Please be aware that this post is very long
GAME DATE: APRIL 9th 2005
Planetcricket have announced the signing of 6 new coaches.
Bill Chetwyn, Ray Clemence, Simon Thandani, Dennis Rofe, David Williams and John Dungworth have all signed contracts which will keep them at the PC Dome untill June 2009.
Rodrigo Lasmar, Angelo Anteucci and Gianpiero Ventrome were also in contract talks with the league 1 side, but an agreement could not be reached for all 3 coaches.
New Australian manager 'Mr Radaga' has been described as tough but fair. He had this to say in a press conference last evening:
Who will line-up for the first few matches?
"I believe that anyone in the squad has the chance to play first team football. We have set-up a couple of inter-club practice matches just to get a good look at how the boys perform on the pitch. This will impact heavily on my selections for the rest of the friendly matches comming up against Cambridge and the Crusaders."
Will you stick with the same guys every match?
"Well friendly matches are just to get the team used to how i want them to play and build their fitness up. There will be a few guys who will find themselves in the 1st team quite often, but the team is sure to change before our first league match."
What are you looking for in selection?
"Anyone who performs well will get a shot in the first team. If someone plays poor in the first team, a good game in the reserves should see them put up straight away. I also love to see pace and running with the ball. People who can break open the defence, i like to play attacking."
You have been rumored as being quite tough on players, what is your thought on this?
(Laughs) "I'm not quite sure where these rumors have come from. I would say i am a bit tough but mostly fair. If a player plays bad or does something wrong i will let them know the truth, but the same goes if they do something well they will be congratulated. Bad behaviour is not accepted at all and i am not afraid to issue fines."
You were charged for assault last year after punching a fan in the face.
"i'm a busy man, i think that'll do for the interview............."
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The teams for the practice matches were not done in any particular way, i just placed people in the positions left over that they were best suited for.
Just to tell them apart they will be called Team A and Team B, but that doesn't mean the players from B team are any less likely to make the first team. i also used the exact same formations for both teams, a custom 4-5-1. I also decided to pick 2 keepers for each team and play them 45 mins each.
Starting Line-ups for the First Match: (Team A Captain- Jack Teague, Team B Captain- Gold 639)
The first match was easily dominated by Team A. The football was beautiful to watch. Players streaming forward at every opportunity and were it not for some inaccurate kicking there was bound to be more goals.
Steve O, Jack Teague and Shaun Briggs were all outstanding. All 3 players created havoc, running rings around the B Team's defence.
Abhas Gupta was the only positive to come out of the B team's defence, he seemed to win everything in the air and made some great last ditch efforts.
Gold 639 also put on a brave face, making solid runs and comming deep to get the ball. He had a great opportunity to score but the shot was brilliantly saved by Ramesh Balaji.
The first goal of the match was started with a great run down the left flank by Steve O. He ran all the way down and found Andrew Symonds on the inside, who then found Hassan Tahir in some space. Rhys Lowether had no option but to come out of goals but was beaten by a good lob from Hassan.
The 2nd goal was a brilliant individual effort by Jack Teague. With the defeners closing in fast he blasted one from 30 yards out and somehow found the top corner of the goal, it was a great goal.
This was all before half time. The 2nd half was much of the same, the A team dominating. Some good keeping by Chesney Lewis (who was subbed in at half time) kept the scorline to 2-0 by the end. Man of the match went to Steve O.
Match Stats:
A Team Player Stats:
B Team Player Stats:
(I was stupid enough to forget to get a screenshot of the scorline!!!
)
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For the 2nd match the teams were changed slightly to try and get a more even result.
Starting Line-Ups For 2nd Match: (Team A Captain- Jack Teague, Team B Captain- Rhys Williams)
Ramesh Balaji was rested for this game. I had already seen enough of him to select him as my first choice keeper. The other 3 were battling it out for back-up, first choice reserve and back-up reserve.
This match started off a lot closer than the first. A lot of players were still tired from their first match and this match was a lot slower paced. The B team were the first to get forward. Shaun Briggs' move over started nicely, he set up Bilal Tahir in front of goal, but Bilal messed up the shot and it sailed over the bar.
For most of the first half it was evenly contested. No team had a lot of the ball and there weren't any dangerous shots.
Towards the end of the first 45mins that changed. Gold 639 found himself with the ball 25 yards out. Hassan Tahir was in miles of space, but Gold shot a beautiful long range, curling shot into the back of the net. A team was 1-0 up heading into the break.
The 2nd half was a disaster for the B team.
Nick Pringle somehow managed to pass the ball into his own net. 2-0 to the A team. This must have been a morale sapper because the A team started to dominate the game. A great through ball from Tim Macdonald set-up Hassan Tahir for a goal.
the A team continued to press and a mistake at the back by Frank Skinner let Cameron White practically run it in for a goal.
A Team won 4-0. Man of the match was Steve O once again!
Match Stats
A Team Stats
B Team Stats
Again i forgot the scoreline!!!, lol
Hopefully next time i remember it!
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The decision for the teams was quite hard. Some of the ratins didn't reflect the performance that the players put in. There were a few players who picked themselves, but the rest was very hard to choose. Positions that the players could play were a major factor. I am planning on having 12 player per side with 2 keepers and youth squad players will make up the subs.
Also from now on i will only be controlling the First Team, the reserves will be controlled by the Assistant Coaches, but i will still receive a match report and they will still use my tactics, this may change if i have enough time to do both matches.
Here is the First team squad for the next set of practice matches:
GK: Ramesh Balaji
DL: Zohaib Ahmed
DC: Abhas Gupta
DC: Tim Macdonald
DR: Rhys Williams
ML: Steve O
MC: Tahir Hassan
MR: Jack Teague (c)
AMLC: Andrew Symonds (vc)
AMRC: Shaun Briggs
ST: Hassan Tahir (vc)
Sub GK: Chesney Lewis
I have to also say that Phil Rogers, Gold 639, Willie Liebenberg and Frank Skinner were very unlucky to miss out. But they, like the others in the reserves, will all get first team chances later.
Reserve Team Squad:
GK: Phil Rogers (vc)
DL: Nick Pringle
DC: Frank Skinner
DC: Usman Ghaff
DR: Drew Davie
ML: Abhas Gupta
MC: Cameron White
MR: Willie Liebenberg (c)
AMLC: Justin Allison
AMRC: Gold 639
ST: Bilal Tahir
Sub GK: Rhys Lowther
Next set of posts will be about the upcomming practice matches.
For the First Team:
Cambridge (away)
Crusaders (away)
For the Reserves:
Chelsea Under 18's (home)
Southend (away)
, I might get it.
and to miss a match against Ajax! 
