THIS WEEKS FINES
DIVISION 1
EW 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). CB . B. Magruder
DIVISION 2
DS 20k Fine. This player cannot play (inj/susp) (sub). FB
L. Neill
SH 20k
Fine. Cannot find this player. FB A. Hirsi-Al
GU 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). GK F. GinJr
PN 20k Fine. This player cannot play (inj/susp) (sub). MF
C. Gomez
ES 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). CB C. Ensico
DIVISION 3
FA 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). AM S. Kennedy
DT 20k Fine. This player cannot play (inj/susp) (sub). W
B. Brouwmeester
AK 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). GK L. deCarpolini
AK 20k Fine. Cannot find this player (sub). S D. Astokachi
CUT PLAYERS
SH GK R. Raki 8.75 34
AA S B. Tarachulski 6.50 24
PURCHASES FROM THE DRAFT
FI 583,000
for AM 7.75 21, named A. Respingo
JG bid 379k
for W 8.5 22 named
G.G.Kay
DT 33, 000
for WH C. Hopp
(From TB)
TRADES
FI -> JG
S M. Habilidoso age 22 NSL 7
JG -> FI
399,000
AR>BS/WU
CM D Ikles 24 8.25
BS/WU>AR
CB K Hickey 24 8.5
JG sends LU
19 CF 5 B. Gesserit
500k
LU sends JG
29 CF 10 Mantorras
PRESS REPORT
DIVISION 1
Alcohol Anonymous
A
HISTORY OF SAEFL (Season 5) – THE ERA OF TRADING KINGS
Season 4 saw AA win the league after a bunch of second place finishes. So could they go on and dominate the league? (fat chance with NF at the helm) J
Season 5
The
first week in the top flight saw a number of tight matches – with the biggest
win being a 3-goal margin. Was this the
way of things to come in Season 5? JG in
particular got a very good win against AA.
In division 2, AR stood out with a 133 EMP performance.
As
for player improvements, the following stood out:
NW
CF M. Salas 12
AA
WH Bojan Djordic 12.5
JG
CF Rowbottom 11
TB
CF G. Schockaert
NH
AM T. Sheringham 12.5
CA
FB B. Berlinnin 9.75
CA
AM Todi 10
LU
WH A. Nartov 12.5
GU
DS McGoo 12.25
TH
MF Juninho 12.5
EU CB Danny Mills 10
AA DS Sylfar 8.75
NW CB A. Nesta 9.5
Most
seasons to date had seen week 1 trading more in line with a whimper than a
bang. Not this season. 20 different deals. The main clubs involved in training were:
AA
– 9 deals
NW
– 6 deals
JG
– 4 deals
In
particular, AA got rid of a number of high quality players for cash, and NW
purchased AA’s star WH Djordic, CF G. Schockaert, WH A. Nartov, MF K.
Francis, MF Juninho and MF Jones.
The
key – all the NW players were freaks, and in a matter of one week, the club had
generated a SUPER TEAM – possibly the first one in SAEFL history.
When
I look back at the deal for WH Djordic these days, I
cringe. Ah well – at least some of my
other deals worked out. But the moves
had left AA very week – and that would bite the club on the bum for nearly half
the season.
