cm9798

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E07

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Welcome to episode number 7 of this save with Colwyn Bay.

We’re now in matchday 32 of 46, and our next adversary will be Colchester United

Game 32

Colchester United 2 – Colwyn Bay 2

Rees and Chris Pike our key players in the match. They contributed in both of our goals, one setting up each other. When it looked like we were going to take the 3 points, Stamps levelled the scored and frustrated the effort.

Then…

FA Cup 5th Round

Colwyn Bay 2 – Huddersfield 1

Our two midfielders were the top boys in this match. Early enthusiasm kicked in The Drill Field as we went into half-time leading 2-0. Only at the closing stages of the game Huddersfield tried to bring the game back with a goal from Barnes, but their efforts got thwarted by the clock running out. We’re through to Quarter Finals and we await for our rival.

Game 33

Hartlepool United 2 – Colwyn Bay 1

Not our finest day and as a result, we succumb at The Victoria Ground with two goals from Ian Marshall. It was a great opportunity to retake the lead of the division 3, but it wasn’t meant to be this day.

Injury news:

Game 34

Colwyn Bay 2 – Swansea 1

Lineup changes:

Mark Wright for Marc Williams
Deniol Graham for Chris Pike

We recover quickly from the bad match at The Victoria Ground, and we beat our fellow Welsh counterparts. The best chances for us came up in the first half. The second half started very slowly with few actions bewteen the two teams until an assist from Nathan Wigg was turned into a goal by Deniol Graham. From then on, relaxing pace again which got disrupted by Bird’s goal in the 83th minute of the goal. They pushed forward for the next minutes but couldn’t find their way again into our net

TRANSFER NEWS:

We received an offer for Gavin Allen from a bunch of teams. A few of them had decent players to exchange, but given the criteria I’ve imposed on this save I chose to accept Ipswich proposal because they had Geraint Williams.

Gavin Allen decides to leave and despite we had an agreement with Geraint Williams from Ipswich, he selected Barnsley.

This means we’ll be needing a new striker. Fortunately there are a few Welsh options to consider, and after scouting the market I found two. Firstly I’ll bid for this guy:

The answer will come after our next match

Game 35

Colwyn Bay 1 – Exeter City 1

Cagey affair against Exeter, and at the arrival of the first half we found ourselves trailing 1-0 down. We spark into life in the second half and begin to get closer to their net. We finally break their resistance in the 64th minute, courtesy of Deniol Graham. Even added a second goal by Chris Pike, which was dismissed due to off-side. In the end it’s all level. It’s time to await news from Rees’ injury.

INJURY NEWS:

Oh boy! Well, Gabbiadini will have to step up to the forefront.

TRANSFER NEWS:

16.000? Are you serious, boy? 5.000 is the farthest I’ll extend myself. Take it or leave it

Good riddance then!

This was my second option, so let’s go for it. I hope we have better luck with this one:

We need to wait a few days until he considers our offer and makes up his mind

Meanwhile, just before the match…

Oh snap! He’ll miss the FA Cup as well

I’m able to deal with this currently, but in any case I’ll go out on the market to find a useful midfielder which I can bring on loan. Curiously, Arsenal recalled Jamie Day from Doncaster, and placed him as available to go on loan.

I’ll have a go at him again as Browning’s injury might not take that much.

Windscreen Area Finals Leg 1

Burnley 0 – Colwyn Bay 0

Lineup changes:

Nathan Wigg for Marcus Browning
Andy Johnson in the AMC position where Nathan Wigg was

Wheel of luck gave us Wimbledon. May we survive against our crowd? Sadly the answer to that is a NO. Ekoku and the mighty Jamaican Marcus Gayle shatter our hopes of progression in the FA Cup. We now only have to worry about the 14 matches remaining to earn promotion to D2.

Sadly, Andy Evans also asks for a big sum of money to play for our club, so I’ll have to decline.

FA Cup Quarter Finals

Colwyn Bay 0 – Manchester United 3

With all the injuries I have, wish me luck.

A packed Drill Field showed up to support their team. Unfortunately, the difference in the quality of players was noticeable and Manchester United took a comfortable win. It’s the end of the FA Cup for us. Not bad for our first year.

Some good news before our next match

Yes! Welcome back Jamie.

Windscreen Area Final Leg 2

Colwyn Bay 3 – Burnley 1

3rd defeat in a row. Neither Dale nor Evans could deliver this time. Despite this, we’re still 3rd and we remain close to Leyton Orient and Rochdale. We’re in the final

So that’s everything for today, folks

Hope you join me next saturday with a new episode of this save with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E06

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Hello and welcome along episode number 6 of this save with Colwyn Bay.

Before our next match takes place, we have some transfer news to share.

Game 27

Scunthorpe United 1 – Colwyn Bay 2

Lineup changes:

Damon Searle for Mark Wright

We’re getting quite used to a 2-1 win, huh? A very good match by David Evans who tried his luck against the other Evans and managed to come on top, scoring one. Nathan Wigg completed the score after a cross from Marcus Browning.

Game 28

Colwyn Bay 3 – Rochdale 2

Lineup changes:

Tony Norman starts, Wayne Russell in the bench

A bad first half saw us go down 2-1. However, in the second half we overcame the difficulties and turned the score around, thanks to a late winner by Gavin Allen.

Game 29

Colwyn Bay 0 – Doncaster Rovers 1

You have to make your chances count, they say. And… we didn’t. We had no shots on goal in the game, and the few that Doncaster managed, they made it count. It’s even worse when it’s one of “our” guys who did it. Jamie Day who is on a loan from Arsenal, just blasted a shot from the right side which Tony Norman couldn’t stop. Frustrating loss.

