September 2011 - One star dims, but another starts to shine

This month sees us play 6 matches, which will test the fitness of the squad. This season is already looking to be much busier than our previous seasons, but with no injury problems heading into the month there is room for great optimism, especially with how well the team coped with the workload during August.

Sheffield United (A) Premier League

We arrive at Bramall Lane to play the Blades, with them as narrow favourites. Sheffield United are one of the newly promoted sides, so I'm hopeful that we can come away with the points from this match.

The match couldn't have started much better for us, with Scocco scoring from just outside the area with a stunning strike in only the 2nd minute. We dominated the early part of the half so it was no surprise when our lead was doubled in the 14th minute by Scocco scoring another stunning strike from just outside the area, this time deflecting in off the underside of the crossbar. Although United started to gain a bit more time on the ball, they were struggling to create good chances, causing us little trouble at the back. We were looking much more dangerous whenever we went forward, and in the 35th minute Balanta received the ball clear of the United defence after we'd cleared from a corner, but sadly his shot was deflected just wide of the post by the keeper. In the 40th minute Jiminez struck a shot which was deflected by the keeper onto the post, from which it went safe, to deny him his first goal for the club. He then hit a free kick just over the crossbar, and was looking like he was going to be desperately unlucky today. I was pleased with this first half performance which had been excellent, and fully deserve our 2 goal lead. Our keeper had hardly had anything to do, such had been our dominance, despite the possession being fairly even.

I sent the players back out hoping they could keep this going, as I was sure Sheffield United would try to come at us in the second half. The match picked up in pretty much the same way, and in the 53rd minute Curri hit a cross into the box which Jiminez headed home to finally open his account for the club and extend our lead to 3 goals. A 3 goal lead always makes me feel much calmer, however after this United started to play much better, creating a lot more chances, though still finding it difficult to even trouble our keeper. In the 66th minute though a lapse of concentration allowed Ched Evans to move into space in our area and head home from a cross. This was a bit disappointing as we'd been so impressive at the back up to this point, and gives them a glimmer of hope in the match. After this we were struggling to create chances when going forward and looking more desperate in our defending at the back. Despite the pressure we were being put under we stood firm and denied them any clear cut chances, and the match came to an end with us leading by the 2 goal margin.

I was pleased with this match, as we'd performed very well after the international break, particularly in the first half, and apart from the one defence lapse, we'd been very solid at the back. I was impressed with the players, in particular Scocco, who fully deserved his man of the match award, and Curri who provided two assists from the left side.

Result: 3-1

Panathinaikos (A) Champions Cup Group D

Our visit to Athens sees Panathinaikos as marginal favourites. The pre-match information from the backroom staff suggest that we have a reasonable chance of doing well in this match, giving us a chance at claiming what might be a valuable draw. On their advice I went for a defensive strategy, as I was sure they'd come at us from the off.

Right from the first whistle I could tell this was going to be challenge, with posession hard to come by in the early stages. Despite the pressure our defence was looking solid and composed, and defending from corner kicks well. Once we'd survived the initial 10 minute onslaught we started to gain a bit more time on the ball and beginning to look dangerous at times. Much to my surprise in the 19th minute Fatih Yucel passed the ball from out wide to Ephraim in the box, and he proceeded to dribble with the ball to a more central position in the area before unleashing a stunning shot which the keeper was unable to stop going into the goal. Our defence then came under even more pressure, but were standing firm against everything the Greek side could throw at us. We managed to hold out the to end of the half still with a one goal lead, which we just about deserved, with our excellent defending and although we created less chances, we looked the more dangerous side in front of goal.

I sent the players back out pleased with the performance so far. Panathinaikos came out really trying to get at us, and our defending wasn't looking quite as assured as it had in the first half, and we were giving the ball away too much for my liking. In the 58th minute I thought they'd grabbed an equaliser. I was relieved to find that it was offside, and reviewing it back was a very close call. That narrow escape seemed to wake the team up and we started to pass the ball around well again, and started to make Panathinaikos have to to defend well. This little period of pressure paid off with Buzsaky hitting a corner into the box, which Sunny met with his foot to volley the ball home. I was delighted that not only had we withstood the pressure early in the half, but had now extended our lead. The match really opened up after that with the ball being worked from end to end. In the 86th minute our resistance was finally broken down, though in slightly odd circumstances, with the ball bouncing off the back of the legs of Nasuti, who wasn't even looking in the right direction. The ball fell into the path of a Panathinaikos player who hammered the ball home from the middle of the area. I was a little worried by that, but the team reacted well and only a good save a minute later stopped Jiminez scoring at the other end. I was pleased with how we held possession for almost all of the last few minutes to make sure we kept our one goal lead to the end of the match.

I'm delighted with this result, as we were expected to be beaten in this match, but managed to come out on top. The stats would suggest we were lucky to win, but although we created less opportunities, and had less possession, we always looked more likely to make something from the chances, and it was the Greek side that needed some luck to score.

Result: 2-1

Leeds (H) Premier League

Leeds arrive at Loftus Road with us predicted as favourites to win over the recently promoted Championship winners. Their recent run of form which finds them in 3rd place would suggest they could put up a fight, but I'm not convinced. When the teamsheets are revealed it is apparent that Leeds have come to defend and hope they can catch us on the break, as they are playing a 4-1-4-1 formation.

The first 10 minutes of the match were pretty unexciting, although we'd dominated possession. In the 12th minute though this dominance paid off, with Scocco getting on the end of a very poor attempt to clear the ball, at close range, and hammered the ball into the net to open the scoring. I was delighted that we'd managed to get in front. Despite being a goal down Leeds were still defending in numbers and making it very difficult to find a way through again. On the other hand Leeds were finding it very hard to create anything, and any shots they did have were long range efforts. The first half came to an end with our lead still intact, with very little else of any note happening. I was pleased that we were leading, and that our defending when called upon had been exemplary.

I sent the players back out for the second half giving them encouragement to go on and see out this win. Astonishingly the 2nd half was actually even poorer than the first, with both defensive units doing a good job of restricting the chances that the other side could create. The most noteworthy incident of an otherwise uninspiring match came in the 67th minute, with Leeds having a player shown straight red card for a late challenge on Fatih Yucel. After that, we held more of the possession, and looked the most likely team to create another good chance to score. The match came to its end with us running out 1-0 winners.

I am pleased to see us win this match, where both defences were dominant for the most part. Simon Kjær's performance at the heart of our defence saw him run out as the winner of the man of the match award.

Result: 1-0

Barnsley (H) League Cup 3rd Round

The Tykes arrive at Loftus Road with us clear favourites to win this fixture. With the current run of fixtures I feel the need to give a few players a rest, which I hope we won't be made to regret. I go into the match feeling confident that we will proceed to the next round.

We started the match dominating possession, and in the 4th minute Ephraim was unlucky not to open the scoring when a shot from just inside the area hit the post to deny him. In the 7th minute we were nearly caught on the break with Jason Steele needing to make a good save in a one on one situation, and breathed a sigh of relief. Despite dominating possession and getting a lot of crosses in from the flanks, we were doing a poor job of getting on the end of them. The only other incident of note was in the 43rd minute when Balanta got clear only to be denied in a one on one situation. I was rather disappointed with our performance overall, with us looking too complacent.

I sent the players back out telling them I was disappointed in the hope they'd buck their ideas up. We did at least look a bit more motivated at the start of the half, but still wasn't too great. In the 61st minute a quick ball from the keeper to the right winger Grenier was instantly passed beyond the Barnsley backline for Scocco to run onto clear of the defence allowing him to slot the ball home to give us a deserved lead. I was hoping this would give us the confidence to push on and extend our lead. That didn't really happen however, with Barnsley pushing to find an equaliser, and we seemed to keep giving up possession far too often. The good thing was our defence stood firm to keep Barnsley at bay. It was only in the last 10 minutes we started to look like extending our lead, and Fatih Yucel should have scored from close range in the 82nd minute, and 5 minutes later Scocco should have scored from a one on one situation. The match came to an end with us keeping our one goal lead.

Despite winning, which I pleased we did, I feel this was a pretty poor performance overall. Our defence was fairly solid, in restricting opportunities for Barnsley, but at times we just looked so complacent and lacklustre. I have to look on the bright side that we gained a victory without playing particularly well.

Result: 1-0

Birmingham City (H) Premier League

Birmingham arrive at Loftus Road with us clear favourites to win this fixture. I am confident that we can live up to these expectations, and will pick a side I believe can deliver us the result.

The first half was not a particularly exciting affair, with both sides restricted to shots from distance, with only a couple of them from Birmingham requiring our keeper to make great reflex saves to stop them scoring. Our passing and possession was better than Birimingham's but we were struggling to make much headway into the match. A rather poor first half came to an end with the scores still locked with neither side having made a mark. I was disappointed with the first half display, given we should be able to dominate this match.

