Football Manager 2005 Diary

[Ricey]

25th May 2005 - Stephen McGlinchie will miss the Play-off final due to being on intyernational duty God knows who I'll play upfront now.

62193[/snapback]

Can't you withdraw him from the squad on the international instructions?

62282[/snapback]

Nope because it's a qualifying game

I'll play the Final tomorrow and post it here tomorrow night, haven't had time tonight.

[Ricey]

29th May 2005 - Championship Play-Off Final

Leicester City vs Sunderland

It's a hot sunny day in Cardiff for the big one.......the chance to win promotion to the top flight of English football. The fans fill the stadium with colour and noise as they await the teams to arrive. It's Leicesters first visit to the Millennium Stadium and the fans seem certain to make it a enjoyable one.

LEICESTER: Walker, Dabizas, Keown, Faber, Rapaic, Nalis, Gudjonsson, Williams, Essediri, Wright, Scowcroft.

SUNDERLAND: Poom, Arca, Breen, Bramble, Williams, Douglas, Delaney, Robinson, Piper, Stewart, Kyle.

Due to the agonising injury Connolly and the international duties of McGlinchie I've been forced to play Tommy Wright, this is his first appearence of the season after being on loan at Peterbrough. Joey Gudjonsson is only 89% fit but he will have to do. I'm playing 3-5-2 hoping to get as much possesion as possible, Sunderland are renowned for keeping possesion and getting plenty shots on goal.

Pre-match - The players come out of the tunnel to a barriage of noise and ticker tape. The national anthem is played and the teams take their places. Leicester vs Sunderland for a place in the Premiership....here we go.....

6 mins - Matt Piper has a chance held by Walker.

15 mins - Piper again has a good chance but Williams deflects it behind.

26 mins - Piper again has a shot saved by Walker, the former City star is running riot here.

31 mins - Douglas now sees a shot go straight into Walkers arms.

40 mins - Scowcroft has a shot from the edge of the area.....but it goes narrowly wide.

45 mins - Stewart wastes a great chance for Sunderland, he scuffed a close rang effort.

46 mins - Delaney shoots straight at Walker from long distance.

HALF TIME - Sunderland are all over us, we are finding it so difficult. We need to attack more but keep them out also.......a very tough task!

47 mins - Tommy Wright gets a shot in on goal but Poom is equal to ut.

52 mins - Delaneys long range shot flies over the bar.

55 mins - Scowcroft is free in the area........he tries to chip the keeper.....but it's just wide. We are playing a lot better football so far

58 mins - Rapaics long range effort is nearly deflected into the goal.

74 mins - After a spell of both sides pressing for the breakthrough but cancelling each other out, Kevin Kyle comes close with a shot inside the area.

77 mins - Wrights powerful shot is saved and held by Poom. Both sides are creating chances but the occasion is getting to them and the finishing has been poor so far. The fans in the stadium are singing their hearts out to urge their side on.

78 mins - Essediri goes on a amazing run from his own half........he goes round player after player.......he crosses the ball in................Wright wins the header...............but it goes just wide! Great play.

79 mins - Piper sees a good shot go just wide.

82 mins - Rapaic chips in a free-kick......Breen stretches for the ball.....but he brings down Essediri in the area!! Penalty to Leicester!!! What a chance with just 8 minutes remaining! Lilian Nalis steps up....the stadium falls silent.....the referee blows his whistle......Nalis runs up.......and strikes the ball with power...........Poom dives to his left..............but the ball crashes into the net!!!! Leicester are ahead!!! 1-0.

85 mins - Canero replaces Nalis and Heath replaces Scowcroft, we change to a 5-4-1 formation.

90 mins - Wright manages to squeeze in a shot but it's saved by Poom. 3 minutes of stoppage time, 3 mins to get us promoted!

