Crossing the divide – Kettering Town
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Ta, ta.Jeeesuss, on page one and you've done 4 seasons :O
Awesome stufff, love the layout, despite the fact that some people might think its too much, anyway, well done
I know, it is a bit hard to handle. I'm trying to think of ways to make it more palatable to read, but I'm not very creative in that sense, unfortunately.
At this point it's more of a "progress" thread than an actual story, but I do very much loathe the fake news articles, first-person storytelling etc., I never think it's done to the point where it actually increases interest. Not with me, anyway
Ta, ta.
I know, it is a bit hard to handle. I'm trying to think of ways to make it more palatable to read, but I'm not very creative in that sense, unfortunately.
At this point it's more of a "progress" thread than an actual story, but I do very much loathe the fake news articles, first-person storytelling etc., I never think it's done to the point where it actually increases interest. Not with me, anyway
Same, notta fan of too much fake articles etc.
Hopefully you can conquer the prem and europe now anyway
Yeah, hopefully I can. If only my players could settle in a bit quicker, but I guess that my punishment for not building for the Premiership earlier on despite my defensive midfielder. And Hélan, but he's gone *cry*
Regulators - mount up!
We had another extremely busy offseason, trying to get ready for the rumble and tumble of our first ever season in the top flight. For once we had a healthy wad of cash to spend, but with our reputation still being somewhat in the tank, we went for free agents and players from lesser reputation leagues who would like to test their skills in a higher quality league.
As a result, our major summer signing became Belgian international central midfielder Axel Witsel, who arrived from Standard Liège with a hefty pricetag of £12m. We also managed to finally permanently sign Yannis Tafer from Olympique Lyonnais for a fee of £1.9m.
Our back four was reinforced mainly through free agents. Johan Djourou, Richard Dunne, Matthew Upson, Pierrick Cros all arrived on frees. Promising young center back/right back Nick McPhee arrived from Celtic for £2.9m, Tommaso Silvestri arrived from relegated Deportivo for £110k.
Up front, a young Greek striker called Lefteris Katsioulis arrived from a low-level Greek club for £275k and he looks to partner Yannis Tafer up front, as I think Abdou Dieye will find the Premier League just a bit too far for his skillset. Germán Pacheco also arrives on a free transfer.
Whilst the list we pursued but failed to sign is too long to list, we crucially renegotiated our deals for both Marco Verratti and Ivo Poldervaart. With all this taken care of, we head into the 2013–14 season, looking to stay alive in the Premiership and hopefully being able to give them a fight.
v. Aston Villa 2-2
We start the season at home for a change against a Villa side that has struggled for a few seasons. We started off poorly, conceding after just 9 minutes after going further behind within just half an hour. We got a goal back before half time through, though, which did calm us down a bit and another from a set piece 10 minutes into the second. Both came courtesy of Richard Dunne. We really pushed for a winner towards the end but were unable to finish it off properly but a draw is a fair result, and performance only one or two didn't really perform. It's early in the season still and performance-wise it should only get better as we gel more.
@ Everton 2-1
We record our first ever Premier League victory, away from home even! We looked assured throughout the game and although Everton had their moments, we powered through and it was justly Dieye who came on to finish them off.
LEAGUE CUP 2ND RND
@ Sheffield Wednesday 2-1
@ Manchester City 1-4
Welcome to the top flight. Thank you very much.
EPL 10th, 4 points
Awards YPotM Ivo Poldervaart 3rd.
v. Chelsea 1-0
We grind out a well-earned 1-0 victory over Chelsea even with McPhee being sent off in the middle of the second half. They must have thought even their reserves could beat us and played a somewhat second-string side and we could have gotten a few more goals as well if it weren't for some top notch saves from Petr Čech, the man of the match.
LEAGUE CUP 3RD RND
@ Nottingham Forest 1-2
Our reserves just didn't cut it against a rugged Nottingham side in the rain, particularly our left back and one central defender missed a lot of tackles and headers and misplaced a lot of easy passes.
@ Arsenal 0-3
Destroyed. Pathetic finishing on our part, not so on Arsenal's part.
v. Burnley 1-0
v. Sheffield United 1-0
@ Birmingham 2-1
v. Liverpool 0-2
@ Blackburn 4-2
v. Sunderland 1-1
v. Manchester United 3-2
We earn a famous if a bit fortuitous victory against a strong Manchester United side. Marco Verratti at the heart of the operation, it was also a strong team effort from all involved today.