I sent the players back out with my harsh words ringing in their ears. It didn't look like it had achieved much as early on Birmingham got the first close range shot of the match, which was only kept out by another excellent save from Jason Steele. After another close call with a shot from the edge of the area going just wide of our post we seemed to finally wake up, and start pushing forward. The breakthrough was to come in slightly odd circumstances, with our ex-player Leigertwood making a poor backpass to his keeper, which he could only clear to a Scocco in the area, who smashed the ball home to give us the lead after 68 minutes. Our lead was extended to two goals in the 79th minute with Jimenez hitting a curling thunderbolt from 30 yards out, which couldn't have been struck sweeter. We looked to be coasting to victory, but things are rarely that simple for us, as we conceded a goal in the 88th minute after a spell of ping pong in our area after a corner, to make the last few minutes nervy. I was pleased with our response to conceding the goal, as we dominated the last few minutes with Balanta hitting a long shot which rebounded off the bar. The match came to an end with our one goal lead intact.

I was reasonably pleased with our performance in the second half, although it was far from the best we can produce. The main thing is, it was another victory and sees us still unbeaten so far this season. Jimenez's marvellous strike from distance was enough to give him the man of the match award.

Result: 2-1

Paris Saint-Germain (H) Champions Cup Group D

PSG arrive at Loftus Road with us favourites for this fixture, but with some of the quality players they have, I believe this will be a tough ask to take all the points. Our defence will have to be on top form as they have plenty of players that cause us serious trouble.

At the start of the match both teams were doing a good job of defending, breaking up attacks with ease. In the 13th minute though, PSG gave away a free kick just outside their area to the left, and I expected Buzsaky to try and take a crack at the goal, which with Enyeama between the posts, wouldn't be a particularly good option. Seems he didn't think so either and cracked the ball at the group of players in the box, which took a couple of rebounds, coming off the head of a PSG defender and landing at the feet of the unmarked Kjær, who dispite poor finishing had little trouble scoring into what was practically an empty net. This is his first ever goal for the club. The rest of the first half was fairly even with neither side managing to create any really good goal scoring opportunities, as both defences were looking very strong, and so we got to half time leading by the solitary goal.

I sent the players back out giving them encouragement to keep this performance going, especially in defence. The 2nd half started in worrying fashion with PSG only denied by a brilliant reflex save to stop them scoring from the middle of the area, within a minute of the restart. It was clear they'd come back out really determined to get back into this match. They were to score an equaliser in the 49th minute, with a 30 yard screamer from a player with average long shots skill, and dismayed that Lung jr didn't manage to even get a hand to it. In the replay it was clear he doesn't react until very late, and even appears to have been looking elsewhere when the shot was first hit, which is very disappointing, because he really should have been able to save that with no problems. We responded well from the kick-off with Balanta denied by an excellent save within a minute of the restart. For the next few minutes we looked quite good, but at about 60 minutes it was like a switch had been flipped and PSG started to dominate with us struggling to be able to hold possession for any length of time, with Lung jr being called on again to stop them scoring. With 10 minutes to go the pressure relieved a bit, with us getting more time on the ball, but still struggling to carve out good chances. In the last minute both sides had good chances saved, to keep the scores level at full time.

A bit of a strange performance, in what was actually a fairly even match, and but for Lung jr having a momentary lack of concentration we probably should have won. That said, without him putting in some other excellent saves, we would have lost this match, so difficult to be too critical of him. Simon Kjær's first half goal and a good performance at the heart of defence brought him the man of the match award. It's hard to know if I should be happy or disappointed with this result.

On a different note, an irriation during this match was that we were in our home kit, and PSG turned up wearing light grey, so it was hard at times to tell which side had the ball. I just hope the reverse doesn't happen when we visit them, as their home kit is almost the same as our away kit.

Result: 1-1

Monthly Roundup

Overall an excellent month with remaining unbeaten this season; comprising 3 wins in the league, another in the League Cup, with a win and draw in the Champions League. Going to Greece and getting a win was something I wouldn't have thought we'd achieve before the start of the month, which made up for disappointment our fans felt after we only claimed a draw against PSG at home. Whether we can advance through from this group is very dependent on how we play against Fiorentina who are considered the strongest team in the group. Our next opponent in the League Cup will be Newcastle at home, which is a match we should be able to win, which is important, as that would see us reach the target set at the start of the season in that tournament.

By winning all 3 of our league fixtures, we have now moved up to 3rd place, just 2 points behind the current leaders Liverpool. The most astonishing thing right now is the terrible form of Everton, who are sitting right at the bottom of the table, although I'm sure like last season they'll bounce back to be one of the form teams at some point.

In our Champions League group we are leading Fiorentina only by goals scored, and in a good position to maybe advance through to the knockout stages. Depending on results, this could turn out to be a very close group, with Fiorentina the favourites to win the group.

I appears that Fatih Yucel has a distinct attitude problem, and wants to move on, which looks to be affecting his performances on the pitch. If he doesn't improve by the January transfer window I will definitely be looking to offload him and pick up a new striker. The fans are now unhappy about his recent run of form too, and at the moment his star quality appears to have dimmed. I am however pleased with how well Scocco is starting to do for the team, with his star quality really starting to shine through, having scored 6 goals now in his 9 appearances, with 5 of those coming his last 4 starts. It is a shame he can't play in the Champions League for us this season. Jason Steele has now backed down on his demands to leave the club, which was why I allowed him a couple of starts and also got him to sign a new contract. The treatment room is empty, which is a great bonus.

August 2011 - A Good Start

No, I haven't succeeded in putting a bunch of lawyers, bankers, estate agents, or other currently hated group of people at the bottom of the sea. That would have made the wait for this post all the better, but I'll keep trying to achieve this. Enough frivolity, and on with the real post.

The start of the season is going to be a busy one for the club with our appearance in the Community Shield, four league fixtures and two matches in the Champions Cup Playoffs. Hopefully the new signings will integrate quickly and give us a solid start to the season.

Man City (N) Community Shield

Our first competitive match of the season sees us return to Wembley to play in the Community Shield against Manchester City. We arrive as underdogs, but I feel we have a good chance in this match.

The match started as a fairly even affair with both sides showing some good touches. Roque Santa Cruz was causing us a few scares, but some excellent defending stopped him creating anything. In the 30th minute we got lucky with Lung jr making a save he knew little about from a point blank header by Tevez. The deadlock was finally broken in the 35th minute from a free kick just inside our own half. Puygrenier chipped the ball just beyond the City defence, which Scocco ran onto it and scored to claim a goal on his debut, and give us the lead. It was immediately apparent that City upped their tempo in response to going down a goal. In the 42nd minute we got even more luck with a cross by Ephraim forcing the City keeper to make a desperate save which he could only deflect the ball to the feet of Slory, who smashed the ball back past the keeper from close range. I was delighted that we held this 2 goal lead until half time, having put in a fine perfjavascript:void(0)ormance and deserve our lead.

I was happy with what I'd seen and I sent the side back out hoping they could keep this level of performance going. It was no great surprise to me that City came out pushing hard to find a way back into the match. Early in the 2nd half we rode our luck a bit, with some more excellent defending denying Tevez again, and was beginning to look like it would be only a matter of time before City pulled a goal back. It was therefore a surprise when Fatih Yucel scored from an excellent Balanta cross, to extend the lead to 3 goals. In the 77th minute though Tevez scored a thunderbolt from just outside the area which was disappointing, and seemed to spur City on even more. In the 89th minute we were caught on the break after an attacking corner, which allowed Adebeyour to get clear and give City their 2nd goal, and reduce our lead to a single goal. This made the last few minutes rather nervy, with City pushing even harder, and was greatly relieved when the final whistle blew giving us an excellent win.

I was delighted with this result, to lift the Community Shield giving us our 2nd trophy since I became manager of the club. The performance had been excellent too, with Slory picking up the man of the match award.

Result: 3-2

In the days following this victory, Athletico Madrid have come asking the price to buy Fatih Yucel, which seems to be a move he is keen on making, which is annoying. I have decided to set the asking price at £20 million, which means if they do decide to take him, I will have a substantial sum of money with which to replace him. I would rather he stayed, even if he does become unhappy about not being allowed to leave the club..

Liverpool (A) Premier League

A trip to Anfield for the start of the season was not what I'd consider the ideal way to start the season. Liverpool are favourites for this fixture, and given the trouble they gave us last season even to gain a draw looks to be a daunting prospect. After our excellent result against Man City though, anything is possible, so tell the players that they can win this game.

The match started as a fairly even contest, largely as a midfield battle, with both sides struggling to find a way to create chances. In the 17th minute from a free kick conceded by Liverpool just outside their area, Fatih Yucel stepped up and thundered his shot into the post. Fortunately Ephraim was the fastest to react and slotted home an easy opportunity to break the deadlock. It was no surprise that Liverpool really started to come at us hard. If our defence can hold out, this will give us opportunities to mount counter attacks. In the 23rd a great save by Reina denied Fatih Yucel adding to the score from an excellently struck free kick. Liverpool's discipline was letting them down at this point, making it easier for us to clear our lines. Sadly in the 34th minute our resistance was broken down when Babel was allowed too much time on the ball and curled a great shot in the net to level the scores. I rather feared that having got this goal they would go on to score more, as they started to take long shots with regularity, which fortunately for us were off target. I was pleased that we held out till half time to still be level at 1-1.

