2014-15 - Premier League
Preseason stuff
The board announced their plans to build a new stadium for the club, finally!
Rushden Stadium will be a significant improvement on our current ground, Nene Park, which held just 8102 (after expansion). The new ground will have a capacity of
28961. Furthermore, the board announced that our facilities would also be upgraded.
The
2014 FIFA World Cup concluded with Holland (with Rushden's
Guido Velder in the starting eleven and
Robin van Persie coming on late as a substitute) inexplicably
losing 0-1 to Croatia, even though Holland throughout had been the better team. Velder knocked Tim Krul out of the starting line-up and conceded only one goal throughout the entire tournament, which just so happened to be in the final, which earned him the
Goalkeeper of the Tournament award and a spot in the
Dream Team starting line-up.
So, a cheery summer for most involved, and although the transfer market was somewhat of a pain, I feel we've come out on the other side quite nicely, adding a few promising regens,
Diego and getting rid of some of the less awesome of my players. Mostly with profit, too! Full
final history, Diego, Fadeev and a much beefed-up (compare with last season's screenshot!) João Artur below:
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August 2014
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Leeds 0-0 – We pick up the action at Elland Road, where we fight to a 0-0, which wasn't a particularly unfair result. We might have sent the ball in the back of the net a few times, but then again so could they.
v.
Newcastle 0-0 – Uhhh. So yet another good defensive performance, but again we struggled when the final touch had to be put on our otherwise quite nicely flowing attacking moves. Hopefully we'll pick up a bit soon, or we could be in real trouble, as our high-octane offense was our bread and butter last season. In other news, I picked up a new RB as my current one is constantly being unsettled by speculation from clubs like PSG, Man Utd and so on. £10m the new young lad cost me, but he does look frighteningly good.
LEAGUE CUP 2ND RND @
Sheffield United 2-1 FADEEV 18' ALBÆK 115' – An
atrocious performance considering we had 22 shots and 11 of those on target. The remaining 11 that weren't on target were often such big chances Ali Dia should have put them away comfortably. Our finishing today really was unbearably terrible, which is a problem that's been lurking under the surface for quite some time and really came out into the open today. That we needed extra time against these chumps was a disgrace as it should have been something more along the lines of 6-1 today. Fadeev's great free kick wasn't a disgrace, though. Fingers crossed that he can be the free kick specialist I've been yearning for all these years.
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Sunderland 1-0 WINTER 54' – A masterpiece of a goal from my new swiss RB was enough to down Sunderland, who I have to say ran the game for most of its duration. When we finally got a goal, they died down offensively for 20-25 minutes and we even looked like scoring one or two more, but I have to say I felt very relieved and somewhat fortunate when the whistle blew for full time.
On deadline day, we also managed to close a
£20m record deal for attacking midfielder
Georginio Wijnaldum from Palermo.
Round up –
EPL:
7th, 5 points,
1W 2D 0L.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Jamie Rae
1st, Marcus Campbell
3rd.
September 2014
v.
West Ham 4-1 RAE 5' DIEGO 26' ARTUR 32' MOIMBÉ 93' – Our attacking play today was of the highest order, which is exactly what we were lacking in the previous matches this season. In the beginning of the match it looked like our newfound defensive stability had been sacrificed to make room for it, but as the game progressed we looked very sure on the ball. So sure, in fact, that Onyewu even found time to head into their half, an accomplishment in itself as his "pace" attribute is a lumpish 8. Our unbeaten start goes on.
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Tottenham 1-0 WIJNALDUM 15' – Wijnaldum begins repaying a tiny bit of his outrageous transfer sum and judging by this goal, he was worth if not every penny then at least very close to it as it was right in the top corner. About the match, we played quite well but undoubtedly were somewhat fortunate to escape a single goal. Then again, we should have scored maybe 2 or 3, I remember one chance where they cleared it off the line twice within 2 seconds, one where the ball was just lying on the line and someone JUST managed to clear it before we could pounce. In other words:
suck it, Sp*rs.
