A Toffee Dream - Everton vs Newcastle United (Game week 5) [A CM2006 Story]

[m_vaughan]

Like I said before the game, I would be satisfied to come back from Ewood park with a point. Their strong defence once again doing the job, and doing it well. Beattie's form and now the injury is a concern for Everton though. McFadden doing well on the left flank could probably still prevent his exit from Goodison Park.

My two picks before the game, Arteta and Bellamy were the ones who had the chances to score, or had their shots on target.

Good start imo.

 

[Bala]

The stats with Martin Tyler

To an outsider...this scoreline would have suggested a boring game. But I would say not exactly. Though there were very few shots goalward, the battle for the midfield dominance was defenitely worth watching. Though I wouldn't rate this game anywhere near the top of the ones played tonight.

Let's take a look at the stats.

Blackburn had 3 shots on goal and one really good one that. Everton would have to thank Yobo for clearing that off the line. Everton were way better with their crosses, but Blackburn's hard tackling give them the upper hand in tackles and yellow cards.

Both team stats look a bit similar... two quite evenly matched teams.

Now for the players...

For Blackburn Lucas Neill, Gresko and Mokoena tackled and tackled hard. They earned their 8 match rating very fairly. Also they received a yellow card each for their tough tackles. All the others had a fair game as well. Friedel was not troubled at all by the Toffeemen.

Joseph Yobo
Match Rating 8.0
Man of the Match
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For Everton, Yobo was outstanding and clearly deserved the Man of the Match award. Cahill was impressive at times doubling up as a striker. Everton clearly was not dominant upfront and the youngster Vaughan was absolutely torrid. Balaji needs to get some good strikers in quick.

I did predict a similar result, but atleast expected a goal each. Everton have showed their intent to fight and they were good in the crosses, but at times were physically over powered by the marauding Rovers.


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[Bala]

Post match talk with Andy Gray

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After the match, SKY Sports' Andy Gray caught up with me for a post match chat.

AG: Well congratulations Balaji, pretty decent game up first.

RB: yeah Andy! The boys really did their best today. So unfortunate that we couldn't gun in a goal.

AG: Blackburn were slightly better today.

RB: In the tackles and shots front, yes. But I can easily say we had a better passing and crossing game. Especially our 4 man midfield was brilliant today.

AG: How do you feel to be here?

RB: Bloody brilliant! Its a dream come true for me. I have never in my wildest of imaginations had thought of managing the Everton side.

AG: What about the rift with the LMA?

RB: I am taking overtime coaching now. Will get my badges soon enough.

AG: Getting back to the game, dont you think James Vaughan struggled upfront?

RB: I would never really blame Jamie. He has not had exposure at the highest level. I know and he knows that he can score goals. its only a phase after which we can guarentee goals from him.

AG: the injury scare to Beattie?

RB: Nothing complicated. Just a tweak. He would be ready for the next game.

AG: More signings to follow, i take?

RB: yes! Maniche and Daniel Carvalho will link up with the squad on Wednesday and we still have a couple of weeks to get in a striker.

AG: An unbeaten start to your career...

RB: Would love that to continue.

AG: Congratulations Balaji.

RB: Thanks Andy.

Once I finished with that, I headed into the dressing room and met the boys.

"That was a decent game boys. We were pretty competitive today. I know we could have scored atleast once, but hey we never let them score as well. You can take tomorrow off. We hit the turf 7.00 on Monday."

We then got back to Liverpool that night and I started to scour for a striker. Andy, Dan, Rich and Jim stayed along and we had a real long discussion on the strikers.

 

[m_vaughan]

Good to see that Beattie's injury is nothing serious.

 

[Bala]

Unveiling the midfield maestros.

18.08.2005

I have started well as manager with 2 unbeaten games first-up. Next on the fixtures was the first home match of the season where we host West Brom. That match could be a bit easy compared to the first 2.

Meanwhile, we unveiled our double coup from Russian Premier League - Maniche & Daniel Carvalho.

Maniche
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Maniche spoke to the press after he was unveiled amidst much cheering from the fans.

"Seu grande estar aqui. Eu apreciei meu jogo ? extens?o do maximun em Porto. Mas eu senti que eu faltava algo em minhas ?pocas em R?ssia. Quando eu me ouvi que Everton est?ve interessado, eu tive somente um lugar a ir que est? aqui"

Translated...

"Its great to be here. I have enjoyed my game to the maximun extent at Porto. But I felt that I was missing something in my times at Russia. When I heard that Everton were interested, I had only one place to go - thats here"

Daniel Carvalho
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Daniel Carvalho was an unproven talent at the highest stage and I knew he was one of my best signings as I have my bets on this lad to take us places.

