when released) was also decent – 50 games and 63 goals.

 

Playing players too long, too hard is always a balancing at that has to be played by managers.  Play a individual too little, and you don’t get enough bang for your buck.  Play them too much, and injuries can lay around the corner if lady luck is not smiling on you.  Week 15 shows all managers the old adage ‘to be wise is to be careful’ is very true (actually, that’s not an old adage but is sounds good on paper ;))   - IQ S.Duncan 9.75 7.35 (injured 59 ro 76)

 

Peter’s luck as AA managers cannot last though, and in week 17 his bad management sees the Alcies lose 7-3 to TB. “Yes I am the manager of AA and I never expected TB to play a GC I expected a WP side but not a GC and that seals the points for TB” … excuses, excuses.

 

Obviously this meant that Peter was even more in need of a new manager, and at after week 20 (when AA failed to pick up 3 points again) he asked me to become manager of AA.  A tough choice to make, as I was keen on making OC into a superpower in the game.  But AA is a great name, and the chance to step up was too good to turn down. 

 

Week 21 Peters last games in charge of AA, and he goes out with a bang - grudges in both league and cup sees 2 wins and EMP of 154 and 155. 

 

Week 23 and with AA in prime position to win the league, I lose in the cup (but go through to the final on aggregate), and get hammered by NW in the league (the other team to reach the final in the league).  This result immediately set up a great rivalry between Mike and I that has never died down (and that’s what SAEFL is all about).

 

Grudges are traditionally left to the end of the season, and 23 proves this – 6 were played in all.  As teams get 2 grudges each per season (Peter: Err you means 3, excuse him he is new to this league J), that’s 48 in total for the league.  So given that an average of 2 grudges can be played a week, 6 seems mighty high.

 

With OC stalling in division 2, week 23 saw Bart wrap up the title – and he has not been out of the top flight since. 

 

Week 24 sees MR and IQ going head to head.  Two grudges, and 149 and 143 EMP seeing the home side prevail 23-21.  Great leagues and great games go hand in hand.  Great players win great games and 12.5 CF Dalglish netted 24.17 emp and 7 goals.  Not bad for an evenings work.

 

The week also sees AA wrap up the title with a win at home to GU.  My first league title but not one I really count on my mantle as it was mainly Eds work. IQ end up as runners up, while JG and NH shrug off relegation a year before by bouncing right back. 

 

Week 25, and one of the greatest cup games ever:

 

Attendance : 79411

Alcohol Anonymous 6 (CF M. Jardel PEN,WH DragonHart 1, AM J. Jackson 2, AM Safari 2)

NoShaKi WC'98 6 (AM D. Stankovic 1, W M. Overmars 1, CF M. Salas 3, CF D. Yorke 1)

AA Neutral WH RG 

GK Chardonnay 10 10.14  Saves 11, CB Tom Vansteenkiste 10 12.96 , CB Newton 10 11.92 , FB Lou Donaldson* 10 13.13 , MF E. Hefe 10 11.53 , WH DragonHart 9.25 10.76 , WH Bojan Djordic 12.5 14.54 , AM J. Jackson 9 12.83 , AM Safari 9.5 12.57 , S G. Heathcote 10 10.91 , CF M. Jardel*** 9.5 10.59 Booked NSL 99.75 - EMP 121.74

NW Neutral MM MD 

GK J. Songo’o 10 10.12  Saves 14, DS J. Baiano 9.5 9.08 , CB A. Nesta 9.5 12.07 , FB L. Thuram 9 8.95 Booked, DM E. Amunike * 10 12.02 , AM D. Stankovic 9 12.46 , AM F. Mars 8.5 10.77 , W M. Overmars 10 13.44 , W P. Beadle 11 12.96 Booked, CF M. Salas *** 12.5 15.35 , CF D. Yorke 9 11.21  NSL 98 - EMP 118.30

Markers

~ DS J. Baiano marks CF Jardel

~ FB L. Thuram marks S Heathcote

 

PEN SHOOT OUT

NW                                                         AA

W Beadle MISS                     WH Bojan Djordic GOAL

AM Stankovic GOAL            AM J. Jackson GOAL

CF Yorke GOAL                    AM Safari GOAL

DM Amunike GOAL                             S  G. Heathcote MISS

CF Salas GOAL                      CF M. Jardel MISS

 

NW outthought my AA side, although I calculated (incorrectly) that any MM tactic Mike played could still not cope with AA’s WH tactics.  As well … one of many near misses in league and cup, and to NW in particular, over the course of the next few seasons.

 

LU head up to the top flight (they have not been relegated since), and Holland win the first ever World Cup 10-9 v Argentina (rather like the devil v the devil … don’t gloat you dutch managers J)

 

After all the highs though, the season ends on a low as Nigel Gregory bows out of the league as manager of IQ.  A great man and a great boss, he was rightly named manager of the year.  His ability to manage in the electronic league can be highlighted by the fact that, despite having several good managers, the club have never really been quite the same since (although the club are on the way back now).

 

Out of interest, McGoo won defender of the year, Francis midfielder was midfielder of the year, Dalglish won forward, player of the year and the golden boot, while Rowbottom picked up the silver boot.  A pretty good combination there that would strike fear into any opposition side.