LEAGUE CUP 3RD RND @
Hull 3-2 RAE 18' ARTUR 39' 69' – YES! We finally prevail over a team who have quickly become one of my fiercest enemies, to such an extent that I hate the actual team even more, even though most of it was due to the massive cuntiness of one Phil Brown. That said, this Hull team is pretty ****. I know, I've seen some of their other matches. However, when they meet us, they're reading for everything, it just doesn't make ANY sense whatsoever that they can just turn into Man United overnight when Rushden roll into town. However, we beat them, we should have gotten a clean sheet, but there you go. Onwards to the next round!
v.
Everton 3-0 RAE 19' VAN PERSIE 21' ARTUR 84' – A confident and convincing home win over an Everton side that year after year slips more into midtable obscurity. Still, we did our part today and created a million gazillion chances, but 3 goals to 0 is not a scoreline you can complain about.
Round up –
EPL:
2nd, 14 points,
4W 2D 0L.
LC: Next
4th Rnd v Bolton.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Jamie Rae
1st, João Artur
2nd.
MotM: Yours truly
3rd.
October 2014
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Man City 1-2 YUSSUF OG 25' – I don't think we were under any illusions that when travelling to Eastlands, it would be a monumental challenge to come home with even just a point, however we were horridly dominated in this game, which really we can't have if we are to mount any sort of a challenge for Europe this season. However, no shame in losing to a team of such superiority and that it's our first loss of the season tells it own story.
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Chelsea 2-0 ARTUR 3' 19' (pen.) – A good performance, especially defensively as we hold a still highly potent Chelsea attack to just 2 shots on goal. Artur comes up with the goods again!
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Aston Villa 2-0 GIOVINCO 18' BROSCO 56' – Aston Villa actually put up a **** of a performance and were quite threatening to our thus far pristine home record. However,
another great performance from my ever overperforming goalie Velder held a very good Aston Villa team firmly out of the match at all times.
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Southend 4-3 ARTUR 9' WIJNALDUM 17' ALBA 35' WHITTAKER OG 55' – Whew! We went to half time 3-0 up and looking to maybe close this one out for good in the second half by passing them to death. However, a combination of me not bothering to substitute fresh legs in and a dodgy penalty decision going their way they suddenly ran away with some quite incredible momentum and for 10-20 minutes looked very potent indeed. Deservedly, though, we walked away winners.
Round up –
EPL:
4th, 23 points,
7W 2D 1L.
LC: Next
4th Rnd v Bolton.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Marcus Campbell
3rd.
November 2014
v.
Ipswich 4-0 DIEGO 1' 4' VAN PERSIE 17' (pen.) JOHNSON 76' – Diego finally shows the class we all knew he still had. Clinical finishing today lead to a convincing scoreline that may be a bit flattering to us. Still a thoroughly deserved win and a confident performance on the back of a shaky one.
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Hull 1-1 VAN PERSIE 87' (pen.) – The hatred towards Hull builds as they once again inexplicably turn into Man United as we play them. On the back foot for the most of the match, we nevertheless deserved a goal. I'm not really too fussed about that it came from a penalty as it was on the cards throughout as they tackled hard and dangerously throughout and sent 3 of my players out for the count. *****.
LEAGUE CUP 4TH RND v.
Bolton 3-1 ARTUR 8' 87' WIJNALDUM 76' – Control. Swift passing. Deft finishing touch. Lucky Bolton in stoppage time. Easy.
v.
Wigan 2-2 ARTUR 11' WIJNALDUM 45+2' – A scoreline most flattering to Wigan who somewhat fortuitously came away with a point today, having been dominated throughout most of the game. A sending off and two injured players towards the end didn't really help us, either. We should have scored at least 4 goals though with the chances we had and this is the type of match we have to win, not draw, if a challenge for Europe is going to be realistic.