@ Stoke 2-0
@ Middlesbrough 0-1
Conceded in the 93rd minute. Oh, the pain
v. West Ham 2-0
@ Wolverhampton 2-4
@ Bristol City 2-1
v. Tottenham 2-2
@ Newcastle 1-1
We finally break down Newcastle's defenses after having dominated them throughout much of the match. We really should have taken 3 points today, but in the end I'm happy we at least got the 1 point.
@ Aston Villa 1-0
v. Everton 3-0
FA CUP 3RD RND v. Peterborough 3-0
9' L. Katsioulis
17 L. Katsioulis
81' G. Pacheco
HE LIVES! Lefteris Katsioulis FINALLY found the net today, having previously played in some 18 matches or so without being able to do so, which is just ridiculous. Right now I'm not even bothered that it was against a rather crappy Peterborough side.
@ Burnley 0-1
Back to the "real" world and Katsioulis botches a number of great chances again, I've almost had it with him for this season. I'm looking for a striker to replace him in the starting lineup, but with not many funds, we'll have to get someone who won't command a huge salary.
v. Man City 1-2
FA CUP 4TH RND @ Ipswich 1-2
Two sending-offs didn't help our chances against an Ipswich who are not easy to play against as they are one of the strongest teams in the Championship.
@ Chelsea 0-1
In the end, we didn't create enough chances, although we should really have gotten one or two goals, but when you miss chances against Chelsea, they will make you pay and we can't really complain about the result.
@ Sheffield United 3-1
21' A. Witsel (pen.)
34' J. Howson
45+2' A. Witsel (pen.)
v. Stoke 2-2
v. Arsenal 1-2
@ Sunderland 1-0
v. Birmingham 2-1
@ Liverpool 1-1
v. Blackburn 3-0
@ Manchester United 0-2
v. Bristol City 3-1
v. Middlesbrough 4-2
@ West Ham 2-0
v. Wolves 4-2
@ Tottenham 1-3
v. Newcastle 2-2
End of season.
Yearly awards:
Kettering players in Players' Team of the Year D C Richard Dunne.
Players' Young Player of the Year AM C Marco Verratti.
Top goalscorer Yannis Tafer (14)
Assists leader Marco Verratti (8)
Most man of match Richard Dunne (5)
Highest avg. rating Richard Dunne - 7.31 (37 apps)
Player of the season Richard Dunne (37 Apps, 8 Gls, 1 Asts, 5 MoM, 7.31 Av R)
Young player of the season (U-21) Marco Verratti (37 Apps, 11 Gls, 8 Asts, 2 MoM, 7.11 Av R)
Fans' Player of the Year Marco Verratti
Best signing of the season Richard Dunne, £0 – Was the rock at the defence and was ocassionally a goal threat from set pieces as well. A good display from the center back in the twilight of his career.
Worst signing of the season Lefteris Katsioulis, £275k (30 Apps, 2 Gls, 7 Asts, 1 MoM, 6.72 Av R) – Really, for a fella with his attributes, he should have gone into double digits scoring. The chances he missed this year was just unfathomable and in the end, I had to bring in Destro to replace him. There's always next season though and he is still only 20.
Stats, all competitions 42 matches played, 69 goals scored (1.6), 56 goals conceded (1.3), 73 yellow cards (1.7), 3 red cards (0.1), 1350 average attendance (6100 max capacity, 1100 seated).
Screenshots galore
Final league table, league table about halfway, league placing graph, final transfer history
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Player of the Season Richard Dunne, Young Player of the Season Marco Verratti, Top scorer Yannis Tafer
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Axel Witsel, Nick McPhee, Lefteris Katsioulis
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Best eleven 2013–14
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Take it to the next level
This offseason, I wanted to trim some excess fat and just get a general upgrade several places in the team. I brought back Jérémy Hélan, who I was previously forced to sell due to my idiotic board accepting a ridiculously low bid.
I'm pleased with the few free transfers I made this summer.
- Koke from Atlético Madrid is a good third-choice defensive midfielder with potential for so much more.
- Javi García will challenge Poldervaart for starting defensive midfielder and can slot into other positions in central midfield and even as the attacking midfielder should that prove necessary.
- Sébastien Squillaci looks to contribute on a basic level, but I'm sure he will be able to contribute throughout the season, even he is nearing the end of his career at age 34.
- Ashley Cole is also nearing the end of his moneygrabbing career but I will definitely be able to look past that if he can provide the experience needed to take the step into the Champions League.
