Morning all, and welcome back to Germany where I’m attempting to fashion a competitive Cologne team from neighbouring countries and the homeland. As to where we are in Season 2 – here’s our Graham with a quick reminder:
Hello Blogseekers! Settle down, Mickey love, it’s time to delve into season 2 of my German project. As a quick recap we finished 4th in the league after a blistering start aided by Nicolas Anelka, followed by a lumpy middle and then some stability with the arrival of Oliver Bierhoff.
A a top 4 finisher, we enter the weird little League Cup thing at the start of the season and are immediately shot down by the Bayern behemoth.
Good morning – I won’t dwell on last weeks update – after the positive part 1, part 2 felt like a poor follow up. Anyway, here’s where we are. No European or domestic cup games to distract us – just 11 games to see if we can pick things up.
Welcome back to Cologne where I am attempting to create a decent side to compete in Germany by only signing a limited number of players from countries that border Germany, simple huh?
A reminder of our blistering start to the season left us a point of the pace setters with a third of the games done.
Hello and greetings from Germany. After my Leeds adventure I’ve now turned my attention to my Blog Squad Secret Santa shirt, where the excellent Mr Ross Bell sent me a FC Koln away shirt.
I mean, isn’t that amazing. Reminds me of Cameroon for some reason, but anyway, FC Koln – or simply Cologne as they are known in the game, didn’t have the best of seasons in 1997/98. 20 years after they won the Bundesliga, they were relegated in 17th place.
Looking at their squad, it’s not hard to see why.
Continue readingHello and happy Thursday Champman fans. We’re heading into the middle section of season six, where destiny shapes our season up and sees if we can keep on track for my African Leeds team to triumph at Europe’s top table.
The Canaries aren’t at it as we kick off this blog episode with a resounding win, even if we did ship two goals. Whilst we think we are becoming hard to beat, here’s our Graham with a quick reminder.
Hello blog readers, we’re into added time with our Yorkshire Africans as I have decided to spend one more season with these beauties in a quest for the Champions League trophy.
As a quick recap on the past 5 seasons, we were noted for our entertaining attacking prowess which brought a FA Cup victory and a run to the Champions League semi-finals, but deficiencies at the back often cost us.
Last season however, two key signings, KIlana in goal and Freddie Kanoute up front delivered the Premier League and Uefa Cup glory. I also steered Nigeria to an unexpected World Cup triumph in Japan.
So, this season, Leeds are going for the big one, but first, a little transfer business.
Out go a few occasional sidemen
Hello – it’s Thursday morning so time for another spin around Elland Road and the middle of Season 5 for my African Tribe. We’ve made a blistering start to this season, topping the table and progressing well in the Uefa Cup – so can this be the season where glory is destined?
Here’s the table after 13 games:
Hello and Happy New Year to you all. I hope you’ve had a decent break and are ready to follow more trials and tribulations with my African Leeds team. We’re about to embark on Season 5, so far we’ve won the FA Cup and reached a few semi-finals, notably the Champions League last season, but the common theme over the past 12 parts has been inconsistent form. We can score shed loads, but we can also concede them.
I gave myself a target of 5 seasons to win the league and makes some inroads into Europe, so will Season 5 fulfil those ambitions?
This is the squad that will try and achieve that aim, I’m not holding out much hope though, but maybe the Quicker and co can bring some glory
Yeboah!
Hello, and welcome to the end of Season 4 for my African warriors. Last time out I left you with my charges dragging their heels near mid-table, but with prospects in the Champions League and FA Cup to whet the appetite.
Here’s where we left things in part 11 – 12 points off the top, 12 games won, 12 games lost – very apt for part 12 really.
We’ll kick off with the news that we may yet see more Thunderbastards from our terrace hero, big Tone.
It’s tap ins, injuries and red cards against Villa though. I don’t mind, this is a good win. Silly Lunt getting himself sent off like that.
Chelsea, and Richard Wright in particular are also hard work to break down. We’re starting to remind the fans of George Graham with these 1-0 wins though.
Not so in Europe though, as we do a Spurs and knock in five goals by half time against Ajax. Ajax are still a decent side, but we just blew them away with our pace and power. Dare I suggest we have one foot in the semi’s??
One semi we’re defeating sporting is in the FA Cup as we are like a rat out of a trap against Chelsea and not even Devine intervention can stop our pursuit of retaining that famous trophy.
We’ll take on Liverpool in the next round, bring it on.
Coventry have a centreback pairing of Gary Breen and Rio Ferdinand. One gets himself sent off and another scores an own goal as we triumph by three goals. The Quicker is back in a rich vein of form.
Second leg shenanigans in Holland, but we see the tie out with a Bakayoko leveller and we’re through baby
To face the mighty Bayern. They are usually quite underpowered in the game, but I have the German league running, so they might be a sterner test. We shall see.
Getting to the final four in Europe isn’t enough to tempt George
But it entices Freddie, who I know is classed as French in the game, but he played for Mali in real life, so I’m allowing it and there’s nothing you can do to stop me, so there.
I really thought we had won an epic encounter with Blackburn when Barnes scored in the last minute only for Chris Sutton to have the final say. Agali, clearly worried about his position with Kanoute on the bench takes a fine double.
Semi time and it’s a bright start against Bayern but Baron and Mick Dundee have other ideas and we have big work to do in Germany in a fortnights time.
One semi that won’t be achieving full tumescence is in the FA Cup where Liverpool beat us at Old Trafford.
We are getting better at recovering from these sort of set backs
However, Bakayoko won’t be recovering from being hacked in half by Scott Howey and that’s his season over. This is a worrying turn of events.
He’s been worth every penny of that £6.75m transfer fee
We almost get our revenge on title chasing Liverpool, but Kanu equalises with 2 minutes to go. Adrian Mole’s hat trick only earning us a point in the end. I can’t complain too much as it is only 2 days since we last played.
Annoyingly it’s also 2 days before our trip to Germany to try and reverse a 2-1loss from the first leg. Iorfa is stepping in for the injured Bakayoko and his two goals would be sweet were it not for the three that we conceded
It’ll be a Barcelona and Bayern Munich final then…
So, our only way back into Europe for next season will be via a high league finish, so shedding the midweek hangover, Spurs are ably dispatched despite late efforts by Disco Des.
Derby are next up to taste defeat at the hands our lads
But we stumble against bottom of the table WBA
And then again against ten man City
It’s better times at Hillsborough though and 3 second half goals has the chairman checking passport renewal dates for next seasons european adventures
But which competition will we be in?
To get back in the Champions League, we need to win and hope Newcastle do us a favour and beat Liverpool, but not by like 20 goals or something stupid.
We do our bit against Wimbledon, which for some reason is on the Friday night when everyone else will play on the Sunday
Could Kanoute and Yeboah have fired us back to the promised land?
Well, no. Robbie Fowler spoils it all for us.
Still, we lost no league games in part 3, which is something
So UEFA cup exploits beckon for us next season
Horrendous middle of the season there
Goals not flowing quite as much as previous seasons
A team newly promoted to Division 3 try to turn my head, but I have unfinished business here.
Besides, I’m also managing Nigeria and that’s been slowly improving ahead of next years world cup
Awards time and nothing for us to shout about
Tears flow though as we say goodbye to two genuine Leeds Legends
Oh, and our reserve goalie
These twats still won’t retire though
So, that’s a wrap for season 4. I said at the start I would give myself 5 seasons to be successful, so next season I need a tilt at the title and glory in Europe, so hopefully you’ll join me in the New Year for part 13 and in the meantime, Merry Xmas and thanks for reading