I sent the players back out for the 2nd half largely pleased with what I'd seen, although a little concerned about how many shots the Reds had fired off in the latter stages of the 1st half. The 2nd half was a fairly even affair, with Babel nearly added a second goal from a long range shot, which fortunately rebounded off the post to safety in the 58th minute. Ephraim was consistently causing the Liverpool defence problems everytime he got the ball, in much the same way that Babel was doing to our defence. In the 73rd minute he produced an excellent cross which Fatih Yucel got a head to, only to see the ball go just the wrong side of the post. In the 76th minute it looked like Gerrard had scored, but this was disallowed for a foul he committed on the keeper while challenging for the ball, and I breathed a sigh of relief. In the 82nd minute Scocco got clear of the defence only to fire the ball straight at the keeper. From the resulting corner Nasuti headed the ball just wide, and I got the feeling we just weren't destined to score any more goals. A few minutes later Nasuti was involved again, this time putting in an excellent tackle in our penalty area to deny Babel the opportunity to shoot.

I was pleased to get a draw at Anfield, but left feeling that with some of the excellent opportunities we'd had, we could have come away with all the points. Despite lacking the final finishing touch to grab a winner, I'm very encouraged with the display, as it shows we can compete with a team like Liverpool.

Result: 1-1

Following the match Ahtletico Madrid pulled out of trying to buy Fatih Yucel. This whole affair is very annoying as he is now unhappy that he has not been allowed to leave the club.

Werder Bremen (A) Champions Cup Best Placed Playoff Leg 1

We arrive at the Weserstadion, with Bremen as marginal favourites for this match. My biggest concern with this match when I see the line ups is that they are playing 2 DMC's, 2 MC's and two strikers. This means breaking down their defence will probably be hard work, although I feel we have a great chance of stopping them from scoring. My hope is that because their full backs are likely to come forward we will get opportunities of getting them on the break down the wings.

It became pretty clear from the start that Bremen were intent on attacking us, so I quickly dropped to a counter attacking strategy. I was pleased to see I was right that the full backs were advancing forward, which may open up an opportunity for us. After 13 minutes Lung jr was called into action making a marvellous diving save to keep a well struck long shot from going in the net. I was concerned at this point because we'd not even looked like making an opportunity to even shoot, but was encouraged a minute later when we were only denied due to Jiminez's first touch letting him down in the six yard box. If he'd managed to control the ball, this would have been the best chance so far. After that we started to look a bit more dangerous when going forward, getting crosses into the box, but failing to get that final touch. In the 20th minute one of these crosses to paid dividends, with a poor clearance dropping to the feet of Sunny just outside the box. He controlled the ball and hit a most delightful shot which hit the inside of the post before going into the net, to give him his first goal for the club. In the 26th minute we were denied a 2nd when Balanta's shot from inside the penalty area was deflected just wide. Curri was denied a goal just 3 minutes later from a header when it hit the crossbar. At this point we were looking increasingly confident producing some excellent passing. Although Bremen came back into the match a bit more later in the half, we managed to get to half time with the one goal lead still intact. This was a pretty good performance in which we could have scored more goals.

I sent the players back out pleased with what I'd seen, hoping we could push on and consolidate our good position. Bremen came out for the second half looking to have more fight in them, but we looked to be holding firm despite the increased pressure. In the 60th minute luck was with us, when a Werder Bremen shot hit the post and bounced to safety. The Werder Bremen pressure was making it hard for us to get forward, which was a bit worrying. This worry was eased a bit in the 72nd minute when Werder Bremen had Mesut Ozil sent off for a second yellow card. We were still being put under some pressure, but now managing to make some headway upfield, though still struggling to create any further chances. In the last 10 minutes of the matches we started to use the extra space well with Sunny going close again with a long shot, and Jiminez having a shot saved by the keeper. I was pleased with this hard fought win, having shown a very good defensive display in a match that we could easily have lost another day. Gaining a victory like this away from home gives me great hope that we can advance to the group stages of the tournament.

Result: 1-0

Sunderland (H) Premier League

Our first home fixture of the season sees the Black Cats travel to Loftus Road. We are marginal favourites for this match, and after our 4-0 demolition over them near the end of last season I'm hopeful that we can win this game.

It very soon clear that Sunderland had come to try and avenge the heavy defeat we'd inflicted upon them. Early in the match both sides seemed to be struggling to find the right pass or cross to create a good chance. The pace of some Sunderland players was causing me concern after we conceded a couple of free kicks just outside the penalty area, but fortunately the kicks were poor. It wasn't until 15 minutes into the game that we had our first real shot, with Balanta attempting a long range shot which was easy for the keeper to save. After this the match seemed to open up a bit more, with us looking a lot more dangerous going forward, and looking solid at the back, although that pace was still a constant threat. In the 28th minute Buzsaky hit a superb shot from about 35 yards out, only to see it rebound off the post to safety. This was soon forgotten a minute later when Sunderland gave away a free kick on the edge of the area, from which Buzsaky produced a superb shot to blast the ball into the net. After this goal we were looking increasingly dangerous and still doiing an excellent job at the back to restrict Sunderland to long shots. In the 1st minute of added time, Rafa produced a superb throughball which bisected the two central defenders, and saw Balanta run clear with the ball and slot it home to give us a 2 goal lead at the end of the first half. I was pleased with this performance, as we not only deserved our lead, but had restricted the opportunities that Sunderland had.

I sent the players out content, but expecting Sunderland to take the game to us, and sure enough they were dominating the game early on, but we were still looking very solid at the back, but the pressure was worrying, as we seemed to be under almost constant attack. When we did get the ball forward we were struggling to keep the ball for any length of time. Midway through the half we finally started to look a bit more settled going forward, but still under severe pressure. Eventually this pressure was to bring a free kick just outside the area, from which Cattermole scored in an almost identical fashion to Buzsaky's goal in the first half. I was disappointed, and Sunderland switched to a 4-2-4 formation trying to chase an equaliser. Fortunately for us every attack ended either with an interception or a player offisde, allowing us to hold on for the win.

I was happy to get the win and our first half performance. The second half we were outplayed, but defensively we were strong, but I was a little disappointed with how quickly Sunderland were able to close us down and gain back possession with such ease. Balanta's strike late in the first half was enough to give him the man of the match award.

Result: 2-1

Werder Bremen (H) Champions Cup Best Placed Playoff Leg 2

Werder Bremen arrive at Loftus Road for the second leg as marginal underdogs, and trailing by a single goal in the tie. Given our performance in the first leg I am fairly confident that we can achieve the desired result and advance through to the group stage of the competition, as Werder Bremen would need at least 2 goals if they were to proceed.

The match started in almost unbelievable fashion, with Fatih Yucel providing a pass for Balanta to run onto in the penalty area and open the scoring with just 16 seconds of the match gone. This was an outstanding start to the match, and gave me more confidence about our chances, although Werder Bremen would still need only 2 goals to knock us out. In the early stages of the match we looked very dominant, with Slory missing out on a excellent chance to score in the 16th minute. In the 30th minute I thought Fatih Yucel had extended our lead with a marvellous chip over the keeper, but unfortunately he'd been just offside when the ball was delivered through to him. Any disappointment over that was shortlived, with Routledge producing a perfect cross from the right for Fatih Yucel to head the ball home, to extend our lead. Werder Bremen managed only a few chances of shooting during the first half, and the handful of shots on target were easy for Lung jr to save, and thus we reached half time with the score at 2-0, holding a 3 goal lead on aggregate. This half had been an excellent display of football with the opposition looking incapable of stopping us creating chances, in particular down the wings.

I sent the players back out pleased with what I'd seen, and hoping we didn't become complacent and let our excellent position slip. The half time break had done Werder Bremen a lot of good, and was not surprised in how they now looked to have more purpose about their play, with a long shot whistling just wide of our post early in the half. In the 61st minute we were caught out with our backline playing far too high up the pitch, allowing Almeida to run through and grab a goal back. I was disappointed as this might give them the belief that they could get back into this match, with them starting to get a worryingly large amount of time and space on the ball. Our accuracy of passing when going forward wasn't looking as good as it had been, so shots at this stage by us were long range efforts, but as the match headed into the last 15 minutes we started to pick up again, showing just how well we can move the ball about. As the match headed to the 90th minute I was pleased to note that there was only 3 minutes of time to be added on, although a knock taken by Varrault at this point would probably see more time added.

With the match just entering a 4th minute of added time, Fatih Yucel got clear on the left after we cleared our lines, and saw him produce a brilliant cross for Balanta to volley home his second of the match, and cement our passage through to the group stages. This was bound to add even more time to the clock, which was quickly followed by a knock being taken by a Werder Bremen player, as a result of committing a foul. At this rate I was beginning to wonder just how long the match was going to last. In the 8th minute of added time, the ball was passed to Jiminez on the right after an attacking corner was cleared and he crossed the ball back into the box, to a completely unmarked Slory, who proceeded to move around the keeper and slam the ball home from about a yard to score our fourth goal. This astonishing sequence of events resulted in 8 and half minutes of added time.

I was delighted with this result with us fully deserving the win. Apart from a 15 minute period after we'd conceded, our performance had been excellent. This result sees us entered into the draw for the group stages of the tournament, which is very important for increasing the club finances, and our reputation. These will be important factors in determining the quality of the players we can attract to the club and the level of wages that can be paid. There was one bad piece of news from this match, which is that Sunny was injured during the match suffering a gashed head and is expected to be out for between 7 to 10 days.