FULL TIME - The referee blows his whistle!! Leicester City are back in the Premiership!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEES!! It was so tight but we did it! We are now promoted to the Premier League! We deserved to be there aswell, not only for todays great performance but for the whole seasons efforts. Sunderland did well today and had a lot of possesion but we played very well in the second half and thats what matters. The fans witnessed Martin Keown lift the trophy that signals our return to the top flight, back where we belong.

Ratings

Walker - 9

Dabizas - 9

Faber - 8

Keown - 8

Essediri - 8

Rapaic - 7

Gudjonsson - 8

Williams - 8

Nalis - 9*

Wright - 7

Scowcroft - 8

SUBS:

Canero - 7

Heath - 6

[Anish]

Great stuff Ricey, well done! It was tense just reading that report!

[Ricey]

30th May 2005 - Nikos Dabizas, Gareth Williams and Milan Rapaic are selected in the Championship XI.

30th May 2005 - I win the Championship Manager of the Year for steering Leicester back to the Premiership

[Ricey]

Great stuff Ricey, well done! It was tense just reading that report!

62700[/snapback]

Thanks mate! Releived to say the least.

[Ricey]

END OF SEASON REVIEW

Final Championship League Table

Well what a season! Full of highs and lows, drama and nail bitting. More importantly though we achieved our goal of promotion, granted the hard way, but we did it and next season we will take our place amongst the best clubs in England.

Seasons Player Stats and Figures

Walker - Was solid all through the season and was a vital part of the promotion team.

Faber - A good summer signing, could play in the middle or as a full back and did a good job in both places.

Dabizas - Our best defender this season, made the odd mistake but protected our goal amazingly all season.

Keown - For a 38 year old he didn't half do well, was a rock at the back and a inspirational captain.

Essediri - Along with fellow summer signing Rapaic, Karim was stunning down the wing and a great dribbler as you can see in his stats.

Rapaic - Milan set up an amazing 18 goals this season! His crossing, free kicks, dribbling and speed all caused threats to whoever faced him.

Nalis - Wasn't a regular all the way through the season but he still did well, scored some stunning goals and scored the most important goal of the season.

Gudjonsson - Joey helped protect our back 4 superbly all season, endless energy.

Williams - Simply superb all season, a worthy replacement for Muzzy Izzet.

Scowcroft - 16 goals and 12 assists is very good going, he was superb in the last half of the season. He won Fans Player of the Season also.

Connolly - 17 vital goals. Didn't set the world alight but thats not his job, he is a goalscorer.

Canero - Was in and out of the side all season but did well hen called upon.

Tiatto - Whenever we played full backs he was my first choice for the left side all season, did very well.

Davis - Did well when here for 3 months.

Earnshaw - Breathtaking, without him we probsbly wouldn't of reached the play-offs. The impace he had during his 3 months was stunning, 12 goals in 13 games.

Premiership

Champions - Chelsea

Relegated - Crystal Palace, Charlton and Norwich

Championship

See final table

FA Cup

Winners - Chelsea

Runners up - Newcastle

Carling Cup

Winners - Southampton

Runners up - Bolton

Champions League

Winners - Porto

Runners up - Valencia

UEFA Cup

Winners - Sevilla

Runners up - Arsenal

[Ricey]

New Season - Preview

Transfer Funds: £677,000 Since this was decided we've had £13m for TV money, some people on their games have had more money pumped into transfers....when does this usually happen?

Wage Budget: £150,000 (currently £160,000)

Board Expectations: Battle bravely against relegation

Fans Expectations: Battle bravely against relegation

First 5 Fixtures: Newcastle (A), Southampton (H), Bolton (A), West Brom (H) and Blackburn (A)

Transfer plan:

With high earners such as Elliott, Keown and Dublin leaving it will free up wages to bring in some players. Obviously £677k is not much but hopefully the board will increase that. I need to bring in 3 or 4 quality first team players and another 3 or 4 good back up players. In my opinion we need a goalscorer (Earnshaw? If we can get him), A replacement for Keown and a quality central midfielder a versitile player who can play full back. There are a lot of good players who will be free agents soon so I will look into that further.