Regarding this season, I will post shorter posts but as I play the season instead of waiting until I have completed an entire season. The posts with an entire season makes a page be a million scrolls long which is sort of bothersome. Also, this will make for more periodic updates, rather than a season recap. Hope this works out for you as well
v. Manchester United 1-2
EUROPA LEAGUE 4TH QUALIFYING ROUND 1ST LEG
@ Académica 2-1
EUROPA LEAGUE 4TH QUALIFYING ROUND 2ND LEG
v. Académica 2-1
@ Chelsea 2-0
An extremely efficient performance sees us run away with all three points from the Bridge against a full-strength Chelsea side. When we narrowly beat them last year, it was cheapened a bit by them fielding a somewhat weaker side, but there was none of that today and we thoroughly deserved the victory and 3 delicious and scrumptious points.
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EVENT: Europa League Draw
Our first year of competing in Europe, it seems it will be trial by fire as we will face 2 very strong sides in CSKA Moscow and Club Brügge as well as Unirea Urziceni, who, whilst not nearly as strong as the other two sides, must not be underestimated. We will need to be very efficient throughout.
@ Wolverhampton 1-2
I don't know how to explain this other than that we just seemed to lack bite. We tackled softly, our passing was uninspired and we lacked any sort of cohesion at the back. As good as the Chelsea performance was, today we were quite poor. We were unlucky to lose, though, conceding a stupid penalty in stoppage time. I mean, really.
v. Stoke 3-1
The most exciting part of this match was on 88 minutes when Verratti was injured, but thankfully it was only a minor one.
EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP B MATCH
@ CSKA Moscow 1-4
Welcome to Europe. Well, the scoreline is a bit generous to the hosts CSKA, as they had just one clear cut chance all game, which was the 4th goal. I have to credit their long shot specialists, they well and truly won the game for them today, the bastards.
@ Arsenal 1-1
We return home to face a strong Arsenal side at the Emirates just 3 days after being pummelled in Moscow. To the lads' credit, they performed admirably, and we were unlucky to lose as Eduardo slotted a ball home in the 84th minute. It seemed on the cards towards the end, however, as we were heavily fatigued. A draw at the Emirates isn't a bad result, however.
LEAGUE CUP 3RD RND
v. Portsmouth 3-0
Katsioulis again shining against lower-level opposition. I do think he has improved and if he just ups his composure a bit against better opposition, there's no saying how good he can still become.
In the next round, we will face Nottingham Forest away. Incidentally, the exact same matchup led to our early exit from the competition last year. Revenge, I think.
@ Everton 1-1
A ridiculous result as we dominated Everton start to finish, even after we went down to 10 men, and in the end they only scored on a rather contentious penalty. Alas, such is football and we'll make sure to finish them off better in the return game in February.
To cap off the month in a bit of a happy note, Marco Verratti took home the Young Player of the Month award.
We've been a bit shaky at the start of this season, but despite it being a cliche that it is a marathon, not a sprint, it holds very true, and there no need to panic. Summer record signing Anton Smeets will be out for probably another month, but should be able to ease himself into the first team come November.
To cap this update off, here are a few screenshots:
League table so far (note game in hand), Europa League group table, Summer window transfer history
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D
Deleted member 79730
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oh my god richard dunne is owning mate, what a player
Yeah he was really great in the first Premier League season. Highest average rating of all players in the Prem that season. That said, it was a bit of a slow year for high av. ratings, so he "won" with 7.33. 8 goals as well, well useful!
His physical attributes have plummeted even further, though, so I doubt he will play as much part this season. Still captain, though
His physical attributes have plummeted even further, though, so I doubt he will play as much part this season. Still captain, though
Europa League Group B Match
v.
We scored 5 goals in this game, not four, our keeper Rafael Santos gifting them a goal by just not bothering to catch a simple ball, the *******. I will be disappointed if we don't get a similar result away from home to be honest, Unirea were just that terrible.
v. Sunderland 1-0
A game marred by numerous injuries, we fight on through to claim 3 vital points to send us up into the right end of the table and still with a game in hand. However, back to the injuries, of which there were a lot. Revitalised centreback Johan Djourou will spend two months on the sideline after fracturing his ribs, whilst DM Ivo Poldervaart and AM C Marco Verratti will both be out for 2 weeks. Thankfully Squillacci is on the way back from injury, and hopefully he can fill in for Djourou at the back. We're also entering an international break, which is actually quite timely due to all these injuries. Fingers crossed no more players return crocked.
v. Birmingham 1-3
Sébastien Squillaci decided to get himself sent off. Birmingham scored **** goals. Result.