FA Cup 4th Round

Colwyn Bay 2 – Millwall 1

Maguire was the man of the match in a pretty disputed game against Millwall. We came out on top and we’re through to the next round of the FA Cup.

After this match, Mark Cross picked up an injury

Windscreen Shield Area Semi-Finals

Colwyn Bay 2 – Hartlepool 1

Wigg and Browning deliver the goods at The Drill Field with Marshall bringing Hartlepool closer and attempting to ruin the party. Nevertheless, they couldn’t make it and we collect the win in our own backyard. We’re on the Windscreen Shield Area Final.

Game 30

Colwyn Bay 1 – Brighton 1

We were on the verge of pulling one of our trademarks this season, late goals that is. However, Allen’s goal at the very end of the game was disallowed due to an offside infringement and therefore the game ended up in a draw.

Game 31

Hull City 2 – Colwyn Bay 0

Hull City stifles us very early, and with an awful display of shooting we fall down with no reaction throughout the game

With this match, we reached the end of episode number 6 of this series with Colwyn Bay.

Stay tuned for our next episode. See ya 🙂

Bidaia Barakaldora S01E03

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Hello! Welcome to episode number 3 of this series with Barakaldo.

In this one, we will be covering from matchday 14 to 21.

Game 14

Villarreal 1-Barakaldo 3

A good display of form in the first half as we’re 2-0 up and we could have been even 3-0 if not for a disallowed goal to Gurria. In the second half, Cuesta made an attempt for the home team to bring the game back, but in a manner of minutes we deflate them with a vicious shot from the left side by Zamarripa.

Just before the match against Numancia

Game 15

Barakaldo 3 – Numancia 2

Lineup changes:

Luis Garmendia for Dani Barroso
Pedro Matxon as a sub


Despite being close to the bottom of the league, Numancia was a hard challenge and they gave us a good run for our money. The start couldn’t have been worse, as a mistake by Dadie is put to good use by Santi Castillejo. Kike Alonso further enhanced our defensive problems by adding a second goal by minute 13. Our first shot on Numancia’s goal was Txiki Begiristain’s, who managed to put it past the net. As Carlos Docando got sent off, we started to create more chances and Zamarripa brought the game to a draw by the end of the first half. After battling it on in the second half, a cross from Uribarrena met Begiristain’s header, and the roar was felt in Lassesarre.

Game 16

Osasuna 0 – Barakaldo 2

Lineup changes:

Pedro Arozarena for Antonio Pizo Gomez
Xabier Pantzeska for Agustin Exposito
Asier Ipiña for Txiki Begiristain
Domingo Larrainzar for Luis Dadie

I anticipated a tough game from our basque neighbours, and it was. The first 15 minutes they were all over our goal and Iru repeatedly denied their efforts. A little bit after halftime, we showed some progress and our first goal came through. Then the wind changed, and we started pressing Osasuna’s area until Xabier netted a second after a pass from Bakero. They didn’t throw the towel though and had a few more chances to bring the game back. Again Iru with a wonderful job kept our clean sheet and we took a hard fought win from El Sadar.

Game 17

Barakaldo 0 – Levante 1

It’s a reasonably quiet first half and we look to be the better side with 4/7 shots on target, but Levante catch us by surprise against the run of play to lead 1-0 at half time. In the second half we added a few more shots but even so we can’t get the equaliser and we pick up a defeat on Lassesarre.

Game 18

Lleida 2 – Barakaldo 3

It’s Lleida away next, and it’s a bitter fight to the end to claim victory. Gurria was injured before half-time and we sub in Uribarrena. Bakero gets us ahead and they levelled through Dimitriadis. In the second half, same situation. We go ahead thanks to Uribarrena and they bring the game back to level. As the minutes tick by, I started talking at my laptop “Goal for Barakaldo. C’mon”. Finally, two minutes from the end, I get a yellow and black tilt on the screen. Zamarripa scored, and we get the 3 points.

Let’s see how much Gurria will be out.

Ouch! Fingers crossed so none of my other strikers get injured in this period

Game 19

Leganes 1 – Barakaldo 5

Somewhat a shaky start to this match, Leganes was knocking at our door the first 10 minutes. In the 11th, Xabier Pantzeska scored. We added a second one courtesy of Uribarrena in the 30th minute, and Leganes immediately went defensive and their attack circuitry just collapsed. I subbed in Calle for Zamarripa in the second half and he added one to put us 3-0 up. The visitors pull one back, but Bakero and again Uribarrena deny Leganes catching a breather and they were forced to retreat until the clock run out of minutes. Terrific display of football

We arrived to January 1998, and up until the start of February the transfer market will be opened so I’ll be on the lookout for any interesting players thay may become available in this period

Game 20

Barakaldo 0 – Elche 2

Lineup changes:

Gorka Sangroniz for Aitor Iru

We find ourselves clobbered pretty rapidly as Claudio strikes with just 5 minutes on the clock. Despite our best efforts to overturn the result, Elche’s goalkeeper had a very good game and partnered with their defenders they prevented us from scoring. In our best attacking moment in the match, we had a mishap at our own goal, which resulted in a penalty. Barros scored and put the lid on the game.