Week
2, and NW show their awesome power that was gained through their trading
tactics a week earlier. When I tell you
that the club EMPed 148 points with a sending off
(albeit 87 mins), you might be thinking WP? ZD? Not on your nelly. With 115 NSL
on the pitch (11.5 per outfield player!), they got that performance with a
SM!!! MR just didn’t stand a
chance. Check it out for yourself:
Attendance : 30381
NoShaKi WC'98 10 (CB A. Nesta 1, FB Lou
Donaldson 3, MF K. Francis 1, MF Juninho 1, MF C.Jones 1, WH A. Nartov 1, CF G. Schockaert 2)
Melchester Rovers 5 (MF J. Collins 1, W R. Giggs
1, S R. Fowler 1, CF B.Deane 1, CF K.Dalglish 1)
NW Home SM TR
GK J. Songo’o
10 10.10 Saves
7, CB A. Nesta 9.5 12.82 , FB L. Donaldson * 10 12.92
, FB R. Here 10 13.00 , MF K. Francis 12 16.10 , MF Juninho 12.5 16.05 , MF C. Jones 11.5 12.27 Booked SENT OFF
87, WH B. Djordic 12.5 16.97 , WH A. Nartov 12.5 16.30 Booked, CF M. Salas *** 12 15.45 , CF G. Schockaert 12.5 16.47
NSL 115 - EMP 148.35
MR Away WP AA
GK Stewart 10 10.15 Saves 22, CB Matteo*
8 9.62 , CB Bould 9 11.04 , FB Hughton
9.5 10.59 , MF Collins 8 10.36 , MF Quinn 10 11.27 , W Giggs
10 11.81 , W Berger 9 6.33 SENT OFF 53, S Fowler 9 13.18 , CF Deane*** 9 16.15
, CF Dalglish 11 19.29 NSL 92.5 - EMP 119.63
When you
consider that Nesta would become a freak in time,
imagine the side with him as a 12 NSL defender.
Unbelievable.
AA didnlt fare so well after their trading
tactics. A mere 90 nsl on
the pitch, and the club get a 9-0 pasting against CA to see them drop into the
bottom 3 for the first time in SAEFL history.
To make matters worse, the club then sell MF Hefe
to LU. Painful times indeed.
Week 3, and NW
sign 12.5 AM Sheringham (for Jones and 2 other
players) just to stick the knife in that little more!
Week 5, and
the turnaround starts for AA. They
strike a deal to sign winger R. Giggs (23 9.75) from
CA – and it would prove an inspired deal.
Week 6, and a little hint on the ability to spot stats.
Take a look at the IQ TJ game. TJ
didn’t select a captain and got beaten 23-17 by IQ. Then take a closer look at TJ’s strikeforce. Grumpy 8.25 11.97 ,
S Wonder Woman 8.5 13.99. Note the
difference in performance. I did
straight the way – and Wonder’s performance indicated a player of real
potential. I hunted the manager straight
down, and had done a deal in a couple of weeks.
Mind you, not
that hunting down the odd player was helping my side much – a drab 0-0 draw
with TB calling the match reporter to say that “heads would roll” if an up-turn
in fortunes was not forthcoming. Yea of
little faith ;)
While AA were struggling, my former club OC were reaping the benefits
from my trading policy of a year earlier.
Unbeaten after 6 weeks of the league, and things were rosy in the Oakky garden.
The big
turnaround in the AA league came in week 7.
A solid 8-4 win in the league against IQ, and one of the biggest
transfers in the history of the club.
Now everyone knows that I don’t like spending money – so when EU demanded
800k for their 10 NSL 22 CB Danny Mills, I gulped hard.
But 800k was
well spent. Mills went on to have an
outstanding career in SAEFL, and was at the heart of a rock AA defence that
would also include Sylfar and Simpson amongst
others. 3 5 5 statters there – and in a couple seasons time, managers
would fear that particular backline (the best in SAEFL history, even if I do
say so myself J)
The trading
policy was paying off, and week 8 saw another close 0-1 victory for the Alcies. NW continued
to steam-roller the league, with yet another win.
Week 8 also
highlights how a couple bad trades can destroy a team. 1 million might not sound like a tonne of
money these days – but you can bet your bottom dollar that in season 5, it was
a milestone. For the biggest single fee
in SAEFL history, surely a manager would expect to receive a 5 5 stat 10 NSL player or a freak? Nah –- try a 9.5 NSL 22 y/o GK. And while AR smiled, AS fans frowned … not
that AR would really use that money wisely in the long-term.
Week 9 … and
SHOCK HORROR … NW only manage a draw against GU (well done to them – this was
no mean feat in this season of dominance by Noshaki)
By the end of
week 10, and another AA win sees my club up to 3rd. Who ever doubted me? (eer … me).
Week 10 also
saw the top 2 go head to head. NW beat
JG 5-4. But it shows the respect between
Bart and Mike that both teams Grudged, and both played SM when their best
tactics at that time were probably offensive (WP & WH).
Lastly in week
10, and another piece of the master-plan comes
together with the signature of Wonder-Woman.
