The English Football Academy

[Afros]

I'm on CM03/04, with transfers updated up until the start of the 2004/2005 season. And yes this is kind of a rip off of the Football Academy story already started, but with a bit of a difference.

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After another meek failure at the hands a big side in a major tournament in the 2002 World Cup, the big wigs of the FA decided that measures needed to be taken to help the promising players who England readily produced, Joe Cole, Jermaine Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Steward Downing being examples of the potential of the next generation of English footballers.

It was finally decided that a finishing school of sorts was to be established, a finishing school that would function as a normal football club, and would play in the English Football Leagues, the first problem was getting this club into the top level of English football, after all, sending the next big things of the English game off to play pub teams on cow paddocks would hardly be beneficial to their development, but how could the FA get this finishing school into the Premiership without angering the clubs in any way?

What happened next provided the FA with the perfect opportunity, Manchester United were found to be in severe financial difficulties, as it turned out they had bank-rolled their big transfers of players such as Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Juan Veron with money from rich American investors, to be paid back on high interest rates, the repayments became to much for the club, everything snowballed, and the club officially declared itself bankrupt at the end of the 2002/2003 season, the FA stepped in quickly, and announced that it could not have a club in such a dire financial situation entering the Premiership for the 2003/2004 season, so Manchester United were officially expelled from the English Football League. The FA announced that in the coming days, a solution would be found for the problem of who would be the 20th team in the Premiership, little did anybody realise, the spot was already filled, the place going to the English Football Academy.

The FA were quick to announce the rules for the new Academy club. The club would only be allowed to sign English players, and the players had to be 21 or younger when signed by the club. There would be no limit on transfer fees, or wages, this would fall into the financial limitations placed on the manager by the clubs board. The club would have to sell players on once they either reached 15 caps for their country, or reached the age of 26, whichever came first. Another rule was suggested, that players would also be shipped out if they were not capped at Under 21 level before becoming ineligable for this level, but it was decided that it should first be observed how the club runs in action first, before considering to many more rules such as this. Another rule put in place was that any player who is eligible for another country as well as England, who is with the Academy, and chooses to play for the other nation over England, would be shipped out as well.

The FA also released the following, described as 'The purpose of the English Football Academy'.

The English Football Academy exists for two purposes, firstly, it is to be a finishing school for young, up and coming, English footballers who are considered to be a bright prospect for the England national side in the future, as such, no player with over 15 caps at international level may play for the Academy, as he has already been groomed to a sufficient level, also, a player who is over the age of 26 can not play for the Academy, because, if the player is not at a level to represent his country by this age, then he will most likely not reach this level. Players can only be signed for the club if they are 21 or younger, must be eligible to represent England, and must, once signed, stay in the Academy for a minimum of two years. The English football academy will not only groom our future stars to represent their country, but will also get these players used to playing alongside each other, so that, all going as planned, England sides of the future will be accustomed to playing with each other well before they pull on the England jersey.

The other, less vital role of the Academy, is to groom potential future England managers within the setup as well, so as in the future, the players will not only be familiar with each other, but also the man directing things. In adition, the side will also play at Wembley Stadium, and wear the colours of England.

With everything now in place, it was also announced that the Academy would be given the selling rights to all of the former Manchester United players, to be used as they wish, to allow them to bring in the players desired to form an Academy side, and with that, an historic moment in English football was born, The English Football Academy.

Academy Graduation Guidlines
The Football Association have released the guidlines for what a player must have achieved to be known as a graduate of the football academy, they are as follows.

To be known as a Graduate of the Academy, a play must have fulfilled either of two goals. The first of these is to have recieved 15 England caps, the caps may have been achieved before joining the club, although no player with more then three caps can join the club. A player may also be called a Graduate if he moves from the club for a transfer fee greater then £15million, because such a fee is usually reserved for a player who is considered amongst the elite players anyway.

If a player does not graduate before he reaches his 26th birthday, he is to be sold, because any player who is 26 or over can not represent the academy.

[Heat]

Your a good writer, a shame you stole somebdys idea, surly you culd have at least waited till the other academy story had finished

[ItalAussie]

Originally Posted by HEaT

Your a good writer, a shame you stole somebdys idea, surly you culd have at least waited till the other academy story had finished

That's a bit harsh. There's nothing wrong with two similar stories going on at once, especially if they're both written by good writers (such as the Congo and Ivory Coast stories). The first one wasn't really a story to begin with anyway. This looks very promising.

[Heat]

True, its just, dosent matter, good luck mate

[Afros]

As I said, I kinda stole his idea, but where his idea is about finding cheap talent and improving it, and then selling it on for a profit, my idea is an accademy club that acts as a finishing school for future England players. Where his allows him to sign anybody under 21, mine only allows English talent.