More injuries… shake my head

Game 21

Alaves 0 – Barakaldo 3

A calm paced first half in which we had 3 chances and we were able to convert one thanks to Zamarripa. The second half saw way more action as Alaves started to come closer. Nevertheless, we managed to put the nail on the coffin as they found themselves with 10 men due to Mestrovic being sent off. From then on, we smelled the blood and we found the pathway to attack. Xabier and Bakero scored and Alaves was stopped on their tracks.

Before wrapping up this episode, let’s take a look at the standings as of now:

We’re there in the promotion scrap. Time will tell if can accomplish it in our first try

Now yes, we reached the end of this episode.

Tune in next week for a new episode. See ya 🙂

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E05

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Welcome to the fifth episode of this save with Colwyn Bay.

We begin with a match for the League Cup against Oldham Athletic.

Windscreen Shield 2nd Round

Lineup changes:

Wayne Russell for Brian Thomas
Mark Cross for Ricardo Gabbiadini

Colwyn Bay 2 – Oldham Athletic 1

Hardly fought game which we managed to emerge victorious even having a player sent off. The penalty converted by Barlow almost put a pin on that, but Gavin Allen quickly reacted and we cling on for the win.

FA Cup 2nd Round

Walsall 0 – Colwyn Bay 0

A rather boring match, with an off-shooting night for both teams. Hopefully we do better at the replay.

Game 23

Colwyn Bay 4 – Rotherham United 1

Despite a shaky start which saw us 1-0 down at halftime, the lads came with full-force in the second half, and put the hammer down.

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

Colwyn Bay 3 – Walsall 1

Lineup changes:

Pat Van Der Hauwe for Mark Aizlewood (suspended for the red card against Oldham Athletic)

At the Drill Field, we find our scoring touch and we clean up our image from the 0-0 borefest. The first one came after a corner kick. Allen’s header was stopped by Bonner, who parried the ball and the rebound ensuing was caught by Van Der Hauwe, who netted the first goal. In the second one Cross tees up Allen who steers home a low, powerful shot from the edge of the area. The third goal came when Allen hits a thunderbolt from nowhere which Bonner failed to catch and Allen himself was the first man to tap in to the open goal. Kane gets one back at the late stages of the game but by then there wasn’t any much Walsall could do to prevent our win.

Game 24

Colwyn Bay 3 – Darlington 0

Energetic start from our lads, who put us 3-0 at half time through Rowlands and Gavin Allen. In the second half each team had chances but the score stays put.

Game 25

Torquay United 2 – Colwyn Bay 3

Incredibly dirty game at Plainmoor which saw 11, yes 11! Yellow cards. 6 from our team and 5 from Torquay. They pushed us all the way, but nevertheless the boys didn’t back down, and took the win

In the 6 days separating ourselves from the next game against Peterborough, there were some transfer news.

Dean Huggins good run of performances has caught the eyes of suitors and they want to snatch him out of our hands. Wolverhampton offers 900K. OB Odense and Sheffield United also stepped in offering 950K each. OB didn’t to want to exchange players, Sheffield had nobody I could be interested in, and Wolves (despite not having any left full-backs) had this guy:

As Dean has a Big Release clause and we might lose him, I decided to accept this exchange.

It’s a real struggle to find Welsh full-backs that are available so the search is a little bit of a mix.
My targets are:

The idea would be buying Searle and in case the deal fell apart, going for Vinicius or Briscoe on a loan

Game 26

Peterborough 1 – Colwyn Bay 3

Lineup changes:

Deniol Graham for Gavin Allen

With Peterborough running in 2nd place, I expected a very gritty match, but it turned out to be completely in our favour. Nathan Wigg sealed the deal to neglect any attempt of them preventing our win.

TRANSFER NEWS:

We got lucky that Searle’s deal went through as Vinicius and Briscoe turned us down. At the moment, I have a surplus of left midfielders so I’ll keep Carl Robinson on the loan deal he had at Lincoln.

FA Cup 3rd Round

Colwyn Bay 2– Stoke City 1

A fantastic result against a D1 team like Stoke City. Our first goal comes after a great pass from Browning which Graham slots into goal. The second one came after a cross from the left hand side by Nathan Wigg was headed by Graham, got rejected by Stoke’s goalkeeper and then sent into the back of the net, courtesy of Mark Cross. Clarke attempted to pull Stoke back into contention, but from then on there wasn’t too much action.

Injury news before our next game.

As Thomas injury is for a couple of weeks, I will look for a replacement.

This guy seems to fit the bill:

He is able to do the job and probably won’t have much trouble if he doesn’t play regularly

Windscreen Shield Area Quarter Finals

Colwyn Bay 2 – Rotherham United 1

Lineup changes:

Osman Costas (grey player) for Brian Thomas
Eric Young for Gavin Maguire

On this new meetup against Rotherham, we had to fight real hard to get the win. We had an appalling shooting night, hitting the target 4 out of 19 times. The final goal came from a pass by Gavin Allen (subbed in for Evans in the extra-time) to Browning, who in the 119th minute of the game sent us to the next round of the Windscreen Shield.

And after this match, we reached the end of episode number 5.

Join us next week for our next episode of this series with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E04

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Hey everyone! Welcome to a new episode of this save with Colwyn’s Bay.
In our last episode we made an offer to Glyn Hodges to join our team. Given the date, it’s highly probable that his answer comes after our next match against Exeter City.

Graham won’t be a part of the squad rotation due to this:

Game 18

Exeter City 2 – Colwyn Bay 2

Lineup changes:

Andy Johnson in midfield for the already gone Jamie Day
Nathan Wigg as AMC
Chris Pike as a sub in place of Deniol Graham

An awful first half which saw us go down 2-0. In the second half, we improved a bit and managed to claw back our way in. We fell short of taking the win because the last ball hit the bar and Pike missed it on the rebound.