On introducing the soft spoken Carvalho,

"I am absolutely delighted to get Daniel wear an Everton jersey and play here at Goodison. Daniel is one of the most precocious talents waiting to explode big time in the world stage. I am sure his stock will raise to unimaginable levels the same time next year. I really am backing Daniel to show the might of his left boot in the EPL."

Carvalho shared my optimism as he addressed the press

"Eu sou grato ao gerente e aos ventiladores de Everton que expressaram a f? em mim. Seu uma mudan?a bem-vinda do tempo russian frio aqui. Eu falei ao silva de Anderson e Vampeta sobre Everton e mim ouviu coisas realmente boas sobre o clube. Assim yeah, eu estou aqui e am que olha para servir por muito tempo ao clube"

Translated...

"I am grateful to the manager and fans of Everton who have expressed faith in me. Its a welcome change from the cold Russian weather here. I spoke to Anderson Silva and Vampeta about Everton and I heard really good things about the club. So yeah, I am here and am looking to serve the club for a long time."

I still have a potential headache - a Striker!

 

[m_vaughan]

Good to see the two being unveiled finally.

 

[Bala]

A "Straight Forward" problem

19.08.2005

We still have 11 days before the transfer window closes till January. We have to bring in atleast 2 strikers as we just have James Beattie as the experienced striker and two understudies in James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe.

I had already instruced Jim Little to compile notes on potential strikers from the Championship teams. Myself, Alan, Rich, Marek, David were involved in a huge discussion on strikers from this morning.

Vagner Love
CSKA Moscow
Valued at 2.8 Million
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I had suggested CSKA Moscow's promising Brazilian striker Vagner Love as I had heard good things about him from our signings from the RPL - Maniche and Daniel Carvalho.

Julio Cruz
Internazionale
Valued at 3.5 Million
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Richard Summerfield had filed his reports after his survey of the Serie A. His reckonings were on Internazionale's Julio Cruz and Fiorentina's goal machine - Luca Toni.

Luca Toni
Fiorentina
Valued at 8 - 9 Million
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I was very sceptical on Luca Toni as I felt Viola might hold us at ransom for a transfer and also Italian players are generally reluctant to leave their country.

Miroslav Klose
Werder Bremen
Valued at 6 - 9 Million
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Marek Jowcziak was keen on us getting Werder Bremen's Miroslav Klose. I was not too confident of the deal coming through as the player was valued anywhere between 6 - 9 Million pounds.

Lucas Podolsky
FC Cologne
Valued at 5.5 Million

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Alan and David were intent on a close look in at Cologne's rising star Lucas Podolsky. This was one transfer I would really be interested in.

After the long debate, we decided to pursue after Podolsky, Julio Cruz and Vagner Love.

I called up CSKA Moscow and after exchanging pleasentaries with their director I placed a bid of 2.6 Million for Vagner Love.

Sir Phil Carter meanwhile contacted Inter and discussed the possibility of a transfer for Julio Cruz for around 3 Million pounds.

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Later we called Koln and enquired about Lucas Podolsky. It was revealed that the player had a buy out clause at 5.5 Million and Koln were not budging for anything less than that. We had to think more into this.

After all these were over, I called up Jim who was away at St. Mary's to attend the match between Southampton and Coventry. Jim said his report would be on my table first thing in the morning.

This done with I stepped out of my office and attended the session with Dr. Sandy Gordon along with the guys.

I need a bit of stress relieving as well.

 

[m_vaughan]

Podolski for ?5.5 million sounds pretty good. In FM, I had a chance of signing Andriy Voronin for ?5 million, but couldnt offer a good enough basic salary to land him. You might also want to consider Hertha's Nando Rafael. He is a class act (in FM atleast).

 

[Bala]

Week 2 Fixtures

20.08.2005 (Saturday)

Bolton Wanderers vs Middlesborough
The Reebok Stadium

Charlton Athletic vs Arsenal
The Valley

Chelsea vs Manchester City
Stamford Bridge

Fulham vs Aston Villa
Craven Cottage

Liverpool vs Birmingham
Anfield

Manchester United vs Blackburn Rovers
Old Trafford

Newcastle United vs Tottenham Hotspurs
St. James Park

Sunderland vs Wigan Athletic
Stadium of Light

21.08.2005 (Sunday)
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Portsmouth vs Westham United
Fratton Park

22.08.2005 (Monday)

Everton vs West Bromwich Albion
Goodison Park

Well I guess we have the easiest of the ties this week. We have to make sure that we win this one. I am certain to make some change in the formation for this game. I have certain ideas in my mind and the practice today was focussed on exactly that. Lets see how this unfurls...
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[m_vaughan]

Yup should be easy work for Everton, who will be playing at home as well. My pick of the gameweek is the match between Spurs and the Magpies. Should be a cracker!

