2012/2013
A Football Manager Story
By
bigyin58
My first order of business was to set up the Training Schedule for the club. I initially set up the schedule on ‘very high’ to Team Cohesion. As we progressed through the season, I would take the advice of my 1st Team Coach as to when the schedule required changing (e.g. Teamwork to Attacking Movement and/or ‘very high’ to ‘high’).
I opted for the following 3 Tactics that would be utilised accordingly throughout the season;
Tactic 1: 4-2-3-1 Boo Ya! (Wizard), Very Fluid Style, Attacking. I would change to Contain and drop the 2 CMs back to DM roles for tough away games.
Tactic 2: Celtic Champs League 4-3-2-1 Andy, Fluid Style Attacking.
Tactic 3: King of Kings Sumeet, Very Fluid Style, Attacking.
My next priority was to seek a ‘quality’ Director of Football and before long, 39 year old Frenchman Damien Comolli happily accepted our offer. With a £7.54M Transfer Budget I gave my Director of Football the responsibility of finding suitable players to add to our squad.
SQUAD
GKs: Fraser Foster, Viktor Noring (Loan), Lukasz Zaluska
DEFs: Mikael Lustig, Rami Gershon (Loan), Kelvin Wilson, Charlie Mulgrew, Thomas Rogne, Efe Ambrose, Adam Matthews, Emilio Izaguirre
MIDs: Joe Ledley, Beram Kayal, Victor Wanyama, Scott Brown, James Forrest, Kris Commons, Georgios Samaras, Dylan McGeouch, Tom Rogic, Lassad, Anthony Stokes
STs: Miku (Loan), Gary Hooper, Tony Watt
.....and so we're off........
Wednesday July 7, 2012 – Friendly Match (H)
The only friendly saw us at home to PSG and I fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation under the Boo Ya! (Wizard) Tactic. A surprising 3-0 win was duly secured with Izaguirre (29th min), Forrest (62nd min) and Ambrose (71st min) getting on the score sheet.
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I was most pleased with all aspects of our game, specifically our Attempts on Goal whilst keeping their attempts to a minimum.
Man of the Match: Efe Ambrose
Wednesday August 1, 2012 – Champions League Qual. 3 Leg 1 vs AEL (Cyprus) (H)
Well our season ‘officially’ got underway against Cypriot minnows AEL at home. A resounding 8-0 victory ensued, thereby guaranteeing progression through to the next round.
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The manner of the victory was fantastic which was secured, in no small way, by way of 71% Possession and 19 Attempts on Goal (15 on target).
Man of the Match: Efe Ambrose
Season 2012/2013 Opening Day, Saturday August 4, 2012 – SPL Round 1 vs Aberdeen (H)
Our SPL campaign kicks off, at home, to Aberdeen. With the return Champions League match in mind, I ‘tinkered’ with the line-up. Even so, a hard fought 2-0 victory was secured against a spirited Aberdeen outfit.
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Man of the Match: Gary Hooper
Wednesday August 8, 2012 – Champions League Qual.3 Leg 2 vs AEL (Cyprus) (A)
The return leg in Cyprus was played under unusually breezy conditions and a 2-0 victory ensured progression to the next round on a 10-0 aggregate score line.
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Man of the Match: Efe Ambrose
Sunday August 12, 2012 – SPL Round 2 vs Dundee Utd (H)
Our next SPL match was at home to Dundee Utd. I kept faith with the 4-2-3-1 Boo Ya! Tactic saw off a spirited Dundee Utd 2-0 with Curtis Main scoring an own goal (11th min) and Georgios Samaras (78th min) netting to secure the win.
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Overall, a pleasing win which was secured mainly through our 63% Possession & 13 Attempts on Goal.
Man of the Match: Kelvin Wilson
Tuesday August 21, 2012 – Champions League Champions Playoff Leg 1 vs Helsingborg (H)
On a fairly balmy evening in Glasgow, Celtic put Helsingborg to the sword with a commanding 2-0 victory. Again, I kept faith with the 4-2-3-1 Boo Ya! Tactic. Commanding does not do the performance justice as we had 34 Attempts on Goal – with only 8 being On Target!! Gary Hooper netted both goals (32nd & 67th mins) and yet was not awarded MoM??
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Man of the Match: James Forrest
Wednesday August 29, 2012 – Champions League Champions Playoff Leg 2 vs Helsingborg (A)
On a cold, breezy night in Helsingborg we saw off a rather disappointing Helsingborg 3-0. Whilst I kept the 4-2-3-1 Boo Ya! Tactic for this leg, I made a couple of slight changes. I dropped the 2 CMs back into DM roles and changed from ‘attacking’ to ‘contain’. My ‘tinkering’ worked wonders as we finished the match with 65% Possession whilst restricting them to only 5 Attempts on Goal. So, Group Stages Champions’ League here we come.
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Man of the Match: Georgios Samaras
August Overview
Board Interaction:
To summarise, the Board are pleased with your management of the team.
This has been underlined by the fans’ delight at Celtic’s convincing 10-0 UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Phase Second Leg aggregate win over AEL.
League Cup 3rd Round Draw
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Champions’ League Group Stages Draw
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The ‘odds’ are yet to be released – but Barca, Real, Bayern & Man Utd are among the ‘short-priced’ favourites in my mind.
P W D L F A
6 6 0 0 19 0
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Scorers: Gary Hooper 7, Georgios Samaras 6, Efe Ambrose 4.
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Player of the Month: Gary Hooper, 6 Appearances, 7 Goals, 7.87 Ave rating
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League
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Next update Sunday May 12.......stay tuned.