 

Oh, and somehow, I won pressman of the year (yay!)

 

So, season 4 was at an end.  Roll on season 5, which would see a trading king emerge, a rags to nearly riches story for AA with their own trading policy, and the oldies say their last hurrah in the league.

 

Apocalypse

 

Catbel Athletic

 

Excelsior Warren

From the Excelsior Herald...

Ouch! That hurt. An 0-8 thrashing at the hands of Catbel. But perhaps now is not the time to panic. Excelsior put out are far from weak team with decent enought nsl and emp, the problem was that CA were so good they simply blew it away. On another day against another team Exceslior may have picked up a point or three.

This week sees the final group game in the cup against FC Inferno. With both teams almost certainly guaranteed a palce in the next round, will we see a thrilling deveil may care game, or a polite 0-0 bore draw? No prizes for guessing which way Bracegirdle is likely to go - never a man to entertain a crowd when there is a chance not to.

 

F.C Inferno

It's cup time this week and let's test the new boys Fuzue and Zell.

Hopefully they will perform well and help us to move to the next round. A small loss should be enough... at least that's what I hope for!

 

InterQuartile Rangers

I didn't need to rest my "powerful midfielders" for either fatigue or the upcoming cup match.  They are not winning games.  The sad news is that while those midfielders rack up some of the best stats in the division they aren't doing the job.  I've already lost at least 2 games where I had (slightly) higher EMP.  In other games I just got clobbered.  I will be floating around the relegation zone this season.  A couple more wins might be enough to pull me out of the zone, but I don't see who I'm going to beat.

 

Even worse, I don't have time to scout players and look for trades.  So for the foreseeable future I'll have a strong Div 2 team.  Maybe I'll just yo-yo between divisions.  Considering the new money for promoting that would be one way to get some extra money.  With the inflation in SAEFL that money may not even pay for one player off the transfer list.

 

2 of my 3 seasons in SAEFL are incredibly frustrating.  I don't know how long it will last.

 

 

Here are the stats for Div 1:

 

TEAMS

NSL avg

EMP avg

EMP/NSL

max NSL

min NSL

max EMP

min EMP

Diff NSL

Diff EMP

TB

96.85

122.99

1.27

99.5

89.75

140.14

109.78

9.75

30.36

CA

92.5

114.35

1.24

93.75

90.75

127.39

98.19

3

29.2

TH

93.1

117.62

1.26

100.25

82

132.24

96.03

18.25

36.21

AP

97.55

118.08

1.21

99

93

131.97

107.84

6

24.13

LU

92.94

124.48

1.34

94.75

91.21

134.11

104.9

3.54

29.21

FI

93.9

121.01

1.29

97

91

127.08

116.24

6

10.84

OC

97

123.45

1.27

99

95.5

132.42

116.01

3.5

16.41

AA

94.7

124.51

1.31

99

85.75

129.42

114.94

13.25

14.48

IQ

95.55

127.93

1.34

96.5

94.75

131.41

122.01

1.75

9.4

JG

96.2

126.97

1.32

99

92.25

131.71

116.8

6.75

14.91

EW

99.95

132.95

1.33

101.75

96.25

146.01

120.94

5.5

25.07

NW

92.05

125.59

1.36

94.75

89.5

134.66

116.34

5.25

18.32

 

95.19

123.33

1.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisbon United

Let`s rest.

 

NoShaKi WC98

 

Oaklake City

 

The Boelewieten

 

The Jazz Greats

 

Tottenford Heats

 

DIVISION 2

Adirondak Renegades

Adirondak Press (AP):A Victory! It was even a road victory.

 

Manager Fulmer (MF); It was good to see. Even if it was one rebuilding team beating another, it is still good for AR morale. The 3 points didn't hurt either.

 

AP: GK Hird came through for you.

 

MF: Hird had an excellent match, in fact he was the difference for us. He is one of our few experienced players, and he can be a great help as we develop the youth.

 

AP: What else impressed you about the match?

 

MF: We bad a very balanced attack. We don't have that top goal scorer, and are trying to develop a balanced attack with a lot of people involved. Seven different people scored our nine goals, with no one scoring more that twice. That's the type of attack we are after. Plus nine goals on 17 chances is good finishing, which is an area in which we have been poor.

 

AP; Now its on to the cup where you have a good chance of going through.

 

MF: The cup match will be a good test for our youth. We are playing BS, who have lost their first 2 cup matches, so we are expected to win. However, BS has new management. BS showed much better effort in their first match under Bryan. I'm sure he will straighten them out, but hopefully it takes him a few weeks :) Playing in the second round would be great training for our young players, so we need to approach this match seriously.

African Selection

 

Dead Scientists

 

Druss Legends

 

England U-21

 

Englehart Storm

 

Grammar United

 

Melchester Rovers

 

Newton Heath

 

Port of Napier AFC

Well last week was a good week, we won.  It was even better that we escaped the boost without it hurting our result.  We did have better NSL and EMP than them so I suppose it was not a suprise.  Though that was not the case two weeks ago when we got our first loss of the season even though we had higher NSL and EMP.