Glyn answers our offer. Let’s see what his decision is.

Damn! Plan B then?:

We do have the money for him (100k), so I’ll bid and wait

Game 19

Barnet 3 – Colwyn Bay 0

It’s a tough fixture away the currently 1st placed Barnet. We struggle to lay a glove on them and not even with Mcgleish sending off at the 83th minute of the game, we managed to make the most of that situation. Heavy loss.

Meanwhile, Chesterfield and Rochdale played their match for the Windscreen Shield Groups. Rochdale won 2-1, and that means we advance to the next round where we will meet Oldham Athletic.

Plan B worked! Nice!

FA Cup 1st Round

Watford 0 – Colwyn Bay 2

I’m actually a little concerned because our form in the last three games has slumped, and I definitely want the team to last a little further than we did in the League Cup.

Lineup changes:

Dean Huggins for Dayfdd Owen
Gavin Allen for David Evans

The concerns were unfounded though. Watford had an appalling shooting night, missing every shot they took (7 in total). Coughlin and an own goal from Millen were enough to clinch the win at Vicarage Road. Good debut from Dean Huggins.

Game 20

Swansea 0 – Colwyn Bay 1

Lineup changes:

Marcus Browning for Andy Johnson
Gavin Allen for David Evans

Uninspiring match from both sides. Both goalkeepers didn’t have much work to do. Our chances were all taken by Gavin Allen, who after 3 unsucessful shots, managed to make a fourth which went past Freestone. Valuable 3 points to keep us in the fight for the promotion.

Game 21

Colwyn Bay 4 – Notts County 1

We lead 3-0 at half time through goals from Allen and Coughlin. The second half sees another one from Coughlin to give us a solid win.

Just as I was planning to rotate some of the players, Eric picked up this injury. Poor lad

Game 22

Cambridge United 0 – Colwyn Bay 2


Lineup changes:

Aled Rowlands for Richard Barnes

Early goal from Marcus Browning, and when all the signs pointed to a narrow win, Gabbiadini tapped in a shot after a rebound.

And after playing this match, we reached the end of this episode. Join us soon for episode number 5 of this season with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂

Bidaia Barakaldora S01E01

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What’s with the title?
Translated to Basque language (Euskera), it means Trip to Barakaldo.

So, the question.. why Barakaldo?

The idea came after watching Nick doing it with Athletic Club. To avoid repetition, I chose to do it with a different team from the Basque province.

Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team founded in 1917 and based in Baracaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. For those of you who are unaware, since 1912 Athletic Bilbao have had a club transfer policy, whereby they can only sign either Basque-born players, or players who learned their football skills at a Basque club. The challenge here is to manage them while adhering to this policy, meaning that I can sign any players born in Basque Country, or graduates from Basque teams (such as Alaves, Real Sociedad, Eibar and Osasuna). I’m also going to allow myself to sign regens of any of those players.

Nick kindly shared on his twitter a list of eligible players which met the criteria and i added a few of my own that weren’t on that list, which might be featured alongside the series.

I loaded the Spanish, French (to pick those French players if needed) & German leagues

Goals? First season probably the best possible result is avoiding relegation. From then on, the idea is building up the squad and doing the best possible.

Withour further ado, let’s jump into it.

This is the squad we begin with

As you see, we only have one eligible player, Juan Zamarripa.

A quick look at his attributes tells us that he’s quite decent

There’s a lot of work to be done here, so let’s scout the market to see which players we can pick up:

He has everything in place for a defender.

Doesn’t even need to be introduced. Fundamental part of every team you pick in Segunda Division. Heading is especially nice in combination with a good corner taker.

Prodigal son? Well, Raul played in Barakaldo in the real world for this season so it’s good to have him here in the virtual world. Good young prospect

Born in Getxo, Vizcaya. Started out in Bermeo, also played in Castellon, Sestao (that’s why i remembered from his CM2 days) and Burriana. Young and capable goalkeeper.

In real life, this guy played in Barakaldo after Sestao went bust (back in 95/96 season). A nice option to play in midfield. Decent pace and creativity and quality passing.

A few days later, we have news from these group of lads.

Good!

Our first 5 signings came through.

Let’s carry on looking for players to bolster this squad.

My next 5 targets are:

Born in Santurtzi, Vizcaya.

Born in Berango, Vizcaya. In real life, played from 1996 to 1998 in Barakaldo

Born in Vizcaya, Bilbao. Prodigal son. This guy made his debut here in Barakaldo back in 1990. He was 21 years old then

Born in Portugalete, Vizcaya. In real life, played in Barakaldo from 2002 to 2004

Born in Eibar, Guipuzcoa

A few days later..

Awesome, we have 11 players now. The goalkeeper position seems to be well covered so we need to pick up more bodies in defense, midfield and attack.

My 5 next targets are:

Born in Bilbao, Vizcaya. Played in Athletic Bilbao and Zaragoza. He will surely gives good experience

Born in Tudela, Navarre. Product of the Bilbao youth team, never made the first cut in real life. In the game, it looks perfectly fit to play in parternship with someone like Zamarripa or Raul Calle

Player of great experience in Primera Division. Played in Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruña. A few quid has come our way and we have a little bit above his worth to bid for him. 

Born in Azkoitia, Guipuzcoa. Played in Badajoz, Getafe and Benidorm.

Another experienced player that will come very handy in defence. Born in Pamplona, Navarre. Started in Osasuna, then Malaga and retired in Levante

A few days later, we have some news.