It was a good deal for me … how was I to know that AS Thundercats would blimmin well
freak though!
Week 11, and only one thing to talk about. The arrival of a Bart Simpson (latterly B. Simpson) to the league. AP bid 380k for this promising 8 22 FB. AA missed out on him by about 15k.
As I am sure
you all know, Simpson would go on to be one of the, if not THE greatest
defender in the history of the league.
His rise would be steep, and within a matter of a season, I would be
forking out nearer 2 million for his services (ouch!). Just as well that a certain Martin Bell
wasn’t manager of the Apocs then, or I wouldn’t have
got him.
Week 12, and
CA NW sees a superb game. 141 EMP plays
150 as the clubs fight out a 5-5 draw.
Week 13 saw
ageing. In particular, Berlinnin shines out like a beacon. The man had become a superman at last – 11.5
NSL and CA had a rock from which to base their defence around.
The other
jumper was CF Stewart. This man was
about 5 NSL … and in one ageing he flew to the heights of 11 NSL. Not bad
going! TB all of a sudden had two freaks
up front with Stewy and 11 NSL Zahovic.
Let us take a
look at other players on the rise:
JG CF Rowbottom 11.75
AA DS O. Sylfar 10
CA AM Todi 11
GU DS McGoo 12.5
AP FB B.
Simpson 9
DS S Curie 11.5
PN DM M.
Standing 9
The ageing
certainly did no favours for NW … but then what do you expect with a team that
had previously been made up of 12.5 players!
Still – they could still put out a pretty decent team J
Week 14, and
Peter needs oxygen. NW get defeated 11-5 by FI in a masterclass
of when to play the much under-used SM.
NW rested up a little;
but FI knew that had NW gone out, chances would need to be cut
down. The SM did this – and against Noshaki’s WP, it played right into the away sides
hands. Nice work J
The other big
game of the week saw JG play AA. JG had
been on top form, and they grudged against AA – so surely a win. Eer no … AA had
built up their defence over the previous 5-6 weeks, and after ageing, it was
unleashed to devastating effect, ensuring a 6-5 win for the away side. This game definitely stoked up the rivalry
between these SAEFL stalwarts.
After week 16
saw NW beat AA 4-0, the title was pretty much over as a contest (especially as
JG were dropping points here and there).
Week 17 and AR get another
1million through the sale of S Dustbin (10 23) to DS. Where did all the money go …?
Week 18, and the battle
for promotion to division 1 was hotting up. The league table stood like this after week
17:
1 Tottenford
Heats 15 9 1 5 194 179 28 15
2 African Selection 15 8 2
5 159 129 26 30
3 Druss
Legends 15 8 2 5 140 122 26 18
4 Adirondak
Renegades 15 8 1 6 164 141 25 13
5 Oaklake
City 15 6 6 3 82 77 24 5
Now that’s what I call a
close run thing.
1Tottenford Heats 22 13 3
6 42
2 Druss
Legends 22 12 4 6 40
3 African Selection 22 11
5 6 38
4 Adirondak
Renegades 22 11 4 7 37
5 Oaklake
City 10 7 5 37
Would I be right? (of course not … but
you already knew this!). Week 18
certainly threw things into the mixer with AP annihilating TH. AS and OC won, and AR lost (against OC). DL won, and the pressure was really on!
Week 19, and more pressure
– TH only got a 2-2 draw v ES; AR lost to the in-form AS (and were rapidly
losing contact at the top); DL got a narrow win and OC drew. Are you keeping count? I’ll give you a hint – DL were leading the
league, with AS in second, TH in third and OC 4th.
No week 20 (sort it out
Peter!), so on to week 21. NW and IQ
were making a play to enter the final of the cup competition. In the league, and NW tied up the league with
a rather drab 1-1 draw with JG.
The season certainly saw
the finest ever team assembled in the history of SAEFL – and it was all down to
bold trading from Mike. I salute you J. Looking at the season, it was interesting to see
that the two biggest traders in the league (Mike and I) had completely
different strategies. But in their own way, both worked.