 

[shravi]

I think you should sign Lukas Podolski. He deosn't cost you that much and he assures you more goals than your other strikers. If you get him I feel you should play him up front as the lone striker with two attaking midfielders/playmakers passing/crossing the ball from either side which could result in many goals.

 

[Bala]

EPL Match Day 2
Preview with Andy Gray

We have a cracker of footballing weekend ahead as we are set to witness some briiliant football.

Bolton host Middlesborough in what I expect to be one of the tensest matches around. Boro will still be smarting after the drubbing handed over last week by Fulham. Though the teams are evenly matched, I expect Bolton to pip Boro, I would say 1 - 0.

15th place Charlton host 3rd placed Arsenal. I would expect Arsenal to walk away with this one 2 - 0.

Manchester City makes a stern trip to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea would certainly be stronger and I expect them winning 3 - 1.

Table toppers Fulham host Aston Villa. The Villans would certainly be looking forward to keep their winning streak and so would be Fulham. This could be an exciting draw 2 - 2.

Liverpool host Birmingham. Birmingham have won at Anfield and this could be a cracker. But Liverpool under Benitez has shown a lot of grit and I would call them the slight favorites. 1 - 0 to Liverpool.

Blackburn Rovers would not be relishing a trip to Old Trafford after a scratchy goalless draw against Everton. The Red Devils are the overwhelming favorites here and I would rank them the winners 3 - 0.

And this according to me is the match of the weekend. 4th place newcastle host 7th place Spurs. This should go to the wire and I would call it a 1 - 1 draw.

Sunderland host Wigan. The Black Cats would love to take points of fellow promoted Wigan after a plucky draw last week against City. I would call a 2 - 1 win to Sunderland.

Portsmouth host Westham and I predict the Hammers surviving this trip 0 - 0.

And the last match of the week, Everton host West Brom. Everton have been playing better these days but their crossing and shots on target ratio has been very poor. though they have enough quality in their squad to hand out a thrashing. 3 - 0 to the Toffees.

 

[m_vaughan]

Liverpool to destroy Brum 5-0

 

[Bala]

The mind games....

Mind games have absolutely become the most important factor in football these days. Managers try to get beneath the skin of their counterparts in a calculated attempt to sabotage the plans and their confidence.

Well I already was at the receiving end of one from Celtic's big boss and he fell flat on his face. Now it was the turn of my opposite number for the weekend - Bryan Robson.

Oh well! Robbo was clearly trying to unsettle me. Katie buzzed in and asked me to check the Sky Sports website.

Bryan Robson, Manager - West Bromwich Albion

"Well we are quite confident that we can pull this one out. Everton are under a transitional phase with a new manager, new players and new techniques. Their run in to this game is also not that impressive. Take their last 5 games. They have scored just a solitary goal. We would most certainly like to cash in on their goal drought!

They have brought in a couple of players, who I feel are going to be thrust directly into the match. I would say that would cause a lot of mis-understanding in the team. All the more reason for us to feel confident, I should say."

Just then my brilliant secretary Katie called me and informed me that she had managed to get in the SKY guys for a phone interview. That lass is a brick, I say.

So I had to give one of my heroes his deserved load of s_hit eh? Oh well...

"I know Robbo for a long time now. I admired his game when I was a kid. He was a great player. But I seriously do not believe that he is doing a great job in a suit. Nope. Call me naive but few of his decisions have left people even like me scratching my head.

I have not been a part of this game where you wear your hearts out on your sleeve. I was a business man prior to this job and I know all about mind games. Hell we grow up in that dung pile. So I dont care a penny what others have to say about me.

I would ask Robbo to watch out. His team are going to be up against some dazzlingly brilliant players. If I were him I would have shut my mouth and got back to the drawing board in the locker room."

I know that sort of remarks are just uncalled for, but hey I was known as "The Ripper" for nothing in my job.

 

[Bala]

EPL Week 2
Everton vs West Bromwich Albion
Goodison Park
22.08.2005


A crowd of 34,000 had turned out in Goodison for the first day of home turf action. It was perfect for playing a good game of football. A slight drizzle had started.

I had ditched the so far used 4 - 4 - 2 formation for a 4 - 4 - 1 - 1 formation. Daniel Carvalho will be making his home debut as an attacking midfielder. Maniche will take over the right winger role that was splendidly done by Vampeta in the last few matches.

Cahill and Arteta will man the centre and Kilbane gets another chance in the left wing.

Vaughan and Vampeta were left on the bench.

West Brom had gone for a 4 - 4 - 2 diamond. I knew we have enough fire power to get the goal that matters.

So wishing the team good luck I took my place in the sidelines as the match kicked off!
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