Awesome! With these 5, we now have a total of 16 players.

We’re still lacking a few more bodies, specifically a couple of midfielders and left full-backs position.

These are the chosen ones:

Born in Segura, Guipuzcoa. Played in Beasain, Sestao, Las Palmas and Eibar

A player born in this city, where he started his career. Then played in Benidorm, Orense, Hercules , Xerez and Almeria

Other than a lack of creativity and tackling, a pretty well-balanced midfielder. Born in Donostia, Guipuzcoa. Played in Alaves, Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano and basque teams Sestao, Eibar and Beasain

Surely their decisions will come after the next game, so it’s time to get the team set up.

My go-to tactic has become 4231, but given the current circumstances we will have to get a bit creative. I’ll use this until we can acquire some left full-backs.

Copa Del Rey 1st Round Leg 1:

Celta 3 – Barakaldo 0

The experiment didn’t work and against a solid Celta team, it was a pain to watch. They were in control throughout the entire game and we were lucky enough that they were only able to put three goals past our net.

A few days later, our signings join

Nice! With these additions, we’re up to 20 players. Main focus point now is another right full-back.

The only available choice in the market is:

Born in Navarre, Pamplona. Spent the majority of his career with Osasuna. Had brief stints in Castellon and Marbella

Game 1

Barakaldo 4 – Badajoz 0

This is how we will line up for the match

What a debut in Segunda Division. It’s a mauling at the Lassesarre stadium. Zamarripa completely unleashed, scoring a hat-trick and stunning Badajoz. A great day for the fans!

Game 2

Rayo Vallecano 3 – Barakaldo 1

Lineup changes:

Luis Garmendia for Daniel Barroso

Simply not our day. An own goal by Osman near the end of the game shatters any hope for a good result. Middleton picked up an injury so we’ll have to deal with that.

Copa Del Rey 1st Round Leg 2:

Barakaldo 4 – Celta de Vigo 2

A delightful victory in front of our crowd. Although Celta were up ahead twice in the score, we managed to claw our way back into it. It’s an early exit in the Copa Del Rey, but we displayed good football and a decent image among our supporters.

Game 2

Barakaldo 3 – Las Palmas 3

A little nervous about how this one can turn out, as Las Palmas recently advanced to the next round in Copa del Rey by beating Real Sociedad quite convincingly.

Let’s roll the ball!

My lads show some fire in the game though. Despite being 3-1 down in the second half, Bakero gave us a massive boost to claw our way back into the match. Even in the last five minutes we had a couple of shots deflected by Canales which could have easily meant the 4-3 in our favour.

Time to keep bolstering the squad. In this case, a defender:

Born in Azkoitia, Guipuzcoa. Product of Real Sociedad youth team, spent a good amount of years in Deportivo La Coruña where he was part of the team who won Copa del Rey and the Cup-Winners Cup. He’s wanted by Extremadura and Hercules, so it will be tough to get him. Fingers crossed

Yep, expected with the low reputation we have. Time for plan B then. *Looks in the excel sheet. Hmm, ok*. Let’s go get him!

Born in Pasaia, Guipuzcoa. Another good product of the Real Sociedad youth team. Went up to Primera Division with Celta de Vigo, also played in Osasuna and Toledo. We’ll have his answer after our next game

Game 3

Albacete 2 – Barakaldo 1

It’s a comfortable win for Albacete. Despite an equaliser from Zamarripa we struggled to find the grip of the match and it was Albacete who created most of the chances in the match. Hopefully we can improve our away form as there is a notorious difference compared to how we do it at Lassesarre.

Cool! No more defenders are needed for the time being.

A quick glance at the Players Released screen showed that this lad (brother of Rafael Alkorta) had been released from Athletic B (the Athletic Bilbao youth team). Capable of playing two positions, he’ll surely find a place with us. I’ll bid for him

Game 4

Barakaldo 3 – Sevilla 2

Lineup changes:

Gorka Sangroniz for Aitor Iru

A good performance overall. The early lead from Hibic is quickly neglected by Zamarripa. Uribarrena adds one more after a pass from Begiristain, and we lead at halftime. Briefly after starting the second half, Bakero with a powerful header puts us up 3-1. From the on, we didn’t create many more chances and Sevilla got closer. Despite the anxiety of an equaliser, they can’t make it and we take a valuable win.

Game 5

Logroñes 1 – Barakaldo 2

Woohoo! Our first away win of the season. We lead early through Uribarrena and Zamarripa leads us to an advantage at halftime after Morales had provisionally equalised the match.

Before leaving, I’ll show you the standings as of now:

Fine start, isn’t it?

So that wraps up our first episode of this save.

Tune in next wednesday, where we will cover from matchday 7 to 13. Cheers!

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E03

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Hello! Welcome to episode number 3 out of 8 of this save with Colwyn Bay.

We start with the second leg of the first round against Derby County

League Cup 2nd Round Leg 2

Colwyn Bay 0 – Derby County 1

Lineup changes:

Darren Davies for Dayfdd Owen
Russell Coughlin for Jamie Day

A good amount of supporters showed up to The Drill Field to watch Colwyn Bay battle a Premier League team. Nevertheless, it’s quite a forgettable game for us. Derby harassed us throughout the entire ordeal until they found their way into the net before reaching halftime. If not for Russell, it could have gone worse.

No time for mourning though, as we have a match against Leyton Orient in a few days.

Game 11

Colwyn Bay 5 – Leyton Orient 0

We turned the page from the Derby playoff with a flashy display of football at The Drill Field.