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Arsenal 0-3 – Ow. A particularly bad defeat as we concede two bonehead goals and one from Rubén de la Red (who I fervently attempted to sign in the summer) that even Lev Yashin could not have saved. What was so disappointing was how we just gave up after the first stupid goal we gave away. Before it, we were passing it quite well, retaining possession and creating chances but after that we just deflated into... ****. If such a thing is possible, it's what we did.
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Liverpool 2-3 – Such a **** shame, this match. The first half was utter ***** from pretty everyone involved bar one or maybe two. After half-time, and after a few select choice words, we came out a transformed team. Had the game been level at halftime instead of 0-3, I am confident that we would have won, showing the determination and confidence that we did in the second half. We now go to 4 matches in a row without victory, which is somewhat of a worry.
Round up –
EPL:
6th, 28 points,
8W 4D 3L.
LC: Next
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Next
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Marcus Campbell
3rd.
December 2014
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER FINAL v.
Manchester City 0-1 – Lucky Man City win this thanks to Sulley Muntari somehow being able to blast a ball in the back of the net from 35 yards out. I mean come on, that's just unrealistic. We were better than City today and we should have ******* downed 'em. Our passing needs to be a whole lot more accurate, though. Ah, screw the Carling Cup.
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Manchester United 2-1 WIJNALDUM 58' 90+3' – HAH! We ******* dominated United even more than we did City and Liverpool (even though that was only in one half) at it was at their place. In the end they only scored on a monstrous free kick from Tevez, that rug-wearing mutant. And we did so with 4, count
4, important first team players out, so a 18-year-old right back came in to take over from my beastly swiss RB Winter. LATE.
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Portsmouth 3-2 ARTUR 11' 82' ALBÆK 67' – We should have had this done and dusted half way through the first half, such was the worthlessness of Portsmouth. However we gifted them a goal and they were right back in it and annoyingly some ******* from Portsmouth had the technical prowess to power in a 35-yard screamer. Who knew? Still, a frighteningly good attacking performance on our part but I wish we would just take those 100% chances, it's so painful to watch.
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Middlesbrough 0-0 – I don't ******* believe it. How can professional footballers be so ******* useless in front of goal?
18 chances against a
rubbish Middlesbrough side and we come away empty handed? Our back four was like the god ****
Steel Curtain, never letting them even close to a chance and we should have won by 7 goals or something like that. Utterly. Ridiculous!
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Blackburn 2-0 WIJNALDUM 26' – Same story as against Middlesbrough, yet this time we managed to score twice. And before you go all "well, actually, you only scored onecablabablabbla", take into account that FM somehow thinks deflections are own goals. Wijnaldum should have had a double and we should have had 5 or 6 against em today. Defensively, I don't think we've ever looked sharper as we're just stopping teams dead in their tracks right from the off at the moment. Fantastic! On another note, one Real Madrid legend (ahem) actually beat an ever bigger one today, as Blackburn are apparently managed by none other than Raúl.
Round up –
EPL:
4th, 38 points,
11W 5D 3L.
LC: Lost
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Next
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Monthly Awards –
PotM: João Artur
1st,
YPotM: Jamie Rae
1st, Marcus Campbell
2nd.
January 2015
FA CUP 3RD RND @
Tottenham 0-2– Of course I draw the Lily-White ***** away as soon as we enter the FA Cup. Not a terrible performance but two huge lapses in concentration at the back that looked so god damned solid through the last few matches undid us against a Tottenham side we should be able to match. /"!)#&)!"/#.
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Leeds 2-0 WIJNALDUM 5' JOHNSON 8' – A fairly decent performance for 80 minutes and a mindblowingly awesome one in the first 10. I seriously thought we would have been up by 4 by half-time, and this Leeds side are no pushovers, mind you. Defensively we're not as solid as I'd like us to be, but you can't argue with a clean sheet.
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Newcastle 1-3 ARTUR 58' – A ******* embarrassing performance as we're just awful throughout. Wijnaldum, Diego, Fadeev and Jordi Alba in particular just kept giving the ball away and it's no mystery why we conceded 3 goals today. How hard can it be to keep the **** ball?
v.