There are numerous other differences, I just got the basic principal off the other story

[Heat]

Originally Posted by Afros

As I said, I kinda stole his idea, but where his idea is about finding cheap talent and improving it, and then selling it on for a profit, my idea is an accademy club that acts as a finishing school for future England players. Where his allows him to sign anybody under 21, mine only allows English talent.

There are numerous other differences, I just got the basic principal off the other story

I understand, KUTGS

[Afros]

The Squad: I've picked out a squad and edited them in with the editor before starting the game, I skipped over eligable players like Jermaine Defoe, while Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole had already reached 15 caps. Micheal Carrick is the only player already capped in the side, with 2 caps to his name.

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Goal Keepers
Tommy Heaten (17): One of the players gained in the Academy from the demise of Man United, looks a keeper of some promise, but will have a battle on his hands with Graham Stack for the Number One jersey.

Graham Stack (21): The former Arsenal youngster, will be in a keen battle with Heaten for the number 1 jersey, is my preference at this stage, due to the fact he has played some first team football, although Heaten does look a decent prospect, as do some of the lads in the reserves.

Defenders
Phil Jagielka (20): Will either start at right back, or be our defender on the bench, due to his versitility, has plenty of first team experience with Sheffield United, but is still only 20, should earn himself at least an under 21's cap this season.

Glen Johnson (18): The former West Ham youth player, still only 18, and with only a handful of first team games under his belt, could perhaps start at right back, although my preference is for Jagielka at this stage.

Matthew Taylor (21): Is one of the oldest players in the side, and is comfortably the best left-back in the side, will no doubt start in that position, provides some good go forward, and could in later years, even surpass Wayne Bridge or even Ashley Cole.

James McEverley (18): Will be hoping Taylor lives up to the wraps I've given him, McEverley will undoubtedly replace Taylor at left back as soon as he moves on, James has age on his side, but will no doubt not want to wait around to long for a chance.

Calum Davenport (20): The highly rated centre-back from Coventry looks destined for high places, he could form a lethal partnership at the back with Micheal Dawson, another highly rated young defender who has cut his teath in England's second tier.

Micheal Dawson (19): If you havn't heard of Dawson by now, you must not be the football fan you clame to be, Dawson has, for some time now, been regarded as a great defender in the making, will definatly start, and could become the academy's first captain.

Steven Taylor (17): Taylor was a rarity in Geordy land, a defender who knew why he was put down the back, won't they be pissed off up there when they realise he's been taken from them then?

Liam Ridgewell (18): The latest product of Aston Villa's youth system, Ridgewell looks a player of real promise, and will battle hard with Taylor for the 3rd choice central defender role.

[Heat]

Originally Posted by Afros

The Squad: I've picked out a squad and edited them in with the editor before starting the game, I skipped over eligable players like Jermaine Defoe, while Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole had already reached 15 caps. Micheal Carrick is the only player already capped in the side, with 2 caps to his name.

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Goal Keepers
Tommy Heaten (17): One of the players gained in the Academy from the demise of Man United, looks a keeper of some promise, but will have a battle on his hands with Graham Stack for the Number One jersey.

Graham Stack (21): The former Arsenal youngster, will be in a keen battle with Heaten for the number 1 jersey, is my preference at this stage, due to the fact he has played some first team football, although Heaten does look a decent prospect, as do some of the lads in the reserves.

Defenders
Phil Jagielka (20): Will either start at right back, or be our defender on the bench, due to his versitility, has plenty of first team experience with Sheffield United, but is still only 20, should earn himself at least an under 21's cap this season.

Glen Johnson (18): The former West Ham youth player, still only 18, and with only a handful of first team games under his belt, could perhaps start at right back, although my preference is for Jagielka at this stage.

Matthew Taylor (21): Is one of the oldest players in the side, and is comfortably the best left-back in the side, will no doubt start in that position, provides some good go forward, and could in later years, even surpass Wayne Bridge or even Ashley Cole.

James McEverley (18): Will be hoping Taylor lives up to the wraps I've given him, McEverley will undoubtedly replace Taylor at left back as soon as he moves on, James has age on his side, but will no doubt not want to wait around to long for a chance.

Calum Davenport (20): The highly rated centre-back from Coventry looks destined for high places, he could form a lethal partnership at the back with Micheal Dawson, another highly rated young defender who has cut his teath in England's second tier.

Micheal Dawson (19): If you havn't heard of Dawson by now, you must not be the football fan you clame to be, Dawson has, for some time now, been regarded as a great defender in the making, will definatly start, and could become the academy's first captain.

Steven Taylor (17): Taylor was a rarity in Geordy land, a defender who knew why he was put down the back, won't they be pissed off up there when they realise he's been taken from them then?