Result: 4-1 (5-1 aggregate)

Wigan (H) Premier League

The arrival of Wigan at Loftus Road sees us as favourites for the match. Having beaten them in the two matches last season I have confidence that we will be able to pull off another victory if we continue to play with the confidence shown in the last match.

The first half was on the whole a pretty dire affair, with the only incident of note coming in the 32nd minute, when Balanta squared the ball to Buzsaky just outside the area, with his shot deflecting in off the inside of the post to give us the lead. Without the goal, it would have been a half to completely forget.

I sent the players back out for the 2nd half giving them encouragement, in the hope that the match would improve, as the crowd were looking rather sleepy. Things improved slightly, with Fatih Yucel hitting the post from a free kick 5 minutes into the half, and Wigan were showing more purpose in their play. To be honest though it wasn't much of an improvement with us riding our luck at a couple of corners with Wigan completely missing the target from a couple of close range headers. I was pleased when this rather dull match came to an end with us winning by the single strike.

I am pleased that we have managed to get a win, but this is probably our worst performance in gaining a win, and probably the least exciting match I've seen, with opportunities few and far between.

Result: 1-0

Chelsea (A) Premier League

Our final match of the month sees us travel to our closest rivals at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are clear favourites to win this match, with us given little chance of even coming away with a draw. I do however remain optimistic that a draw is up for grabs, and if we get really lucky then a win is an outside chance.

Chelsea came out looking to get revenge for the defeat we inflicted on them in the FA Cup Final. It was clear though that this would give us opportunities to counter attack, and the first 5 minutes of this match were more exciting than our previous match with Wigan. This was looking like being an end to end match, with each defence looking very strong. In the 24th minute Lampard smashed a long shot, which was kept out only by a great save by Lung jr. In the 34th minute Slory dribbled by the Chelsea left back with ease, and produced a superb cross which Fatih Yucel met with his head to give us the lead. In the 42nd minute Slory again produced an excellent cross for Fatih Yucel to meet with his head, but unfortunately this time the ball went just over the bar. The match reached half time with us leading by the one goal, having played better than Chelsea, with was very pleasing.

I sent the players back out hoping they could continue with this level of performance, with an unlikely win quite possible. It was no surprise that Chelsea came out looking to push forward and attempting to dominate the match. In the 64th minute Chelsea's Cassano went down as Lung jr came out for the ball in the penalty area. Fortunately this was a clear dive and he received a well deserved yellow card for this act of simulation. In the 81st minute Daeseleire conceded an extremely dubious penalty, with Malouda going to ground after being touched by him, but it looks like he was already falling over from where he'd dived to get his head to the ball. I'm angry with this decision, as it looks very dodgy, but nothing I can do about it, with Lampard hammering the penalty home to equalise. In the 89th minute Lung jr had to produce an excellent save to stop Chelsea from finding a winner. This would have rubbed salted into the wound of what I feel was an undeserved equaliser given the player was offside when the ball was played through. Seems Blind Pugh was the assistant on the touchline. An excellent block by Kjær denied Chelsea again, from the corner they should not have had, if the offside call had been given correctly.

Before the game I would have been delighted with a draw, but after the match I'm angry that a poor decision has cost us the win, and another very nearly lost us the match. I was very pleased with the display the players put in, and feel a bit cheated. With some excellent saves Lung jr fully deserved to be named man of the match.

Result: 1-1

Monthly Summary

This was very good month which has seen us go undefeated, and winning our second trophy in the shape of the Community Shield. We have managed to overcome a tricky opponent in the European Champions Cup, which was very pleasing, and sees us advance into the group stages of the tournament. Our group though looks to be pretty tough, with us being drawn against, Panathinaikos, Fiorentina and Paris Saint-Germain. These results mean we have exceeded the European expectations which were set at the start of the season, which was oddly to only make the playoffs, which was something we couldn't fail to do.

Our two wins and pair of draws in the league mean we have managed to finish the month in 5th place, which is a solid start. To gain draws at both Anfield and Stamford Bridge are excellent results. These results give us one more point than we gained from the same fixtures last season, which is greatly encouraging. The surprise so far is how well Leeds have started the season, even though they did win promotion from the Championship as champions last season.

Our entry into a European competition has seen us not entered into the League Cup until September, which is now confirmed as a home tie against the Championship side Barnsley, which we would expect to win.

Fatih Yucel has again won the Premiership Young Player of the Month award, with Angelo Balanta taking second place. I would say they were the best two players of this month for the club, both having scored 3 goals, with Fatih Yucel only narrowly coming ahead of Balanta, providing 3 and 2 assists respectively.

September will be another busy month as we will have 6 matches in the last 3 weeks of the month. I am also pleased that we have ended the month with all our first team players injury free as we head into a break for international matches.

Queens Park Rangers - Pre season 2011

Season Expectations

The minimum expectation the board will allow is to finish in the top half of the table. I am confident that we will be able to achieve European qualification through our league position. Higher ambitions do not add much to the transfer budget, so not worth the extra pressure this would me under.

We are expected to reach at least the 6th round of the FA Cup and the Quarter final stages of the League Cup. The board hope that we learn from our participation in the Community Shield, but I'm personally hoping we can achieve a win and claim our second trophy.

My ambitions have allowed me a transfer budget of £38.5 million, and wages of upto £400k per week. This gives me about £110k per week to play with, although the maximum wages I can offer to a key player is £42,500 per week, which will limit the players we can attract.

I have also changed to a 4-4-2 wide diamond formation to make better use of some of the players we have at the club.

Transfer movements in

During the closing stages of the season I spotted Luis Jiminez, from Chile, would be out of contract at the end of the season, and was amazed to be the only team to make him an offer. He will play as a central attacking midfielder, and is better than Buzsaky, so should get to be the first pick the majority of the time.

Sunny is a Spanish defensive midfielder I remember from the previous version of the game, and is fairly similar in quality to Rafa, so will give me excellent backup for that position, and during busy times he will get regular starts.

Debatik Curri is an Albanian left back, who is better than Cedric Varrault, so once he's integrated he may get to become my first choice at left back, and also can play as left sided midfielder. Varrault is also an excellent right back, so this shouldn't prove a massive problem, and during busy times gives me plenty of options to keep the players fitness levels high enough.

Ignacio Scocco is an Argentinian striker who should be able to play well alongside Fatih Yucel. I should be able to play Fatih Yucel as a deep lying attacker, which will better suit his skillset, which is quite scary given how many goals he scored last season.

I spent ages trying to sign a better central defender, losing Daniel Carrico to A.C.Milan after our approach was leaked to the press, which was extremely annoying, as he would probably have come to us. I failed with several others that asked for completely insane prices/wages, or weren't interesting in joining us, or signed for someone else at the last minute. Eventually I tracked down Simon Kjær, a Dane playing in Italy. After a lengthy process of negotiation I managed beat them down to a price several million inside the range my scout advised. This smashes our transfer record by a long way, but I feel his tackling and marking will make him invaluable to us at the back.

My signings for the future are the following regens:

• Tomas Klimek is a 16 year old Czech centre back.
• Carlos is an 18 year old Brazilian defensive midfielder.
• Bretislav Pospisil is a 17 year old Czech defensive midfielder.

These are players that in the worst case I will be able to turn a profit on later in the game.

Tranfer/Loan movements out

Before the end of the season I terminated the contracts of Heidar Helguson and Patrick Agyemang, as I couldn't find a club interested in them, even offering them for free. I decided that they were both taking far too much out of the wage budget, so felt it was worth paying them compensation to go, as they would never get to play in the first team.

I allowed the contracts with Alessandro Pellicori, Fitz Hall and Romone Rose to lapse, and they all left the club on free transfers, and were again not good enough to make first team. Kaspars Gorkss was the only player I managed to sell of the players I'd been trying to sell.

Josh Parker is a young player who will benefit from going on loan, and Damion Stewart will hopefully attract attention by going on loan, and allow me to sell him before his contract comes to an end in 2012.

I am finding it very hard to sell players that I feel are no longer of any benefit to the club, even at severely reduced prices. Maybe nearer the transfer deadline I might be able to offload some, as clubs begin to panic in the last few days.

Pre-Season Friendlies

I feel we may not have played enough friendlies before the start of the season, with only 4 matches. Hopefully this will not hurt us early in the season, which sees us very busy in August, with 7 competitive matches scheduled in the month, including the Charity Shield match against Man City.

The friendlies were a bit mixed, but overall I'm happy enough with what I saw. We had to come back from 2 goals behind in both the drawn matches, so we showed character and determination to achieve that.

The match against Hull was the first after signing Scocco and we looked a lot more dangerous going forward. Balanta came off the bench on the left wing and produced a goal from there after cutting inside, which was good to see, showing how well he can play that role. I was delighted with this performance, and gives the players a lot of confidence heading into the season.

Other Issues

During the break between the seasons I have been approached by Leverkusen, but turned down their offer to manage them. Soon afterwards I was approached by Man United to be manager, which was another job I turned down in favour of staying at the club I love.