Go figure.  Now we are in sixth place, right in the middle of the pack, the last spot of the playoff scene as it stands now.  Its not a bad place to be seeing as it is in the beginning of the season.  For the most part, the whole middle of the table in Division Two is pretty close together so there is a good chance that we can move up (or down, I suppose) in the next couple of weeks. 

We obviously are not a favorite anymore but our goal is still to get promoted, which we still can.

 

This week is a cup week and we play AV.  Seeing as we are last in our cup group, there is no hope of moving on so we do not really care if we win or not.

We are not playing our strongest team so we will be happy with whatever happens.

 

Stannington Historical

 

The Jazz

The Toons face Smoking Guns from Div 3 in the last round of the league stage hoping for a win and a place in the next round.  TJ after a good start of 3 wins in a row have now be beating twice by the top two sides they will be hoping to stop the losing run.

    Back in the league next week TJ will have an home game against MR and then an away game against DS. TJ have been training hard this week to get back into winning was the whole squad have been doing extra training and no late night partys and drink, and good luck to everyone this week.

 

DIVISION 3

Adelaide Kickers

This week sees the Kickers playing their final group game in the first round of the cup against Div 2 side Engelhart Storm.  The storm are a pretty good side and are leading the group with the kickers only needing a draw to see them through.  Of course a win will be even better and make sure of it.

 

"We will be going all out today," David said.  "A draw will be enough but I don't want to risk losing, so we will attack so that we can create more scoring opportunities."

 

This interview was yesterday on the eve of the vital clash.

 

SB: "How do you think Peter will play against you tomorrow?"

 

DT: "Hopefully Peter will take it easy on us with them already through to the next round.  It would be good to see the two Australian teams through."

 

SB: "Choosing the right captain is important in a game like this, something you have found hard to get right this season.  Who will be leading the side on the pitch tomorrow?"

 

DT: "Yes Stephanie, It has been tough to find the right captain.  This week the armband is going to Dmitri Kochetkov."

 

SB: "Last week you traded away a couple of players, namely Hoppie Van Der Westhuizen.  What was the reasoning behind this week's trades?"

 

DT: "As you saw a couple of weeks ago, we played our backup keeper and got hammered.  I needed to bring in another backup keeper of decent ability.  Another striker was going to come in handy too.  Unfortunately that meant having to trade away a good player in Hoppie to make it possible.  I wish Hoppie all the best with his new team."

 

SB: "The team has struggled lately and morale seems to have suffered a bit.  Is this a concern?"

 

DT: "Yes it is.  Lower morale means that the lads aren't playing at their best.  When that happens then the results won't happen either.  Hopefully tomorrow we can get the win and progress through to the second round.  This will then help lift the morale so that we can move on."

 

SB: "Thanks for your time David."

 

DT: "Any time Stephanie."

 

So let's see all you fans at the game to help cheer them out.  This can be the real turning point for the kickers season.

 

Stephanie Burrows

Adelaide Advertiser

Aros VSK

This is a very hard cup-game for manager Christer, since he faces his old team. A team he managed for several seasons. Looking at PN now showes that only a few players are left since Christer bossed them. And PN have gone WP, a tactic Christer rarely used for PN.

 

AV will try to play OFF to counter a suspected WP and get a draw to see AV proceed from the group-stage and into the playoffs of the cup.

 

Blue Storm FC

Greetings all. Welcome to the First Cup Game where Blue Storm FC is managed under Wayne United colors. This is the first time that Bryan is going up against a DIV2 team. He is looking comfortable and ready for good challenge. Have a great day in the stadium coz we are looking to put on a great performace.

 

Your always welcome at Wayne United (Blue Storm FC)

 

See you in the Stands.

Defrosted TunaFish

 

Deo Volente

This week DV meets Len's SH for the CUP. Len will probably focus on the league, trying to stay into div 2 and play a backup team with SM/AD in this weeks CUP game.

I would have liked to use a grudge card for this game, but they might be of better use after the aging.

Falcons

Falcons FC are using this week's Cup games as an opportunity to rotate their players.

 

 

Nik Albert [FA]

 

Fanatics United

There were some good trades last week, and then some bad ones. The team has taken well to the new guys, and the last few practices have been effective a the team is coming together. This week is a free rest week and the second team has been placed in, all the new guys will be playing to get them into the team spirit.

The whole team will be there on the bench though taking a look at the performance of a second division team to see what they will be playing next session.

 

Half way though the first year of Fanatics United and the club is going well, top of the league but not in the cup. Well we won't see until the end of this game, but I don't want to go for the cup, I would like to focus our efforts to the league.

 

The game last week BS vs. DV, was a very good game, well matched up, I have the recording if anyone wanted it, just follow the link: http://www.saefl.com/mr/s11/Week7TYPEL3.html

 

 

Fantastic eleven

 

Smoking Guns

 

Speedsters

 

Trav Spoodle

So who thinks I'll beat bart with my side im fielding…? Hmmm. Will be interesting to see if I can score a goal in fact… Have a good one...

Vitesse Arnhem