Seasons Expectations:

We have a massive task ahead of us to stay in this division, we will need all the effort we have to do so. We don't have a lot of transfer money so a lot of wheeling and dealing will have to be done but I think if we bring in some good players we can make a good go of surviving in this league.

Bring it on.

[shen]

New Season - Preview

Transfer Funds: £677,000 Since this was decided we've had £13m for TV money, some people on their games have had more money pumped into transfers....when does this usually happen?

Wage Budget: £150,000 (currently £160,000)

Board Expectations: Battle bravely against relegation

Fans Expectations: Battle bravely against relegation

First 5 Fixtures: Newcastle (A), Southampton (H), Bolton (A), West Brom (H) and Blackburn (A)

Transfer plan:

With high earners such as Elliott, Keown and Dublin leaving it will free up wages to bring in some players. Obviously £677k is not much but hopefully the board will increase that. I need to bring in 3 or 4 quality first team players and another 3 or 4 good back up players. In my opinion we need a goalscorer (Earnshaw? If we can get him), A replacement for Keown and a quality central midfielder a versitile player who can play full back. There are a lot of good players who will be free agents soon so I will look into that further.

Seasons Expectations:

We have a massive task ahead of us to stay in this division, we will need all the effort we have to do so. We don't have a lot of transfer money so a lot of wheeling and dealing will have to be done but I think if we bring in some good players we can make a good go of surviving in this league.

Bring it on.

62896[/snapback]

excellent diary Ricey... keep it up

about the transfer money, you will get £6-10 mil transfer budget a few weeks after the declared budget, so don't worry...

Did you manager to bring any free signings in during the summer?

[Ricey]

excellent diary Ricey... keep it up

about the transfer money, you will get £6-10 mil transfer budget a few weeks after the declared budget, so don't worry...

Did you manager to bring any free signings in during the summer?

62899[/snapback]

I'm only at 4th July, I'll inform you of any signings I make as I make them

Good to hear about the transfer money! Cheers.

[Ricey]

28th June 2005 - We will take a tour of Italy during our Pre season friendlies, there we will face Cheivo, giants AC Milan and Regginia. We will also play Huddersfield (A) and face a glamour game at the Walkers Stadium against Argentinan Boca Juniors.

1st July 2005 - Dion Dublin, Martin Keown, Kevin Pressman, Chris Makin, Matt Elliott, Trevor Benjamin, Jason Wilcox, Conrad Logan and Keith Gillespie all fail to secure a new contract and are released from the club.

1st July 2005 - Jonaton Johansson signs on a free from Charlton, he puts pen to paper on a 2 year deal. I didn't want a repeat of the end of last season so I've looked to bring in cover upfront, Johansson will be graet cover with his pace and finishing. He will no doubt get a fair few games this season.

[syston_fox]

New Season - Preview

Transfer Funds: £677,000 Since this was decided we've had £13m for TV money, some people on their games have had more money pumped into transfers....when does this usually happen?

Wage Budget: £150,000 (currently £160,000)

Board Expectations: Battle bravely against relegation

Fans Expectations: Battle bravely against relegation

First 5 Fixtures: Newcastle (A), Southampton (H), Bolton (A), West Brom (H) and Blackburn (A)

Transfer plan:

With high earners such as Elliott, Keown and Dublin leaving it will free up wages to bring in some players. Obviously £677k is not much but hopefully the board will increase that. I need to bring in 3 or 4 quality first team players and another 3 or 4 good back up players. In my opinion we need a goalscorer (Earnshaw? If we can get him), A replacement for Keown and a quality central midfielder a versitile player who can play full back. There are a lot of good players who will be free agents soon so I will look into that further.

Seasons Expectations:

We have a massive task ahead of us to stay in this division, we will need all the effort we have to do so. We don't have a lot of transfer money so a lot of wheeling and dealing will have to be done but I think if we bring in some good players we can make a good go of surviving in this league.

Bring it on.