I believe that I have now given us enough depth to the squad to be able to cope with the increased number of fixtures that we will be playing this season, all hoping we progress further in the Champions Cup. One disappointment is that Scocco is ineligible to play for us in the Champions Cup matches, due to having already played in a qualifying round for AEK Athens, 3 days before we completed his signing. Kjær also is not regestered for the first matches, as he joined too late on the day I had to register my players.

Analysis of QPR 2010/2011 Season

Competition Analysis

We have exceded expectations in all three competitions we were entered into. The objective for the league was to avoid relegation in our first season of Premiership football. Not only did we avoid relegation, but we achieved a magnificant 4th place to secure a European Champions Cup place for the next season. The players rose magnificently to the challenge, providing us with some highly memorable victories.

The expectations for the League Cup were to make the fourth round, and again we exceded expectations by reaching the Quarter Final stages, losing to Sunderland, who at the time were one of the in form teams.

In the FA Cup the minimum expectation was to reach the fifth round. A fantastic run in this competition saw us get to the final at Wembley and record a victory over our closest rivals Chelsea, to lift the famous trophy for the first time in the clubs history.

This has been an exceptionally good season for the club, which saw us remain largely injury free for most of the year, which was a major factor in our success.

Our reserve team were also highly successful, as they managed to win the Reserve Group 1 league they are in, which has helped to keep morale up.

Team Statistics

Our top five goalscorers for the season were:

• 49 - Fatih Yucel - Striker
• 25 - Angelo Balanta - Striker
• 8 - Akos Buzsaky - Midfielder
• 3 - Hogan Ephraim - Midfielder
• 2 - Rafa - Midfielder, Sebastian Puygrenier - Defender

Five other players managed to score a single goal, none more important than Clement Grenier's late winner in the FA Cup Final. The fantastic contribution from Fatih Yucel saw him come out as top scorer in the league, the FA Cup, and also pick up the European Golden Boot award for the season. Without the goalscoring abilities of Fatih Yucel and Angelo Balanta, we would have most likely really struggled, as they scored the vast majority of the goals between them.

Our top five for providing assists for the season were:

• 15 - Hogan Ephraim
• 11 - Fatih Yucel
• 9 - Angelo Balanta
• 8 - Wayne Routledge - Midfielder
• 7 - Rafa, Akos Buzsaky

Our top five rated players for the season were:

• 7.40 - Fatih Yucel
• 7.15 - Akos Buzsaky
• 7.08 - Rafa
• 7.08 - Angelo Balanta
• 7.04 - Hogan Ephraim

Five other players managed to acheive a rating of 7.00 or higher for the season.

For the second season in a row our I had a strikeforce partnership that worked almost perfectly, with Balanta starting every match, Fatih Yucel starting all but one match, in which he came on as a substitute.

It will be no surprse that Fatih Yucel was the fans player of the year.

Signings

My signing of the season isn't even a contest, with that accolade going to Fatih Yucel, and needs very little else said about him.

Silvui Lung jr, signed to be my first choice goalkeeper was another excellent signing, and has made huge improvements through the season and looking like he will be an exceptional keeper for us for years to come. I feel he was my second best signing of the season.

Clement Grenier was a signing for the future, but his progress through the year allowed me to start giving him games near the end of the season, in which he started to show the promise I felt he had. He has a lot of intelliegence allowing him to make use of his skills, always looking for the right pass, and always quick to get back to make a tackle.

Sebastian Puygrenier and Cristian Nasuti started in most of the matches, playing as central defenders. They both had good seasons, proving to be very solid for most of our matches.

Martin Stranzl another signing in the centre of defence was unlucky in picking up an injury and didn't feature in the first team as often as his quality would suggest he should. I may have to let him leave as he was slightly concerned that he was not getting as much first team football as he would have liked. With the European matches, he should get more chances to start if he is happy to stay at the team.

Dimitri Daeseleire was brought in as my new first choice to play at right back. He is still only 21, and if he continues to improve he will serve us well at right back for several years to come.

Alexandre Coeff is a young player brought for the future, but so far is not quite living up to the promise the scouts and coaches believe he has. Hopefully he will start to improve soon, although even if he doesn't I will probably be able to turn a profit from his signing.

Rafa was bought as a ball winning midfielder just before the first transfer deadline when both Martin Rowlands and Gavin Mahon were out injured. At £550k he was cheap, and well below his value at the time, has proved to have been an excellent signing, at times bossing the midfield for us. I believe he has turned out to be my third best signing of the season, being highly dependable, and picked up surprisingly few yellow cards, given his role in the team. At 26 years of age, he looks to have a good future ahead of him with the club.

Loan Players

Davide Di Gennaro came to us on loan from our parent club A.C. Milan, and showed a lot of promise, but an injury meant he didn't get to play as often as he should, but 3 goals and an assist from 7 games was a good return.

The Future

As we we will now be playing in the European Champions Cup, we will need more depth to the squad in certain positions. The midfield needs a couple more players, but mostly importantly we need to add to our strikers, because with the increased number of matches likely in the coming season, our main strike partnership will struggle to be match fit for every single fixture.

I am actually thinking of playing a 4-4-2 wide diamond formation next season, as it gives more security at the back and will allow me to play certain players in their natural positions, such as Rafa, Buzsaky and Grenier.

May 2011 - The Perfect End to the Season

In the first few days of the month Man City are confirmed as Premier League Champions. Our reserve team have now completed their matches and managed to win the Group 1 reserve league. I believe our good performance in the reserve league has helped the team maintain its good morale for those players who have had to play reserve matches in order to gain or maintain match fitness.

Birmingham (H) Premier League

Birmingham travel to Loftus Road as underdogs for this match, and just outside the relegation zone. They have only managed to pick up 8 points on their travels, so I was confident that we would have a good chance of winning this match. I decided to start with a Standard strategy and adjust from there as the match unfolded.

Right from the off I could see our players were up for this match, looking to pounce on any loose balls. In the 5th minute the Birmingham keeper had to make two close range saves from Ephraim and Balanta, and in the 18th minute he saved from a Fatih Yucel header. In the 19th minute he was finally beaten by a glorious shot from Balanta just outside the area, which flew in the top corner. In the 23rd minute we doubled the lead after Fatih Yucel produced some excellent skill to dribble around several players and then produced a powerful shot from just inside the area to score. Our defence was doing a good job of stopping Birmingham from creating any good chances. In the 36th minute Fatih Yucel extended the lead even further from a free kick with a gloriously struck shot from outside the area. The first half ended with us holding a well deserved 3 goal lead, which delighted me.

I sent the players back out feeling very satisfied with the performance so far. The second half started as a more even contest, with Birmingham creating a few chances. However in the 55th minute Ephraim put a pass through to Fatih Yucel who was clear of the defence and drilled the ball home to complete his hat-trick. We were looking good going forward, which did allow Birmingham to mount a counter attack and Benitez was able to run through and pull a goal back. Was a little dissappointing to concede a goal, but I was still happy enough. We continued to push forward, getting lots of crosses and throughballs into the box. We managed to play out the rest of the match to complete an excellent 4-1 victory over Birmingham. This was a great performance from the team, with another fantastic hat-trick from Fatih Yucel.

Many of the other results the same day have gone well for us, and means only Arsenal now have a chance of overtaking us. The hat-trick by Fatih Yucel has now confirmed him as the new record holder for goals scored in a single Premiership season.

Burnley (A) Premier League

We head off to Turf Moor to complete our Premier league campaign and arrive as favourites for this fixture. Burnley are in desperate need of a win to give them any hope of getting out of the relegation area, and even then that might not be enough to bring them to safety. Due to this need to record a victory I have decided to start with Counter attacking strategy, as I believe Burnley have little choice but to come at us.

The match started with us putting pressure on Burnley, giving them little time on the ball in the first few minutes, with Buzsaky taking a couple of long range shots, but neither on target. The match then settled down with Burnley starting to come more into the match, but we looked to be standing quite firm defensively and looking fairly dangerous when we surged forward. One worry was that we conceded a number for free kicks just outside our area, but Burnley never managed to make us pay for that. The first goal came in the 24th minute from a corner, with Puygrenier nodding a Buzsaky kick straight at the near post defender, whose clearance kick was directly at Fatih Yucel, with the ball bouncing off him into the goal. Lucky it may have been but I was definitely not complaining. Burnley did try to push harder after this, which was giving us even more space to take advantage of, and we produced lots of crosses, but even when a head was put to ball, it was an easy save for the keeper. The first half ended with us maintaining our one goal lead.

I was pleased with what I'd seen in the first half, and felt that although our goal had been quite fortunate, we'd done enough to deserve that lead. I sent the players back out, hoping they could keep up the same level of defending they'd shown in the first half. In the 52nd minute however, a cross to an unmarked Burnley player allowed them score an equaliser. That was disappointing, and only a minute later we were lucky to not be behind with the ball bouncing off the post to deny Burnley. I was a touch worried at that point, especially as I could see in the latest scores Arsenal were winning with ease and in the live table had overtaken us. In the 60th minute Burnley near paid the price for some poor defending at a corner, but we just couldn't find the finishing touch with the ball bouncing about the area like a pinball. Burnley to their credit were pushing hard to try and find a winner, but our defence was standing firm yet again. A few minutes later, a fine save denied Balanta the opportunity to put us back in the lead. In the 70th minute we broke the deadlock, after Burnley cleared from a corner, with the ball quickly moved back to Buzsaky on the wing. He produced another cross which Nasuti managed to head goalwards, which deflected in off the inside of the post, to give us the lead, and his first goal for the club. Burnley's chances got even worse in the 76th minute when Steven Caldwell was given a straight red card when he flattened Fatih Yucel with a vicious foul. Fortunately this didn't cause any injury, and should have made our job of keeping  Burnley that bit easier, although they still missed an excellent opportunity to equalise again, with the ball going just the wrong side of the post. The match ended with us winning 2-1, which could be said to have been a bit lucky. Our second half performance was not as good as the first, but we managed to come through which was the main thing.