Mike’s trading also
started off a trend in the league which has continued ever since – the manager
that “jumps the gun” and goes all out to make their side into the force of the
league. JG have
done this to good effect in Season 11 to date.
Week 22, and I have no
idea where the division 2 title challenge is at – all
the challengers seem to be winning 1 week, then losing the next. So lets cut to the
chase and go to week 24 …
Before getting to division
2, AA end the season on a high by winning 4-0 v GU and finishing second in the
league. The club also showed why the Alcies would be a force in future years, boosting with a TS
tactic to EMP over 158 points … and all from a team that Peter thought might
get relegated early in the season.
Right, so where were we …
well, apparently, TH needed a win to ensure they went up as champions in week
24. They ended up losing to EU.
OC needed a win to try and
sneak into the top 2. They could only
manage a draw v SH.
AR missed out on the
play-offs all together after a terrible end of season and a 6-8 loss to EW.
DL had a shot at the title
after the TH loss, but blew it after they played a 75 NSL team and got beaten
0-3 by the Storm.
This allowed AS to sneak up on the rails and win the
title with a 6-8 victory over AP … with TH in second place. That array of results just about summed up
the season!
And finally, on to the
play offs and the cup final. One year
after leaving the club to join AA, I proudly looked on to see the Oakkies triumph over ES to reach the hallowed turf of
Division 1.
In fantastic cup final, IQ
played the all conquering NW – who would surely take the double. Well, the final was a fantastic affair, with
IQ outsmarting NW, playing a defensive tactic to NW’s SM (who must have
suspected a ONE tactic). 1-1 the final score, and a replay.
The replay sees NW go all
offensive with a WH. But IQ again win
the tactical battle with a SM to shake up the SAEFL with a really tight 6-5 win
(NW missed 2 pens BTW!)
So, the season of the
trading kings was over – a season which belonged to Mike S and NW. What would happen in Season 6? Find out next week …
Apocalypse
Catbel Athletic
Excelsior
From the
Excelsior Herald...
Job done in
the cup. But could
Excelsior have gone for the group win and a more favourable
second round draw? When questioned in the post march
press conference Bracegirdle seemed content with second place. "No one
ever won a cup without winning some tough games", he growled.
This week sees a return to the league,
where Excelsior appear to be dropping at an alarming
rate. A trip to Lisbon United is always a tough prospect, but now is the time
for the team to show their mettle and graft out some points.
F.C Inferno
I must apologize after last week game. Everyone that
paid a ticket to watch that football game (if you can call it football...),
deserve the money back.
Both teams playing defensively, knowing that a draw
would move both to the next phase... no cards... max NSL: 80... max EMP: 100 BORING!!!! ;)
This time things should be different... we play IQ, a
team we really respect and that I think will not be relegated... Just hope that
their reaction does not happen now! :) Last season we had a great battle for a
place in the cup finals and we got a lucky win in the end. Let's see the
outcome this time!
InterQuartile Rangers
I was obviously expecting the powerful defensive
GU. I kinda
wish I had the boost back. Although come
to think of it I don't think a boost has ever actually won a game for me. So maybe it's not such a loss?
Back to the league games. I have no good
expectations anymore. I've reduced my
odds of staying in Div 1 to maybe 20%.
Writing orders has become very easy.
So far it has not mattered what I did.
I lose unless I get a lucky break such as 2 red cards for my opponent.
The
drama constinues, LU needs to improve and don`t know how.
Big
changes are expected from Arsenic Avenger. It seams CF P. Mantorras
will leave the team.
NoShaKi WC98
The Boelewieten
The Boelwieten InSight has
had some problems to publish news of our squad. At this time we seek a new
writer, and he promised me to write some comments on the tradingsessions
Van Poppel had this season.
And that
will be a story to tell! This weeks story on NW, well,
you never know with that squad, WP or ZD, Van Poppel
is counting on WP, so CP will be played, last time we tried to outsmart JG we
were almost victim of that Absint drinking manager!
And there is the second story to be told, JG on the hitting list
for the
second half this season, and saying that, I have a hunge
we meet sooner, when is that cup fixture up, commish?