62896[/snapback]

excellent diary Ricey... keep it up

about the transfer money, you will get £6-10 mil transfer budget a few weeks after the declared budget, so don't worry...

Did you manager to bring any free signings in during the summer?

62899[/snapback]

doesnt always happen. I didnt get any money at all from the board and have had to go through the first two seasons with out recieving anymore money except what i had at the start. All ive done is sold Canero for £1million and bought a few players in on frees...god knows how im 10th in the premiership! If you want a good striker then give Aliadiere from arsenal a go. He scored 10 goals in 12 games when i took him on loan. Sadly couldnt afford to buy him though!

[Scow]

1st July 2005 - Jonaton Johansson signs on a free from Charlton, he puts pen to paper on a 2 year deal. I didn't want a repeat of the end of last season so I've looked to bring in cover upfront, Johansson will be graet cover with his pace and finishing. He will no doubt get a fair few games this season.

62931[/snapback]

I had purchased Johansson when I got promoted too, but he was poor for me. I had also purchased Ventola in the summer, who did a great job for me upfront with Scowcroft. When Johansson got his chance due to an injury to one of the strikers, he would only get a rating of 5/6.

[shen]

1st July 2005 - Jonaton Johansson signs on a free from Charlton, he puts pen to paper on a 2 year deal. I didn't want a repeat of the end of last season so I've looked to bring in cover upfront, Johansson will be graet cover with his pace and finishing. He will no doubt get a fair few games this season.

62931[/snapback]

I had purchased Johansson when I got promoted too, but he was poor for me. I had also purchased Ventola in the summer, who did a great job for me upfront with Scowcroft. When Johansson got his chance due to an injury to one of the strikers, he would only get a rating of 5/6.

63006[/snapback]

Johansson and Ventola are both kinda average... I played Crystal Palace, and he was terribly average, not very reliable. I contemplated signing Johansson too after promotion, but found Quincy Abeyie a better gamble. Granted he misses a lot of chances due to his low finish rating, but he's so fast and can dribble any defender in the league, and he was essential in my survival season. If you have striker problems Ricey, check out Frode Johnsen from Rosenborg... his contract should end in december 2005 meaning you can get him in the january transfer window

[Ricey]

8th July 2005 - 17 year old Matt Harrison signs for £90,000 from Leyton Orient. He can play as a center back, a right back, in the center of midfield or on the right and he has 20 stats for passing and flair.

24th July 2005 - Kem Izzet signs from Colchester for £80,000, the brother of legendary Muzzy he will add depth to the midfield and certainly has ability.

26th July 2005 - Mathieu Flamini joins on loan from Arsenal for the rest of the season. He is a player with great passing, creativity, pace, long shots and tackling so I'm sure he will do very well in our midfield. We now have Williams, Gudjonsson, Flamini, Izzet and Nalis as our main central midfielders with Grant, Harrison and Dawson as good young backups.

26th July 2005 - Pre-season friendly

AC Milan 2-1 Leicester City

I gave most of the squad a run out at the San Siro against AC Milan and we so nearly beat the giants. Gareth Williams scored in the first half but 2 late Milan goals won them the game.

[Scarby]

Kem is worth 975,000 now good bit of business!! his Pace lets him down!

Ricey do you have database on large?

[Ricey]

Kem is worth 975,000 now good bit of business!! his Pace lets him down!

Ricey do you have database on large?

63058[/snapback]

I have it on the largerst it can go.

[Ricey]

29th July 2005 - Pre-season Friendly

Reggina 0-2 Leicester City

Jonaton Johansson and Lilian Nalis got our goals.

1st August 2005 - The board raise the seasons transfer budget to £8.25m Let's get cracking then.....

[Ricey]

2nd August 2005 - Pre-season Friendly

Huddersfield Town 1-0 Leicester City

6th August 2005 - Middlesbroughs central defender Nicola Legrottaglie signs on a 2 year deal, the signing costs us £2.4m which was his minimum fee release cause. I'm suprised he decided to come to us, he was a regular at Boro last season and did very well, a player of immense quality.