Sunderland 2-1 ARTUR 20' GOOSENS 89' – A better performance as we manage to just equal out a Sunderland side we really should dominate at home. However, 3 points in the bag and a goal on the debut of new signing John Goosens, which will no doubt be a huge help in making him feel a part of the team already.
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West Ham 3-1 WIJNALDUM 4' VAN PERSIE 11' ALBÆK 90+1' – A match that deserved more goals, unfortunately in both ends as a scoreline of 3-1 is somewhat flattering to us but certainly not entirely undeserved as my ever-overperforming goalie Velder comes up with the goods again. Big time.
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Everton 1-1 VAN PERSIE 68' – Not a terrific performance as we only gift one goal away due to a penalty, but this is an Everton team that is just so far beneath our capabilities at this point, so I'm fairly gutted that we didn't get the 3 today.
Round up –
EPL:
4th, 48 points,
14W 6D 4L.
LC: Lost
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Lost
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Nicky Veldmate
1st
February 2015
v.
Tottenham 2-2 JOHNSON 4' BALE OG 54' – There were periods in the match where we looked amazing and others where we looked very ordinary indeed, so I guess a draw is fair.
v.
Manchester City 1-1 ARTUR 40' – An even matchup so again, a draw is fair. Still, had we been a bit more clinical today with some of our better chances we might have finally recorded a win against €ity.
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Chelsea 4-1 ALBÆK 11' ARTUR 30' 55' (pen.) RAE 68' – Our clinical edge returned in a match where we actually could have embarassed Chelsea worse than we did. Artur missed a penalty to seal a hat-trick at the Bridge but more importantly, our performance was that of f-ing champions. I doubt whether any team can boast a better game vs. Chelsea away. A few boring numbers: 63 % possession, 18 shots, just 2 off target, 96 % tackles won, Chelsea held to: 37 % possession (duh), 6 shots, 1 on target (goal). Really, for a quality team, we embarassed them.
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Round up –
EPL:
4th, 53 points,
15W 8D 4L.
LC: Lost
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Lost
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Jamie Rae
1st
March 2015
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Aston Villa 1-2 ARTUR 72' – I present the most inconsistent performers in football history. Going down this hard to a Villa team we should
at least match, even away, just shakes me to my core, because these are the matches we need to really compete in if we are to have any chance at silverware, ever. To make matters worse, star striker João Artur was ruled out for 4 weeks, which essentially is the rest of the season.
v.
Southend 2-0 GOOSENS 6' DESTRO 21'– Not a great performance against the worst team in the Premiership. We did take our chances well though, and hats off to new signings John Goosens and Mattia Destro for really powering them in.
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Ipswich 3-2 JOHNSON 51' 54' DIEGO 78' – Two down inside the first half hour and you think it's going to be one of those days again. During the half time team talk, I let the players know that nothing less than a win was going to cut it here. 10 minutes later, and substitute Nick Johnson has scored twice. We look truly frightening an offense when we are in "All-Out Offensive" mode and when I dialed it down, we dialed down, so we just went all-out through the match. Missing a penalty and having 90 % of all shots hitting the target I would have been absolutely furious had we not won this one, which could have ended 7-2 or more without flattering us in the least.
Round up –
EPL:
6th, 58 points,
17W 8D 5L.
LC: Lost
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Lost
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Nicky Veldmate
2nd,
GotM: Mattia Destro
1st (v. Southend 2-0)
April 2015
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Hull 2-0 DESTRO 45+3' JOHNSON 81' (pen.) – I really wanted to embarrass Hull as they are pretty much my nemesis as far as just plain hatred goes. As such, 2-0 isn't what I was looking for, but as Hull always seem to just oversoul and play with the force of an actual quality side. With none of the pizzazz or excellence of Barcelona, but oh just as hard to beat for some reason.