Game 12

Shrewsbury Town 2 – Colwyn Bay 3

Lineup changes:

Chris Pike for Gavin Allen
Gavin Maguire for Pat Van Der Hauwe
Pat Van Der Hauwe for Darren Davies

We had to fight hard for this win. As we were headed for closing up shop with a potential 3-1, the goal was nullified and in the very next action Fox equalized. Johnson after a cross from Barnes was able to put the nail in the coffin and rescue a win for us.

Unfortunately, Nathan Wigg won’t be able to play our next match because he picked up an injury.

Game 13

Colwyn Bay 2 – Macclesfield Town 1

Lineup changes:

Jamie Day for Nathan Wigg

Mason puts Macclesfield ahead in the first half, but Andy Johnson brought his scoring boots on today and undoes the effort made by Macclesfield. The clock was running down and as I’m getting restless for a chance to win the match, it finally arrives at the last minute of the game after a corner kick.

Mark, you ok mate?

FFS!

For the time being I think I can accommodate Van Der Hauwe on the left side and Aizlewood as a central defender, but I believe it’s a prudent idea to bring someone on loan (we still have one slot). There isn’t an abundance of Welsh players in the left full-back position so after having my offers for Karl Ready and Kevin Lloyd rejected by their respective clubs, I have to resort to this guy:

Not bad at all, huh? And on top of that, he can play in three positions so he would prove himself as a good utility man. Let’s go get him then

Windscreen Shield Groups

Colwyn Bay 2 – Chesterfield 2

Lineup changes:

Pat Van Der Hauwe as a left full-back
Dayfdd Owen for Pat Van Der Hauwe
Mark Aizlewood for Marc Williams

We started well, leading 2-1 at the stroke of half time. In the 2nd half we take control and despite all the huffing and puffing, we can’t find the back of the net, and Chesterfield seized the opportunity. All-square at the end and a bitter taste in our mouth. We’ll have to wait for the match between Rochdale and Chesterfield to see if we’re through to the next stage.

Good! We now have a backup left full-back.

Game 15

Scarborough 1 – Colwyn Bay 2

Lineup changes:

Ricardo Gabbiadini for Tony Rees (three matches out due to the red card against Leyton Orient)

After a lacklustre first half, the boys step up to the plate and give us a 2-0 advantage. Brodie narrows the win by scoring a goal for Scarborough in the 88th minute of the game. With no more time left on the clock, we claim victory.

Game 16

Lincoln City 3 – Colwyn Bay 7

Phenomenal result! Jamie Day with an absolute bonkers game, smashing the net five times and terrorizing the Lincoln’s defence.

Game 17

Colwyn Bay 1 – Mansfield Town 1

Not one of our finest performances. We were saved by the bell in the 66th minute of the game, when a mix-up between Mansfield’s GK and John Walker ended up in an own goal.

Oh, come on. Sunday blues? Yes, indeed. He will be deeply missed.

For the time being, we have a replacement but we’re still one player short in case of another injury, so I’m going on the hunt for a new central midfielder immediately.

A quick look at the transfer listed market, and I find someone who suits my needs.

We have 270 K in the budget and he’s worth 120K. I’ll bid and await for his decision which you will know in the next episode as we’re bringing the current one to a close.

See you next saturday folks. Cheers!

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E02

/ mardukowens / Deja un comentario

Greetings and welcome to the second episode of this save with Colwyn Bay.
In our last update we had won against Doncaster Rovers. We will be now playing game 7 out of 46, against Hull City.

Game 7

Colwyn Bay 2 – Hull City 2

Lineup changes:

David Evans for Chris Pike

Tough and gritty game against Hull. Lots of tackles on their part, and we managed to scrape a point though, in our own backyard courtesy of Nathan Wigg.

Game 8

Brighton 1 – Colwyn Bay 2

Crazy game, but we were resilient enough to avoid being defeated in Ninian Park. Despite the 4 goals, our young defender Jarman was the man of the match with a key tackle and two key headers.

Game 9

Colwny Bay 3 – Colchester 0

Lineup changes:

Tony Rees for Mark Cross
Pat Van Der Hauwe for Eric Young

After a quite uneventful first half, hell broke loose at the late stages of the game and we managed to add a couple of goals.

League Cup 2nd Round Leg 1

Derby County 2 – Colwyn Bay 0

Lineup changes:

Darren Davies for Dayfdd Owen
Russell Coughlin for Jamie Day

As expected, we weren’t able to handle them and we got beaten. Thomas was of the Man Of The Match as he had two key interceptions in the game and did a great job to prevent the score being bigger than it was.

Game 10

Colwyn Bay 1 – Hartlepool United 1

Lineup changes:

Dayfdd Owen for Darren Davies.
Jamie Day for Rusell Coughlin.
Mark Aizlewood as a sub.
Marc Williams for Gavin Maguire.
Wayne Russell for Brian Thomas.

Early lead from Hartlepool when Halliday plays through a lovely slide ball which Hunter, their left forward, fires low into the bottom corner. From then on, we trade blows until we finally managed to beat Hollund from a corner kick action.

Windscreen Shield Groups

Rochdale 2 – Colwyn Bay 2

Started well with an early lead from Wigg. Bailey equalised with a shot that smashed the ball past Russell. In the 83th minute they scored again, but we were able to neglect their advantage pretty quickly when Rees tapped in a rebound after a David Evans’ shot. In the end of the match, Rochdale had the last ball and fortunately for us the shot they took hit the bar and no one was able to tap it in. Fair result.