This brings us to the end of the league season, which sees us claim 4th place and confirms our participation in the Champions League next season. Fatih Yucel is also confirmed as the Premier league top goalscorer with an astonishing 37 goals throughout the season, and is named in the Players' Team of the Year. I was given 3rd place in the Manager of the Year award.

In the following week I received an offer to manage Zaragoza in the Spanish League, but turn it down, as my heart belongs at Queens Park Rangers, and no way did I want to miss out on our trip to Wembley.

Chelsea (N) FA Cup Final

We arrive at Wembley as the underdogs, but Chelsea arrive off the back of losing to Barcelona in the European Champion Cup. This is our chance to win some silverware, and to get one over our closest rivals again, so I need to do little to get the team motivated for this match. I picked a Standard strategy, because Chelsea are playing 3 attacking midfielders behind the lone striker with two in the centre of midfield, so we need to avoid playing too deep. Due to a fast winger, I felt we shouldn't play too far up the pitch either.

The match started with us totally dominating the first 15 minutes, pumping crosses into the box and generally making the Chelsea defence have to work very hard, although worryingly we failed to even have a shot during this period of play. The match settled down to a battle of the midfield for a while after that, before both sides finally started to make opportunities to take shots. Lung jr made a couple of excellent saves from powerful long shots to stop Chelsea opening the scoring. With the half nearing the end, a series of excellent passes found Balanta in space in the box, but he scuffed the ball wide to miss the best chance in the match so far. The first half ended goalless, with us having put in a good display, and despite not getting a shot on target, we'd been causing the Chelsea defence plenty of problems. We'd also looked good at the back, restricting Chelsea to long shots, and been solid at defending corners as well.

I was pleased with the performance, and sent the players back out hoping they could start make the pressure we'd been putting on the Chelsea defence pay off. The second half started with Chelsea really pushing hard which required Lung jr to make a series of superb saves to stop Chelsea opening the scoring. We were still causing their defence all manner of problems, but still failing to get on the end of crosses, which we were pumping into the box with regularity. The Chelsea foul count was also rising, which was helping us a fair bit. As the half went on we began to make better opportunities with Balanta denied a good chance to score by a great save in the 63rd minute. Chesea were now looking less effective going forward, and we started to look more dangerous. I decided it was time to bring on some fresh legs and see if we could win this in normal time, so I brought Rowlands and Grenier onto pitch. In the 86th minute Balanta was again denied by a fantastic save. The breakthrough finally came in the 89th minute, after a poor clearance by Chelsea, allowed some swift passing which allowed Fatih Yucel to power a shot from the edge of the area which the keeper could only parry. Luck was with us as Grenier was running into the area and the nearest player to the loose ball and cooly fired the ball into the net to give us the lead. I couldn't believe he'd just scored his first goal for the club, and what could be such an important one as well. I was pleased that we managed to stop Chelsea from even creating a chance to get an equaliser after that, and so we lift the FA Cup trophy for the first time in the clubs history. This was a victory we deseved, and but for a man of the match performance by the Chelsea keeper we could have made this a much easier win. Lung jr our keeper had the second highest rating of the match, showing just how important the two keepers had been.

I'm absolutely over the moon with this victory, bringing home the first silverware since I started managing the club. The players have been exceptional this season and fully deserve to have won this trophy.

Monthy Summary

This has been a fantastic month for the club, with us winning our last two league matches to consolidate our 4th place and gain us entry into the European Champions Cup next season. The icing on the cake was to then win the FA Cup Final, and I can't praise the players enough for the determination they have shown.

It is interesting to note that the same points total we gained this season, would have only been good enough for 6th place last year, which shows just how much more competitive the leauge was this year. The table also shows how much it cost Arsenal to go into the two league matches we played, with a weaker squad than necessary, and they've paid the price by only qualifying for the Europa Cup next season.

I will do a seperate post giving an analysis of the players during the year, but it is clear that my player of the year is Fatih Yucel with 49 goals during the season, and top scorer in both the league and FA Cup competitions. The club board have announced plans to expand the stadium by 1,000 seats, which should be ready by the start of the new season, taking our capacity to 19,200.

April 2011 - Edging closer to a place in Europe

The month starts with treatment room the busiest it's been for a while, with Di Gennaro, Buzsaky and Stranzl all out injured. I hope this isn't the start of an end of season injury crisis.

Tottenham (A) Premier League

The month starts with another trip to play Spurs at White Hart Lane. This will be the 4th meeting between the sides this season, and only a month since our win over them in the FA Cup. I'm sure they will be looking to gain some revenge over us, and consolidate their position above us in the league. I feel this will be a tough match, in which we are the clear underdogs.

It clear right from the kick off that Spurs were up for this, with Huddlestone flying into a tackle after only a couple of seconds. He's lucky that this is a referee who doesn't seem to ever want to book a player, so doesn't even get a talking to, but many of the more card happy refs would have booked him. This kind of set the seal on what was to be a physical match. Despite this we created a few half chances early in the match, but then Spurs really took control of the match pressuring us hard. For a large part of the first half we seemed to be under constant attack, having to defend for all we were worth, and we stood up to this pressure, defending well at corners and making it hard for the wingers to get crosses into the box. When we did mount a counter attack we seemed to be really struggling to make any decent crosses. All told the first half was pretty poor despite Spurs being the dominant force.

I sent us back out hoping we'd find a spark of inspiration somewhere, because going forward we really were looking like we had no idea how to create anything. The second half started with Spurs looking, if anything even more dominant, and started to think about what could be changed. I decided to bring Rowlands on in the middle of the park and Grenier on in the right wing position. I have no real idea why but we at least started to look as though we could be more dangerous going forward, but still having to fight off tremendous pressure at the back. Fortunately Spurs had left their shooting boots at home producing wild shots wide of the target or giving our keeper easy catching practice. In the 75th minute though Bale produced a great cross out of nowhere, which Crouch met with his head to open the scoring. To be honest it had looked like it was only a matter of time, but it was still very frustrating. However straight from the kick off, Grenier received the ball on the right wing advanced forward, before giving Rafa a sweet pass inside, and he then squared a cross into the box for Fatih Yucel to score with a diving header. I was delighted we'd managed to grab the equaliser back so quickly, and wondered if it was possible to hold on. Spurs immediately changed to a 4-2-4 which I knew would make things very tough.

This proved to be the case with Spurs getting forward as much as they could, pumping in crosses and throughballs. Just as I thought the match was heading for a draw in the last minute of added time, Spurs left winger was allowed all the space he needed to produce a pin point cross for Crouch to head home a second goal. I was gutted that we'd not managed to hold on, although to be honest Spurs were worth the win, but it was the manner in which we fell to the defeat, right at the death.  Today Spurs had managed to show they are a superior side, but had to work very hard to take the win. In this match we were unusually poor at stopping the opposition getting crosses into the box, and also managed to create very few ourselves, which is something we are usually good at.

Sunderland (A) Premier League

Our trip to the Stadium of Light sees us arrive as underdogs, although their form has been very patchy of late, which gives us hope. The Black Cats have plenty of pace up front and on the wings, which I feel requires a counter attacking strategy. If we can stop them scoring I believe we have a great chance on the counter attack.

The match started with both teams sharing possession, and early on Lung jr had to make a superb save to push the ball over the bar. Early in the match it looked like both sides were on for a stack of yellow cards, as Sunderland's Lichtsteiner and Fatih Yucel were booked in quick succession. I began to worry a bit as Fatih Yucel committed several more fouls soon after, making me wonder if it would be prudent to substitute him, but decided to leave him on the pitch and risk it, as his ability to score goals is astonishing. In the 20th minute Sunderland had a close range shot saved by our keeper to deny them. This early pressure was a little worrying, but our defending was exemplary. In the 23rd minute Sunderland thought they'd opened the scoring but Darren Bent had fouled the keeper while challenging for the ball, so the goal did not stand, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Although we were getting to mount regular attacks, we were having trouble making many good opportunities. As the half wore on though we started to make better opportunites with Fatih Yucel going close from a free kick with Balanta and Faurlin also heading just wide. In the 40th minute we opened the scoring with a wonderful cross into the middle of the box, by Daeseleire, for Fatih Yucel to hammer the ball home to open the scoring.  The first half ended with us still holding the lead at 1-0.