6th August 2005 - Pre-season Friendly

Leicester City 1-0 Boca Juniors

Nicola Legrottaglie with the only goal.

12th August 2005 - A mystery player agrees to sign for the club and the deal will go through on the 1st of September. All I'm gonna say is he is a foreign legend, stay tuned...

13th August 2005 - Premiership

Newcastle United 5-0 Leicester City

It was a miserable return to the Premiership for us and after all the excitement of being back in the big time this comes as a relaity check. We held out and did very well for the first 40 mins but after Kluivert scored the flood gates opened and it ended in a thrashing. Johansson, Legrottaglie and Flamini all started and Izzet came on in the second half to make his debut.

[MON]

2nd August 2005 - Pre-season Friendly

Huddersfield Town 1-0 Leicester City

6th August 2005 - Middlesbroughs central defender Nicola Legrottaglie signs on a 2 year deal, the signing costs us £2.4m which was his minimum fee release cause. I'm suprised he decided to come to us, he was a regular at Boro last season and did very well, a player of immense quality.

6th August 2005 - Pre-season Friendly

Leicester City 1-0 Boca Juniors

Nicola Legrottaglie with the only goal.

12th August 2005 - A mystery player agrees to sign for the club and the deal will go through on the 1st of September. All I'm gonna say is he is a foreign legend, stay tuned...

13th August 2005 - Premiership

Newcastle United 5-0 Leicester City

It was a miserable return to the Premiership for us and after all the excitement of being back in the big time this comes as a relaity check. We held out and did very well for the first 40 mins but after Kluivert scored the flood gates opened and it ended in a thrashing. Johansson, Legrottaglie and Flamini all started and Izzet came on in the second half to make his debut.

63488[/snapback]

who's the mystery signing? I can't wait that long.

[Ricey]

who's the mystery signing? I can't wait that long.

63489[/snapback]

Tough! You''ll have to.

I was just thinking, maybe the deal won't go through because the transfer dealine will of passed by then

[Anish]

Not a great start to life in the Prem! By the way, I notice your new boy Nicola Legrottaglie is on £24,000 a week - a bit OTT don't you think? In my game I got Milan Baros, Emmanuel Olisadebe and Figo on lower wages than that.

[Ricey]

Not a great start to life in the Prem! By the way, I notice your new boy Nicola Legrottaglie is on £24,000 a week - a bit OTT don't you think? In my game I got Milan Baros, Emmanuel Olisadebe and Figo on lower wages than that.

63495[/snapback]

I don't think it's OTT, he is a quality player and the board have increased my wage budget so I have the resources.

[shen]

Not a great start to life in the Prem! By the way, I notice your new boy Nicola Legrottaglie is on £24,000 a week - a bit OTT don't you think? In my game I got Milan Baros, Emmanuel Olisadebe and Figo on lower wages than that.

63495[/snapback]

It solely depends on the available budget, reputation and how desperate a player is to get to the club... If you approach Crespo with Leicester, he'll ask about 30-35k ... if you approach him with Arsenal, he'll try and get 55k+...

[shen]

who's the mystery signing? I can't wait that long.

63489[/snapback]

Tough! You''ll have to.

I was just thinking, maybe the deal won't go through because the transfer dealine will of passed by then

63493[/snapback]

and you're spot on... the deal probably won't go through...besides, does he have/need a WP? And I'm guessing it's either Romario, Veron or Djorkaeff

[Ricey]

who's the mystery signing? I can't wait that long.

63489[/snapback]

Tough! You''ll have to.

I was just thinking, maybe the deal won't go through because the transfer dealine will of passed by then

63493[/snapback]

and you're spot on... the deal probably won't go through...besides, does he have/need a WP? And I'm guessing it's either Romario, Veron or Djorkaeff

63518[/snapback]

He has been granted a work permit already and a contract has been agreed, do you still think it won't go through?

If not I might bring in Earnshaw instead.