The Rank Outsider


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A tough away draw against Premier League opposition in the FA Cup fourth round.

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Sad news as Darron Gibson suffers another setback on his return from injury and it looks as though his days could now be numbered. :(

Arsenal - Home

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What a result!! A really entertaining game for the neutrals as we come from behind and secure victory. A poor back pass from Michael Bradley set Lukaku through on goal with just 17 minutes gone and he made no mistake giving us an early lead. It was then John Stones turn to make an error as he lost possession on the edge of his own 18 yard box and Giroud capitalized. 1-1. The next goal wasn't scored until just after the hour mark when Stones conceded a penalty and it was Cazorla's turn to convert. 2-1 Arsenal. Just minutes later Ross Barkley brought us back into the game with a lovely strike from outside the box. 2-2. With just two minutes of the 90 left Kevin Mirallas made his way into the box and was tripped as he went to release a cross. PENALTY!!! Given. Leighton Baines on his return to first team action stepped up and smashed the ball into the top left corner. What a moment for him. A wonderful result and one I will savour for a long time!

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Newcastle - Away

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Another pleasing victory as we leave St. James Park with a 1-0 victory. Mirallas continued his fine run of form and gave us the lead after just three minutes and we easily could have been two or three goals up in the first half if it wasn't for the excellence of Tim Krul. Newcastle provided a bit more of a threat in the second half but never really troubled us. We really are in a fine run of form.

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Tell me about it :S His contract runs out at the end of the season and I wouldn't be surprised to see him hang up his boots. A real shame.
 

West Brom - Away

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We march on in the cup! A superb performance seen us dominate the game from start to finish. John Stones opened the scoring with a lovely timed header from a corner. Mirallas doubled our lead just 8 minutes later with a nice finish. We controlled the game from then on but did concede with five minutes to go due to a lapse in concentration.

January Results

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A faultless month. Three victories in the league and two in the FA Cup see our brilliant run of form continue.

League Table

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Here are the standings as we enter the month of February, five points behind City who have also been in superb form.

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February Fixtures

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Four games to be played this month. Two winnable home games, a tough away game at Chelsea and an unknown opponent in the cup.

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We draw more premier league opposition in the FA Cup, with a home tie against Norwich that I expect us to win.

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Another quiet transfer window as our only incoming transfer is Geronimo Rulli who will join us at the end of the season. Arsenal of all teams were the biggest spenders with a total of £33.5m. Man United did make a late bid for James McCarthy but I have no intention of letting anyone leave at the moment.

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Aston Villa - Home

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Leighton Baines delivered a fantastic performance to ensure I had a very happy birthday! Baines finished the game with two goals and an assist, the best goal of the game was his free kick on 83 minutes. Again we had a lapse of concentration towards the end and allowed Agbonlahor to score. A good start to the month, next up is Chelsea away.

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A bit of a Goalkeeper merry-go-round as Tim Howard leaves us to return back to the USA and we bring in Victor Valdes to potentially become our first choice goalkeeper for the remainder of the season.

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Chelsea - Away

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What a result. I will hold my hands up and admit I got my tactics wrong at the start of this game, I intended to defend deep and counter attack quickly but after Diego Costa opened the scoring in the 10th minute I decided to be a bit more adventurous and pressure Chelsea high up the pitch and it worked brilliantly! Deulofeu bagged two goals to secure us the three points and his first goal was a thing of beauty, the ball deflected out to him on the edge of the box and he slammed a thunderous volley into the back of the net! His winning goal wasn't quite as glamorous, a tap in at the back post but they all count. Get in there!!!

And to make things that bit sweeter...

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It looks as though Mr. Abramovich has finally had enough of Jose and has sent him packing.

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Leicester - Home

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A really nice victory today. Leighton Baines got us off to a flyer scoring a lovely free kick with just six minutes gone. Lukaku then added to his goal tally for the season with two good finishes. Jamie Vardy, the man of the moment got himself a red card on 66 minutes for a horrendous challenge!

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Our run of good form is overshadowed by Man City!

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Norwich - Home

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Norwich didn't know what hit them today. James McCarthy scored the pick of the goals on 28 minutes with an absolute thunderbolt from just outside the box. Goals from Deulofeu, Lukaku and an O.G rounded off the scoring. We march on!