I was pleased with the players, and sent them back out hoping we could keep this performance going, as all members of the team were playing well. I sent the players back out not quite prepared for what was about to happen. Sunderland were pushing forward and we were doing a good job of defending, and we were looking very dangerous on the counter attack, with Grenier looking very good on the right wing. In the 64th minute after a Sunderland attack the ball was cleared to Grenier on the right, and he raced up the touchline, before supplying an excellent cross for Fatih Yucel to meet with his head and double the score. Sunderland continued to press but were now looking very desperate, and less dangerous. In the 73rd minute things got worst for Sunderland, when Lichtsteiner took Slory down from behind to gain a second yellow card and therefore sent off. In the 79th minute Grenier feed a pass to Balanta just outside the area, and he made a quick pass into the box for Fatih Yucel to run onto and complete his hat-trick. Sunderland then went even more attacking, and Rafa was unlucky to not score, when he headed a ball into the goal post. This attacking play was allowing us to mount a lot more attacks, requiring some desperate defending to stop us extending the lead. In the 90th minute Balanta put through another excellent pass for Fatih Yucel to get clear of the defence and score his 4th goal of the match to round off an absolutely stunning performance, to give us a 4-0 victory.

I was delighted with this performance, which will give us a huge amount of confidence, with Daeseleire, Grenier and Balanta deserving credit putting in excellent performances to provide the assists for the outstanding Fatih Yucel and takes his tally for the season to 42 goals with 32 in league games. I'm pleased I didn't go ahead and replace Fatih Yucel after he continued to commit fouls after being booked. If he'd been sent off, I guess I'd be feeling slightly different.

Manchester City (N) FA Cup Semi Final

Our trip to Wembley for this semi final sees Man City as favourites, being the league leaders. They do however arrive off the back of losing a home tie in the EURO Cup. I am not thrilled that the referee for this match has had a bad season getting a lot of important decisions incorrect. Our main focus is to be solid at the back, as I feel if we fall behind it will be a lot harder to score, as I am sure City would get a lot of players behind the ball.

The match started with us getting the first few half chances, but nothing significant, although it showed we were up for the match which I was happy about. Man City of course did start to push up the field and there was a close call for us early on when a long shot just went past the outside of the post. In the 21st minute we had the ball out on the right wing passing it about but not really looking like anything would come of it, until Laure spotted the opportunity to make a cross and found the head of Fatih Yucel in the middle of a crowded box to nod the ball home. City really started to push forward even more, which gave us even more opportunity to go on the counter attack. One of these in the 28th minute, lead to a free kick being conceded outside the City area, in what I was thinking of as the perfect place for Fatih Yucel to strike from. The next second the ball flew just over the wall and into the near side of the goal to double our lead with a stunning shot, which the keeper had no chance of getting to. Going two goals up meant City had to come at us, meaning the match was an entertaining end to end affair. Late on in the half Balanta was denied by a great save that saw the ball go just the wrong side of the post for us. Fatih Yucel was also denied the opportunity of getting clear of the defence by being brought down not far outside the area, and failed to reproduce his earlier free kick. The first half ended with our two goal lead intact after an excellent display, particularly at the back, where we'd managed to stop them producing any really good opportunities. I was pleased with this display, and could only hope we would be able to maintain our composure at the back.

City showed more purpose in the second half, but their display was characterised by substitute Adebeyour being caught off side an astonishing number of times. I've never seen our defence so consistently catch a player out like that. This didn't stop Lung jr having to make a spectacular diving save to push a long shot around the post, and an outstanding close range save to deny City. We were also helped out by some of the City players also making some awful misses, which weren't even close to testong the keeper. We nearly conceded from a corner that we'd needlessly conceded, but fortunately it hit the woodwork and bounced to safety, allowing us to mount an attack from which Ephraim managed to run clear of the defence into the area, only to shoot just wide of the post. The match ended with us stopping City from getting on the score sheet in an excellent defensive display. I congratulate the team on getting through to final, when we were expected to be knocked out. After Fatih Yucel our next best player was Laure, who not only provided an assist, but did a superb job of firstly keeping Kalou and then Robinho quiet, respectively in each half. The final will be against our arch enemies Chelsea, in which I hope we can repeat our last performance against them.

In the break that followed this match, all our injured players have returned to training, which is excellent news, although Buzsaky won't be ready for a match straight away.

Liverpool (H) Premier League

The Reds arrive at Loftus Road as narrow favourites for this match, despite having struggled this season for consistency. Up front they have the dangerous Torres, with Gerrard playing just behind and Benayoun on wing. This would definitely be a test for our defence, and hoping that we would not suffer an adverse reaction to a gap after advancing to the FA Cup Final.

The early part of the match saw neither team making much headway through the defence of the other side. Both defences looked to be in fine form, making it very difficult for either side to make any really good chances. Sadly in the 23rd minute our defending failed at a corner allowing Liverpool to take the lead, which was disappointing, as I hate to concede from set pieces. Although we created several good chances after this, we were largely failing to find the target, with Fatih Yucel blasting one of our best chances over the bar, and the few on target were far too easy for Reina to save. Worse was to come in the 43rd minute, from another corner, when Torres somehow managed to head home from the acutest of angles. The half was to end with us trailing by two goals, and disappointed because although we were defending well in open play, we'd been poor at two corners, and were really struggling to look dangerous in front of goal. It has to be said, Liverpool were playing with 2 DMC's just in front of their back four, so it was always going to be hard to break them down.

The second half was disappointing, because we failed to find a way to break down the Liverpool defence. We defended well in open play and in this half we managed to avoid conceding any further goals. Even with a few subs it didn't really change anything. We managed to get plenty of crosses into the box, but as in the first half, we just couldn't get on the end of them, with no shots actually being on target during the second half. The match ended with neither side adding to the score, and never really looked like doing so. This was disappointing, because of the way we conceded the goals, and our lack of a cutting edge to find a way through the Liverpool defence. This is the first match since the middle of November that we have failed to score in, some five and half months ago.

West Ham (A) Premier League

We travel to the other side of London to met the Hammers at Upton Park, as underdogs for this match. After our meeting earlier in the season I expect this to be a tough fixture, even though the Hammers have had a poor run of form lately. When the team sheets are announced, I decide that because they are playing a 4-4-2 wide diamond formation with pace up front, it's best to play defensive and hope to make an impact on the counter attack, as their defence looks solid.

In the first half I can only describe our performance as poor, as we struggled to find a way through the West Ham defence, whereas they were finding it easy to get room and create opportunities. In the 26th minute they opened the scoring from a cross which was met in the box by an unmarked player to give them to lead. The only good thing about the first half was that we managed to get through to half time only one goal behind. Although we'd actually been passing well, we were slowing the play down far too much, allowing West Ham to get players back behind the ball.

At half time I told the players I expected to see more of them in the second half. I sent them back out hoping this would change things, and several players seemed to have gained motivation. However, our performance hadn't really changed, and we still looked short of ideas. With 60 minutes played I'd had enough, and brought Rowlands and Grenier on to hopefully give us some impetus. However this still didn't seem to make any difference, and a few minutes later Varrault was lucky to not be sent off when he brought Carlton Cole down just outside our area. Fortunately this referee only gave him a yellow, where some would have given a straight red. From the resulting corner after this free kick, we allowed them to double the lead in the 67th minute. I was getting angry at just how poor we'd been, and wondering just how tough I should be on certain players, and for the next 5 minutes we still looked completely flat. Things were about to change though, and the team seemed to suddenly come to life, finding space and time which we'd been denied up until now. In the 78th minute Ephraim received the ball on the left, and advanced up the touchline, hitting an early cross into the box where Fatih Yucel had managed to get clear of his marker. He controlled the ball and rounded the keeper to smash home the ball, and pull us back into the match. This seemed to spur us on even more, with Grenier and Fatih Yucel forcing the Hammers keeper to make a couple of good saves a few minutes later. In the 88th minute, Grenier crossed the ball from the right side to Ephraim on the left, and he advanced forward, but seeing his opportunities to cross blocked and the box crowded, he turned back. Rowlands had found space just inside the box, and was ready to receive the pass from Ephraim, and all he had to do was turn and fire the ball home to grab the equaliser. In the last few minutes of added time, we won a series of free kicks just outside the Hammers area, and in the dying seconds Nasuti headed the ball just over the crossbar.

This was a strange match, because we'd been pretty poor for most of it, only seeming to wake up near the end, and came close to actually stealing all 3 points. I was happy enough that we managed to fight back and get the equaliser, but a little worried that we seemed to devoid of ideas early on.

Monthly Roundup

Without our stunning win over Sunderland and the great win over Man City to reach the FA Cup Final, this would have been a dismal month. That win over Sunderland allowed us to gain 4 points out of 12, from our 4 league fixtures. We have really shown our inconsistency this month, with some poor performances, and some outstanding displays of football.

Despite our poor form in the league, we have managed to maintain 4th position in the league thanks to some of the other teams below us having a poor poor run of form too, such as Aston Villa getting just 1 point from their 4 matches this month. We are now guaranteed to finish between 4th and 8th place in the league, and have a secured a spot in the EURO Cup due to Chelsea having secured a Champions League place. We will face Chelsea in the final, so win or lose we will be europe next season, even if we finished in 8th place. We still hold a chance of gaining a Champions League place, if we can maintain our 4th place, although several teams are pushing to overtake us.