Game 10

Colwyn Bay 2 – Cardiff City 1

Philliskirk decides to shake our nerves for a while but Evans put this game to bed rather quickly by scoring a double. The rest of the game fizzles out without much happening.

That’s it for this episode folks.

Join me this saturday for a new episode of this series with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂

Seagulls Road To Glory S01E01

/ mardukowens / Deja un comentario

The premise is simple.

I’ll be attempting to do a Wales players only challenge. I’ve already seen people do it with Swansea and Cardiff, therefore I’ll be trying a different team. I’m choosing Colwyn Bay, who up to 2019 played within the English football system

I loaded the English, Scottish & Dutch leagues.

Goals? Well, the usual ones when you start in lower divisions, right? Within a period of years, attempt to establish Colwyn Bay as a Premier and European football contender.

This is the squad we begin with:

As they were non-league and had to put them in at the expense of Chester City, they don’t have any players

We only have a budget of 100 k, so signings will esentially be free transfer for the time being. We’ll need a little bit of a mix between Welsh and non-Welsh players to avoid having to play with “grey” players in the event we have players called up by the U-21 or the Wales national team.
Bearing that in mind, let’s hit the transfer market.

Despite the low stamina and strength, seems more than capable to do the job.

Experienced and seasoned guy with good defending qualities. Good influence too, so he seems like a good candidate to become the captain of this team. Either him or Van Der Hauwe

A few days later, we have news from these group of lads.

Good! Our first five signings. 

Let’s go hunt for some more players to make up the numbers.

These are my next targets:

Let’s see what their decisions are:

Awesome, everybody signed up all of them. 10 players so far, let’s go get some more.

My next targets are:

Let’s see what they decide:

Nice! 5 more and we have a total count of 15 signings so far. We were lucky to pick Graham, as he was strongly recommended by one of our league scouts and was touted by teams with slightly better reputation than ours. We’re ok in the strikers and goalkeepers department so far. We’ll be needing a couple of central midfielders, two central defenders, a left full-back and I guess with that we could be ready.

Let’s get right to it:

What’s it gonna be, boys?

Another good signing party! We reached 20 signings now. As it was the case with Deniol Graham, gladly surprised that Andy Johnson decided to join us.

Up to this point, we have a pretty operational squad. We need just a bit more bodies to add  depth in some positions.

For the moment though, the first match for Division 3 is just around the corner so we’ll have to deal with it right away with what we have.

Let’s set up the tactic and prepare our first game.

Usually when I’m starting in lower divisions, I pick 442 direct but this time I’ll be trying something that has worked for me in Scotland’s lower level and that I used in Arsenal with good results
For those who have played CM 01/02, you’ll know this one as IodineCF

Game 1:

Darlington 1 – Colwyn Bay 2

A promising debut at The Feethams Ground.

After the match, we can focus in looking for that players who will provide what we need.

He’s usually released at the start of the season, but Arsenal have chosen to keep him this time. They made him available for loan though, so I’ll bid for him.

Very good attributes, and fits especially in the midfielder where I need players who can cover and pass the ball well

No need for introduction here. And as he’s available for loan, it’s my cue to jump in and ask for him. Maybe we get lucky.

We’ll have to wait a few days though, to know their answer. Meanwhile, we have a game to play

League Cup 1st Round, Leg 1

Colwyn Bay 1 – Swindon 0

A good result at home against a D1 team. Hopefully it’s enough of a lead to carry on the next round.

Now yes, everybody answered.

Unfortunately Notman rejected us, but the rest of the guys join Colwyn Bay. With 23 players in the squad at the moment, it looks pretty good. Even so, we’re not going to close the door on future signings, just yet. If we have injuries and called-up players for the national team, we will consider bringing in a few more.

Game 2

Colwyn Bay 2 vs Torquay United 1

Just a change in the lineup. Jamie Day for Nathan Wigg and we move Andy Johnson to the AMC role.

Our second win comes from an inspired Gavin Allen, who scored twice.

On the rundown to the 2nd leg against Swindon, we have two injured players.

Fortunately, by the time of the match Russell recovered well but as a precaution I will play Thomas and Russell will go to the bench.

League Cup 1st Round, Leg 2

Swindon 3 – Colwyn Bay 3

Lineup changes:

Jamie Day is cup-tied, so we’ll have to revert to Nathan Wigg in midfield.

Brian Thomas starts, Russell in the bench

Close call, but we’re through to the next round!

Swindon won 2-1 in the 90 minutes, so we went to extra-time. We subbed in Deniol Graham and man, was he the right choice. His late goal three minutes from the end of the extra-time, sent us to the 2nd round. Now we have to wait for the result of Van Der Hauwe’s injury.

Phew!, just a few days. No worries then.

Game 3

Colwyn Bay 0 – Peterborough 2

Lineup changes:

  • Dayfdd Owen for Pat Van Der Hauwe
  • Chris Pike for Gavin Allen

Evenly matched game for both sides but their strikers were on the good side, and they took the win. Erase, rewind and move forward.

Game 4

Rochdale 0 – Colwyn Bay 4

Lineup changes:

Jamie Day for Russell Coughlin
Pat Van Der Hauwe for Mark Aizlewood in the bench

Boy, we came out on the rampage! Absolutely blistering first half for Nathan Wigg and Chris Pike who scored two each and gave us a 4-0 edge at half-time. From then on, it was just cruise control and no goals were added by either side.