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Wigan 2-0 RAE 14' 62' – A dominant performance and although we didn't close out the match as soon as I'd have hoped, we were never going to drop points here.
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Liverpool 1-0 VELDMATE 15' – We grind out a close win over Liverpool, who we are neck and neck with in the table. Next up, a somewhat depleted Man Utd side at home, hopefully we can keep up our steely determination.
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Manchester United 1-0 ARTUR 45+1' – Not a good match from either team but thankfully it is we who get the 3 points today, and not entirely undeserved as United were just horrible in the final third. And with this, Rushden are certain of
European football next season, as we can now place only as low as 6th. Break out the bubbly, 'cause I'm celebratin'!
v.
Arsenal 1-1 GOOSENS 71' – Despite Arsenal having a lot of shots on target, those shots were all essentially long shots which my supergoalie Velder had no difficulties dealing with, however I can't fault the result as we again just lacked that finishing touch that could have put this game out of reach for Arsenal.
Round up –
EPL:
3rd, 72 points,
21W 9D 5L.
LC: Lost
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Lost
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Monthly Awards –
YPotM: Jamie Rae
3rd,
MotM: Yours truly
2nd.
May 2015
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Portsmouth 1-0 ALBÆK 2' – We travelled to Portsmouth with high hopes for complete annihilation of them and that Arsenal and Manchester City in front of us and Tottenham and Manchester United behind us would slip up. The second part came true as United were held to 1-1 by already relegated Southend at home, Arsenal were beat by Hull at home 2-0 (they had to be good for something) and Tottenham were beaten by Newcastle 3-1. Also, 1-0 means 3 points too - onwards!
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Middlesbrough 5-1 GOOSENS 31' ALBÆK 57' 62' WIJNALDUM 74' SOUMARE 82' – An easy, easy match as we dominate every department and their only goal came when Hélan played it back ever so slowly to Velder who let it go between his legs and crawl past the line. Jesus... Wigan were not able to ****** a draw at home vs. Arsenal who are 3 points behind us still but with a much better goal difference, which means we have to get at least a point at Blackburn to be safe in our spot. On the back of this terrific performance, five Rushden players were included in the Team of the Week, a new high for us in that regard. Furthermore, this was the final match played at Nene Park, as we move to the new Rushden Stadium for next season, and what a high note to end on.
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Blackburn 0-0 – This was truly a terrible performance on our end but I don't care as we grab our 1 point and as such we stay ahead of Arsenal and end just 8 points behind a truly beastly Manchester City side.
End of season round up –
EPL:
2nd, 79 points,
23W 10D 5L.
LC: Lost
Quarter Final v Manchester City. FA: Lost
3rd Rnd @ Tottenham.
Yearly Awards –
Players' Young Player of the Year: Jamie Rae
1st, Nicky Veldmate
2nd
- Top goalscorer: João Artur (19, 37 apps)
- Assists leader: Giorginio Wijnaldum (9)
- Man of match: Jamie Rae (5)
- Highest avg. rating: João Artur (7.25)
- Player of the season: Jamie Rae (CB): 34 apps, 5 goals, 5 MoM, 7.35 tackles/game, 7.21 avg. rating
- Young player of the season (U-21): Nicky Veldmate (CM): 30 apps, 1 goal, 4 assists, 2 MoM, 4.52 tackles/game, 82 % pass completion, 7.03 avg. rating
- Best signing of the season: Nicky Veldmate (£275k).
- Worst signing of the season: Tom Dowson (£4.5m), I missed where it said that he couldn't play for me until next season because his club activity so he didn't really contribute at all. He has a 7.75 avg. rating playing in the Reserves, though
- Stats, all competitions: 46 matches played, 86 goals scored (1.9), 44 goals conceded (1.0), 60 yellow cards (1.3), 1 red card (0.0), 7993 average attendance (8102 max capacity).
Und jetzt, ze screenshots of all my glory and my two sort of "joint" players of the year, Jamie Rae (CB) and João Artur (ST):
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