Europa League Group B Match
@
@ Manchester City 2-1
We earn a mighty scalp and 3 thoroughly unexpected points at Eastlands. I employed a defensive counter-attacking gameplan, and Yannis Tafer being very effective with his chances was absolutely key today. At the back, Rafael Santos dealt efficiently with everything he was asked to and was faultless for our goal, when Adebayor sprinted past 35-year-old Richard Dunne to slot home a one-on-one chance. We afforded none such other chances to City all afternoon and with that, we record a famous victory for the club and those 3 lovely points.
League Cup 4th Rnd
@ Nottingham Forest 2-0
For the third consecutive away game, a careful, counter-attacking gameplan did the trick, although we relied on two headed goals from the captain to wrap up Forest.
That also wraps up October. It's been a good month, and although the Birmingham loss at home was quite hard to take, two wins in Europe and a fantastic win away to Man City more than alleviates those qualms.
As an added bonus, red-hot striker Yannis Tafer rather oddly won the Goal of the Month competition. Good strike, but a powerful strike in the bottom corner from inside the area better than Steven Gerrard smashing one home from 30 yards? I'll take it and so will Yannis, surely.
Event: Carling Cup Draw
No more than a week after we record a sensational victory at Eastlands, we are pitted against City again at their house in the Carling Cup quarter final. I'm actually chuffed to meet them this early, and although I'd rather have met them at our ground, if we can somehow do a repeat and manage a victory, there is a great chance of silverware, taking into account the rest of the teams in the tournament: Burnley, Liverpool, Stoke, Wigan, Newcastle & Bolton. Liverpool would of course be tricky, but undoubtedly Man City are the toughest team left.
v. West Bromwich 3-1
Europa League Group B Match
v.
We get three points against our closest rivals, which puts us in a great position to qualify from the group stage, but at a great cost. The game was played in heavy rain, and there were a buttload of injuries, which makes it a somewhat bittersweet moment for us.
Axel Witsel, Marco Verratti and Lefteris Katsioulis who had really found his groove this season, will all be out for about a month, which again puts a damper on our chances for advancing further up the table and with games coming thick and fast now when we're in 4 tournaments, we really can't afford to lose any more players.
"This is the time for what? For individual achievement."
@ Middlesbrough 0-1
Thank you ridiculous amount of injuries, we just lost to what is essentially a Championship. A mid-table Championship side. We also lost Javi García for 2 months whilst Poldervaart will be suspended due to being sent off. The ****.
v. Reading 2-0
I called for individual achievement and we got it in the 2nd minute as Howson blasted one in from 25 yards out. Then he went down with a serious injury that will keep him out for 2 months. I am not making this **** up. On a different note, Germán Pacheco just will not score.
@ Sheffield United 3-2
A dysfunctional performance, as I was force to play players wildly out of position. My defence was exposed all day, but thanks to Sheffield being terrible, they didn't score more than two. Well, on two chances. Hélan played attacking midfielder and Mazzotta came on late and sealed it with his first goal of the season, playing as a central midfielder. Cihan Bozkurt had a terrific debut, making the Premier League Team of the Week first time of asking. Anton Smeets, thrust into action today whilst not in great shape yet, looks very capable of causing anyone problems.
v. Burnley 1-1
Still very low on first-team ballers, we slump to a draw at home against Burnley, a match-up we would almost surely win, had we a near-complete side fit. Either way, we are making good strides upwards in the table, but we're still some way behind the two Manchesters.
@ Ipswich 2-2
Despite a first-ever Kettering goal and a Man of the Match performance from Anton Smeets, this was a disappointing afternoon as we concede two goals in the second half to earn just 1 point in a very winnable game, despite still having many key players out with injuries.
We close out a month where I think we've done very well for ourselves, as we have been hit incredibly hard by a mound of injuries. December bids new challenges, with a couple of very tricky features coming up, and as always, we are still missing some key players such as Marco Verratti, Lefteris Katsioulis etc.
As an added bonus, Nick McPhee (ss below) won the November Young Player of the Month award, so congratulations to him.
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UpTheKTown15
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Cannot find players
i have been on to football manager and started a Kettering career and whenever i search for these players on the search bar such as; juanito, bonnes, cano, antoniol, rabah, bandieri. it always says no search results found, how do u get these players?
i have been on to football manager and started a Kettering career and whenever i search for these players on the search bar such as; juanito, bonnes, cano, antoniol, rabah, bandieri. it always says no search results found, how do u get these players?
Might be due to me playing with a bigger database than you. What's your database size?
Poppa_ChesterCityFC
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Still waiting for the next update mate... keep um coming