Game 5

Colwyn Bay  4 – Scunthorpe 0

Lineup changes:

Mark Cross for Ricardo Gabbiadini

Another scintillating performance by our boys, obliterating Scunthorpe.

Game 6

Doncaster Rovers 0 – Colwyn Bay 2

Johnson gave us 3 points, because Chris was on great performance overall. Lincoln’s goal was the first chance they had in the game up to that point.

So that’s it for this episode, folks.

Tune in next wednesday for episode number 2 of this series with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂

Arsenal’s Double? S01E08

/ mardukowens / Deja un comentario

Hello! Welcome to the last episode of this save with Arsenal

6 games until the end of Premier League with the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup to play. I’m excited, let’s jump right into it.

Game 33

West Ham United 3 – Arsenal 4

Fun match. Especially happy for young Liberian Cristopher Wreh, who in the limited playing time I had given him, hadn’t had the chance to show his skills yet. I honestly thought the game was over when we were leading 4-0, but West Ham didn’t want to go down without a proper fight. Sinclair made a bold statement by scoring a hat-trick and even forcing a bunch of saves from Seaman in the closing stages. We emerged victorious nonetheless.

Game 34

Tottenham 1 – Arsenal 2

Another version of the Northern London derby, this time in White Hart Lane. The only change to the lineup is the return of Boa Morte for Marc Overmars. Marc will sit this one out due to a suspension for reaching 21 disciplinary points. There’s the added pressure here to perform as a win would mean clinching the Premier League, and in our greatest rival’s field.

Yes! We’ve done it. We are the champioooooons, my frieeeeeend!!! ♫♫ . The great Dennis wanted to celebrate the title already, and put a great performance to give us the win. Tottenham piled up the pressure and tested Manninger, but the young Austrian stood firm and took the Man Of The Match award.

Told you guys I wasn’t gonna bottle it

With the PL clinched, let’s focus in getting the best of our young players for the remaining 4 matches.

Ouch! Terrible news for poor Timmy when he was finding his place in the starting team.

Game 35

Arsenal 2 – Sheffield Wednesday 1

Time to bring back the mighty Ian after a while. He’ll be on the bench while Wreh starts. Steve Bould comes in for the injured Timmy Griggs. Rest is the same

A little hangover from celebrations? None of that. Surely, it wasn’t our usual display of good football but we got the job done.

Meanwhile…

Not now Patrick. We’re trying to win some trophies my friend. Stay put, your time will come.

Game 36

Arsenal 1 – Manchester United 2

Small wobble here but I’m not tremendously concerned. My aim is winning our match against them for the FA Cup final.

Game 37

Coventry City 1 – Arsenal 0

Lucky for us, we’re not in a dog fight for the Premier League. A very lacklustre match from our part, and Coventry made us pay the price for it.

UEFA Cup Final

Schalke 04 2 – Arsenal 4

We will bring all the big guns back for this important match. The starting lineup will be looking like this:

Props to Schalke because they were a tough rival. They were ahead twice in the score and at some point it didn’t look like we could overturn the match and I thought we would go extra-time or penalties. But Overmars and Ian stepped up their game and finished off the germans to give us another title!

Woohoo! Title number 3!

Before the last game with Bolton…

Man, that’s bad. Well, I guess Grimandi will have to play in the FA Cup final.

Game 38

Arsenal 5 – Bolton Wanderers 2

No time to rest on our laurels though, as after the UEFA Cup final there’s this last game against Bolton.

Lineup changes:


Manninger as starting GK
Jamie Day in the bench
Nigel Winterburn for Emanuel Petit

We showed no mercy and they boys stormed out of the locker room with fire in their boots. At the end of the first half, we were up 4-0. Then Bolton made a little effort to overcome the embarrassment and were able to score twice. Vieira rounded up the 5-2 at the closing stages of the match.

FA Cup Final

Manchester United 0 – Arsenal 3

We collected 3 titles so far. Can we go for a fourth?

Lineup changes:


Gilles Grimandi for Nigel Winterburn
Tony Adams for Martin Keown

The answer is YES! We were quite active looking for the opening goal in the first half, with Ian Wright having a penalty. Unfortunately, Schmeichel got in the way and stopped it. The second half was still in our favour, we had a goal by Bergkamp disallowed. Just two minutes afterwards, the goal came through thanks to Overmars. From then on, Manchester United seemed to have a reaction and came with great impetu to our goal. In the midst of their attack, Platt scored and Bergkamp just a few minutes later just rounded the score and crushed the hopes of the reds

4/4. I’m blown away. I knew Arsenal had a good squad, but honestly this result is beyond something.

FINAL STANDINGS:

FIXTURE RECAP:

The agony for Manchester United doesn’t end though, as Barcelona deliver another blow to their hopes, beating them in the Champions League final

AVERAGE RATINGS:

MAN OF THE MATCH AWARDS:

GOALS SCORED:

GOAL ASSISTS:

MANAGER OF THE YEAR:

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

FOOTBALL WRITERS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Before wrapping up, let’s take a brief look in what happened in the World Cup:

As you can see in the first picture, England’s gaffer affords to sit Ian Wright on the bench, when he was the top goalscorer in the PL. They crash out quite early against a not so difficult group

Meanwhile, the World Cup final is an odd one. Would’ve never expected Mexico to go that far. They had important victories on the previous play-offs against France and Brazil

Now yes, it’s time to put a lid on this save with Arsenal. I’m ecstatic for having won the 4 competitions we were playing and I feel like the tactic used may be a good fit for other teams.

Join us again to read about more challenges in this blog. Hope you enjoyed it 🙂