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One of the toughest draw we could of got as we face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. We have beat them there already this season so anything could happen!

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To make matters worse Lukaku is now set to miss between 3-4 weeks with a muscle injury, our only other recognised striker is Arouna Kone who has been in poor form.

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Leighton Baines received the Player of the Month award for his fantastic performances of late.

February Results

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A really pleasing month as we win all of our games, the highlight being the away victory at Chelsea.

League Table

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We have been in fantastic form and find ourselves just 8 points off the unstoppable Manchester City and a massive 17 points ahead of fifth place Manchester United. Top 4 is within our grasp.

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March Fixtures

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March has the potential to be a very difficult month, a home tie against bottom of the table Watford should be straight forward but the four away games afterwards concern me.

Watford - Home

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Not as straight forward as I had hoped. We are nowhere near as prolific without Lukaku in the side and it showed. Baines continued his fantastic form with a converted penalty kick and Arouna Kone managed to bag a goal before Jagielka presented Troy Deeney with a gift. We held out and secured the three points.

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Another injury to one of our key players as Kevin Mirallas pulled up short in training and appears to be suffering with a Hernia and will miss between 4-5 weeks.

Stoke - Away

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The Britannia is always a difficult place to go and today was no different. Mame Diouf opened the scoring with a close range header after just 9 minutes and although we played fairly well we really struggled to break Stoke down until the 92nd minute when Deulofeu picked the ball up on the left wing before cutting inside and unleashing an absolute pearler into the top corner. We rescue a point.

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Liverpool - Away

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Liverpool really brought us back down to earth today after our cup heroics. Liverpool opened the scoring on 16 minutes when Sakho jumped highest and planted a header into our net. We did pull a goal back through Seamus Coleman but youngster Iver Fossum was allowed too much space on the edge of the box and he rifled a shot into the bottom corner. I hope this result doesn't knock us off our stride.

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Southampton - Away

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I have no idea how we won this game. Southampton dominated from start to finish but an own goal from Van Dijk and a wonder strike from Lukaku on his return from injury was enough to secure a big three points. We really needed this after the disappointment of losing the derby.

March Results

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A mixed bag of results in the league but the away victory against Chelsea that puts us in the semi final of the FA Cup was massive. Disappointed to taste defeat in the derby but to bounce back like we did against Southampton shows the character we have in this team.

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This is how the league table looks with just 8 games remaining.

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The games are coming thick and fast at this stage of the season. Six games in the league this month and an FA Cup final to contend with, this could be make or break.

Tottenham - Home

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Tottenham are a really good side and nothing could split the teams today. A goal each from both teams star striker was all this game produced. Hopefully we get a better result when we meet them later in the month for the FA Cup semi final.

Man City - Home

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City were far too strong for us today. Former Liverpool man Raheem Sterling scored the only goal of the game and although Kompany received the man of the match award we never really troubled their defence, this result all but secures them the Premier League title.

Sunderland - Away

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We couldn't afford to drop any more points so I was really pleased to return to winning ways against Sunderland. Leighton Baines was the hero as our set piece specialist scored a penalty and another wonderful free kick. He has been fantastic since his return from injury and has often been the difference.

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Arouna Kone looks set to leave at the end of the season as he no longer qualifies for a permit to work meaning we will need to enter the market for a new striker.

West Brom - Home

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We dominated the game today against a poor West Brom side but only scored one goal to show for our dominance. Lukaku scored the winner on 16 minutes against the team where he spent a season on loan before joining Everton.

And with that result...

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We have secured our place in the Champions League next season!!! A fantastic effort from the lads and I couldn't be happier. :D

Something that caught my eye...

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Bayer Leverkusen have ran away with the league in Germany and the Bayern Munich dominance could be over!

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just finish reading your story man ! Fantastic effort ! Nice to see Mirallas doing well for you since he is one my favorite players !
 
kolas79 said:
just finish reading your story man ! Fantastic effort ! Nice to see Mirallas doing well for you since he is one my favorite players !
Click to expand...

Thanks mate I appreciate it! Mirallas has been fantastic :) looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Champions League.
 
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