Fatih Yucel has had another outstanding month, and for the 3rd time in a row has won the Premiership Young Player of the Month award, with 6 goals from his 4 league matches. He has now scored 33 league goals, which is one short of Andy Cole's record, and with 2 matches left, it will be interesting to see if he can equal or even better this record for the season. The month also ends with the treatment room having no first team casaulties, which is excellent news.

March 2011 - Extending The Cup Run

On first sight this appears to be a very quiet month, with just 3 matches scheduled, although if we are able to beat Tottenham, this will increase to 4 matches.

Tottenham (H) FA Cup Fifth Round Replay

Having managed to gain a draw at White Hart Lane to send this tie to a replay, we are marginal favourites to win this at home. I feel optimistic after our brilliant display against Man United. I have decided to go with a Standard strategy which seems to work against Spurs.

In the first few minutes Spurs came at us looking to take and early lead, and Crouch fired a long shot just wide. We needed some desperate defending to keep Spurs out in the first few minutes. I felt if we could get through this early period of pressure the game would open out a lot more for us. In the 10th minute we finally managed to make a counter attack, with a well place pass putting Fatih Yucel free, and only a superb save from Gomes stopped him from opening the scoring. We started to get more time on the ball after this, and Nasuti headed just over from a free kick. This seemed to calm our defence down and they became a lot more confident. In the 24th minute Fatih Yucel got free of the defence only to see Gomes produce another great save to deny him. Just before half time Spurs won a free kick just outside the area, which fortunately hit the wall and flew over the goal, which was their best opportunity of the half. Half time was reached with the score goalless.

I was pleased with what I'd seen, as we looked solid at the back and very dangerous going forward, and were unlucky not to have taken the lead. I felt if we could continue to defend this well, we had a great chance to find a winner at the other end. In the 49th minute a Spurs attack broke down, with the ball intercepted by Laure. He moved along the right flank and produced a perfect pass for Balanta to continue forward, and once in the penalty area, squared the ball to Fatih Yucel, who smashed the ball into the net to open the scoring. Spurs pushed forward again, but after another attack broke down in the 53rd minute the ball was cleared to Ephraim in the middle of the pitch. He quickly spotted Fatih Yucel making a run and provided him with a perfect pass to race through and slot the ball home to double our lead. I was deleighted with this, and Fatih Yucel was denied his hat-trick by another brilliant save 3 minutes later. Although Spurs were pushing forward we were doing a good job of restricting them mostly to long shots. We managed to hold our 2 goal lead to the end of the match to put the current FA Cup holders out of the tournament. An absolutely fantastic performance, and our best defensive display for a while. This win sees us through to the 6th round and an away tie to Coventry, which is unfortunately only in 3 days time, which isn't ideal.

Coventry (A) FA Cup 6th Round

We arrive at the Ricoh Arena as marginal favourites to play Coventry who are currently in the lower middle area of the Championship table. This is a match we are expected to win, being a Premiership side. We come off the back of two excellent results, and Coventry from a home defeat. I noticed that the Coventry defence is extremely slow, so decided that I'd go with a standard strategy to try and give them the opportunity to push up slightly and allow us space for us to take advantage of.

After the first minutes I could see this was going to be quite a battle. In the 8th minute Balanta managed to get clear in the penalty area, only for his shot to be deflected just wide by the keeper. From the resulting corner we had a call for a penalty turned down. In the 15th minute Di Gennaro made a fantastic run in the area only to give the keeper a fairly easy save. In the 31st minute we conceded a free kick just outside our area, which required a brilliant save from Lung jr to keep the ball from going in the top corner. Our midfield seemed to be looking very lacklustre, and were giving the ball away far too often allowing Coventry far too easy a time in coming forward. This also meant we were not making the best use of our opportunities to counter attack. However in the 39th minute a poor clearance by the Coventry keeper allowed Di Gennaro to slide in a pass for Balanta in space in the area, this time making no mistake in placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net. I hoped this would bring some confidence to to our midfield, but they still seemed to be giving the ball up too often. Fortunately our defence seemed to be holding up well, and we arrived at half time with our slender lead still intact.

For the second half Coventry changed to a 5-3-2 formation to shore up their defence even more, but still seemed to be finding it far too easy to get through our midfield, which was worrying, and finding space to fire some long shots at us. In the 64th minute Fatih Yucel received the ball clear of the defence, but hit the ball directly at the keeper. I'd have put money on him putting that away, but I think he must have left his shooting boots at home. At times we showed our quality, but allowed Coventry to take possession far too easilly. We managed to play out the rest of match to take a narrow 1-0 victory. I'm pleased that we managed to get the win to go through to the semi-final, but some parts of the performance were lacking. It is good that our defence played well, or we could have been humbled. I don't know quite what to make of this performance, but I'm pleased we got through without requiring another replay in this round.

Bolton (A) Premier League

Our visit to the Reebok Stadium sees us arrive as marginal favourites. Bolton are without their 2 highest scorers and their players with the most assists, which will hopefully help us in taking this match. It largely depends on the attitude the players go onto the field with. Bolton are playing a 4-1-4-1 with a young striker with lots of pace, but little in the way other attributes, but we'll still need to be careful.

The early part of the match saw a big battle in the midfield, with space hard to come by, with only a few long shots going wide of the target. There was also one goal mouth scramble in our area which required a desperate clearance to stop a Bolton player managing to get a foot to the ball. In the 17th minute Balanta was brought down just outside the Bolton area, and Fatih Yucel stepped up to take the kick. He produced an absolutely stunning strike to put the ball in the top corner of the net and give us the lead. Only 3 minutes later we gave away a free kick just outside our area, which required a superb save from Lung jr to stop Bolton levelling the scores. The first half ended with us still leading by the one goal with both sides making a few long shots, but really struggling to find a way through.

I was fairly pleased with our fast half display, as we'd pretty much restricted Bolton to long range shots. In the 61st minute a piece of bad luck was to be inflicted upon us, when Basham struck a 35 yard drive, which deflected off the head of Nasuti to fly into the top corner of the net, rather than carry straight on to be caught by Lung jr. At first I was trying to work out why our keeper was going in the wrong direction, but after a replay I could see just how unlucky we were. In the 74th minute Fatih Yucel was the victim of a vicious tackle, but because he'd come from off-side there were not repercussions for the player committing the foul. This is definitely an oversight in the match engine, having seen my own players occasionally being extremely lucky too in not getting booked for awful fouls. In the 87th minute I thought we'd taken the lead after Lung jr hit the ball forward which Slory ran onto and hit the ball home. Unfortunately he had been just off-side at the point the ball was hit. In the 89th minute Routledge was unlucky not to find the winner when his header hit the crossbar. The matched ended as a 1-1 draw, and I left feeling that we were very unlucky to only come away with the draw. This was a rather scrappy battling performance, but was not one of our better displays. I was largely happy with with the defence, as almost all of Bolton's shots were from long range.

A couple of days after the match Davide Di Gennaro suffered a back strain putting him out for about a month.

Fulham (H) Premier League

The Cottagers arrive with us favourites to take all the points, after they have suffered 3 straight defeats. I expected this to be a battle though given how the match was the first time we played.

This match lived up to my expectations of it being a tough battle, and the first half was a pretty dire affair with both sides committing plenty of fouls. Of note though was how Rafa was looking really up for this match, making a lot of tackles and interceptions, then trying to feed the ball through to other players to try and make an attack. Both keepers had a few good saves to make from long shots, but little else to do in the first half. For us Puygrenier was being very poor, giving away far too many free kicks in dangerous places. It was pretty much a relief when the first half ended with the match goalless.

The second half started with a little bit more action, with Buzsaky striking a great long shot, producing a stunning save from the Fulham keeper. In the 51st minute Fulham conceded a free kick just outside the area, and as Buzsaky swung the kick into the area, Nasuti was fouled in the area. This allowed Fatih Yucel to step up and open the scoring. A few minutes later Lung jr had to perform another good save to stop Fulham scoring an equaliser. The rest of the match was pretty dire with far too many fouls from both sides which broke up the flow of the match. I think we were very lucky to come out of this match with a win, so guess justice has been done after our undeserved loss when we played Fulham earlier in the season.

Month Summary

A brilliant start to the month with victories in the 2 FA Cup ties, putting in a great performance to beat Tottenham, and a less convincing display against Coventry. That seemed to set the tone for the two league matches, which were both very scrappy matches, and far from convincing. However to come away with a draw and a win from those matches was very good. Sometimes it's the result that's the most important thing, rather than the actual performance.

This has seen us retain 4th place in the league, and progress to the semi final stages of the FA Cup, which means a visit to Wembley. The upcoming tie is against Man City, the current leaders in the league, which will prove to be very tough opposition. However, on any given day we have the ability to beat any side, so will remain hopeful that we can pull off a surprise and proceed to the final for only the 2nd time in the clubs history.

Unfortunately during the international break at the end of the month Buzsaky twisted his ankle during an international match, and will be out for about 3 weeks, and will most likely miss the FA Cup Semi Final. A few days later Martin Stranzl damaged his foot during training and will be out for two weeks.

Fatih Yucel won the Premiership Young Player of the Month award again, this time with Silvui Lung jr coming in 2nd place. Both these players have been excellent this month, with Fatih Yucel seeming to score at will.