The Jazz Greats
I'm a bit sorry to let Ivo
off the hook so easy but i really really
need to rest my top players. We'll just hope he won't have run too far away
before midseason aging wreaks havoc on his oldies..:)
But i the mean time i'll just have to be kind to him now. And with friends like
Travis Ivo really can't use any enemies right now...
Btw,
Travis? Did you enjoy the
lesson? How do you now feel about your cup run. Errr..let me correct that, cup
stumble....?
Tottenford Heats
DIVISION 2
Adirondak Renegades
African Selection
Sorry no
time for press...
Next week I
am in
Talk to
y'all later.
Colin
Dead Scientists
Druss Legends
Please don't spend
your grudge on me!
Englehart Storm
Grammar United
Melchester Rovers
Last week was a cup week and we lost, which was no big
surprise. So we are out of the cup,
which is good so we can focus on the league because things are not going quite
as we expected for the season. We are
not in a bad place for the season at the moment but seeing as we came in as a
'favorite', a lot of people (including us) thought that we would be farther up
in the standings than where we actually are.
This week we play DL, the number one in Division Two,
and also undefeated. We are playing with
our best team but they will probably beat us anyway. Who knows though, there is always a chance of
a fluke. Hopefully we will get more wins
before aging though so we go in at least in top half of the table, if not
higher.
Stannington Historical
SH is still experimenting with tactics for the 1st
half of the season.
SH Manager Lear stated recently,"When
opposing teams play SH, they simply don't know what kind of team they are going
to be going against.
SH may come out with a completely 100% attack or they
may come out with a sit back and wait kind of strategy. We have a rather
versatile lineup..... even though it is not getting us
any where right now. At SH, we are counting down the days until the mid season
aging process kicks in. With the release of R. Raki this
week, SH has only one player over the age of 29 on its' roster. Yes, we are a
true Kiddie Corp.
SH finally
made a deal recently. Trading a CB for a top quality DS ,
Dippenaar, SH has strengthened their backfield
considerably.
The Jazz
The Jazz
played Smoking Guns in the cup last week in front of a crowd of 22,000 the
result
was a 4-1
win for TJ with the midfield trio of Stitch, Pluto and Allencar
all playing well,
and
running the midfield.that win putting then through to
the next round of the cup
Back to the league and TJ face Melchester Rovers side at home hoping to get back to
winning
ways in the league after to heavy defeats to the top two sides
DIVISION 3
Aros VSK
We are through to the final-16 in the cup!
After a wellplayed
game against PN Av have qulified as groupwinners for the second round of the cup.
Now its time
to fill the stadium with fans and bring in some cash to the club.
While awaiting the cup-draw AV face AK in the league. After a dissapointing
0-0 draw last week AV need to get back on the winning track to keep up.
Blue Storm FC
Defrosted TunaFish
Deo Volente
It's been
fun the last 8 weeks, fielding relatively low NSL teams and being able to keep
up a fight at the top of the league table.
But this
week DV faces FE in his house of pain. Clive has rested his compleet
top 11 in last week's cup game so chances for DV are very slim, and i expect my first loss this week.
Falcons
Fanatics United
Now that the cup is out the way, our my focus is on the league. The team is excited and
looking forward to the games coming up, it will be the
first time that they get to "taste" the teams. Some of these team,
and players in the teams, have been marked for tasting. Some of the team
members are sharpening their skills and others their teeth, but all in all
I think that next week's game is going to be one of the best in the league.
It's a home game, I think in the biggest stadium in division 3 and I am hoping
that it will be packed.
I have updated my trophy cupboard, thanx to Peter they are looking a bit better. You will
notice that the one logo has not been updated to the new one, I think it not fare to replace the new logo until I
have betten the new manager, so the BS logo WILL only
be replaced at the end of the session.
Last note: some extra good luck to BS,
"You can do it!!", "Bite his freakin
head off!!!" LOL
Fantastic eleven
After going down
3-1 in a cup tie against Fanatics United the Falcons coach has decided that a
change in tactics is in order against the high flying FU.
Smoking Guns
Speedsters
Trav Spoodle
El mio catso
ke grande catso.
Vitesse Arnhem