Liam Ridgewell (18): The latest product of Aston Villa's youth system, Ridgewell looks a player of real promise, and will battle hard with Taylor for the 3rd choice central defender role.

A very good squad so far but I cant hep wondeing that Liam Rosenior can do a betterjob then Glen Johnson on the right wing

[Afros]

Midfielders
David Prutton (21): This kid looks a real prospect for England, and will walk into my first team somewhere across the midfield, he may be the man for a 4-5-1 formation to play in the whole between defense and midfield.

Joey Barton (20): One of the products of the Man City youth system, will struggle to get a game ahead of Prutton and Carrick, but could still feature somewhere along the line, also looks a decent prospect however.

Micheal Carrick (21): The only player in the squad to have represented his country, and its easy to see why, this kid oozes class, and should be battling hard for the holding midfielders role with Prutton, the versitality of the latter means both should be able to start however.

James Milner (17): A player I have always been a fan of, who will feature somewhere, can play up front, on the wing, or in the centre, and I will try him in all three roles, I feel he will become a class player, and will enjoy helping him along that path.

Kevin Nolan (21): One of the Bolton youngsters who looks a decent prospect, could play on the right or in the centre, although with Milner and Wright-Phillips in front of him, may have trouble getting a game.

Rohan Ricketts (20): Can play anywhere across the midfield, and is two footed as well, I feel he will develop into a real class act for the club given the chances, he will be given time in all parts of the midfield, to see where his best position might be.

Shaun Wright-Phillips (21): Has been tipped for some time to replace David Beckham down the right for England, and comes to the academy to prove he can do it, is speedy and knows how to deliver a good ball, it is only a matter of time before he has a cap to his name.

Kieran Richardson (18): Rounds off an excelent group of attacking midfield players, may struggle to get a game, with Ricketts likely to get the left wing, but will still see his chances, after all, this club is about giving young guys chances.

Strikers
Shola Ameobi (21): A big, strong, fast centre-forward, Shola was seen as Shearer's long-term replacement, he comes to the academy as a player near the finished article, and could be a damaging force this season.

Micheal Chopra (19): Another former Geordie, Chopra looks a decent prospect, not as strong as Shola, but quicker on his feet, will get his chances in what is a fairly even strike quartet.

Carlton Cole (19): Came into the Chelsea setup pre-Abromivich, but was looking out of the managers thoughts when the Russian came in, and the Academy came along just at the right time for him, is regarded as a potential superstar, and the academy may just be the place to give him the polish he deserves.

Stefan Moore (19): Small fast striker, I favour him to start alongside either Shola or Carlton, although it is touch and go, has a younger brother, Luke, who has also joined the academy, and may be playing up front for the academy alongside Luke in seasons to come.

[Afros]

Our friendlies are as follows: Anderlecht (H), Barnet (A), Brabrand (A), FC Nordsjaelland (A), AGF (A), Esbjerg fB (A).

Ohh and in other news, I've made a couple of offers for some players, Lee Grant, a keeper from Derby, his teammate Tom Huddlesstone, a defender, Billie Jones, a defender from Crewe, and Charlie Daniels, a left winger from Spurs.

[Afros]

Some transfer news, Derby's 16 year old Tommy Huddlestone has joined, while Lee Grant, Charlie Daniels and Billy Jones are all likely to join soon, all will play in the reserves, along with some other 16 year olds I am currently considering, who will form the second generation of the Academy after the current generation have left.

Here is my current 'reserves' squad.

GK: Adam Collin, Luke Steele.
DEF: Paul Ifil, Stuart Parnaby, Peter Whittingham, Tome Huddlestone.
MID: John Welsh, Darren Ambrose, Lee Martin, Jermaine Pennant, David Fox.
ST: Luke More, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Colin Heath.

[Afros]

Its Monday August 14, at 7:30PM, so you know what that means, friendly time! Anderlecht have made the visit to Wembly, as England gets its first look at how the Academy project will go.

I have decided to swap the entire side at half time, to give each player an equal run, in the next friendly I will probably revese the line-up, and will see how it goes from there, this is all designed to see how each of the players goes, in a hope of getting some idea what will be my strongest line-up before the season starts.

Line-up (4-4-2): Heaton; Johnson, Dawson, S Taylor, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Carrick, Milner, Ricketts; Cole, S Moore. Bench: The rest of the squad

First Half: The game did not start all that well for us, and after Milner's pass to Carrick was intercepted Hasi, who fed to Mpenza, he simply ran into the gap between the centre-backs Taylor and Dawson, due to Dawson having followed his man further up the pitch, and a brilliant lob gave Anderlecht the lead on 17 minutes.

We responded just 3 minutes later, Milner showed some class, spotting Carrick outside the area, he lobbed the ball into the space in front of him, Carrick ran onto it and easily finished, class all around, but some questions must be asked as to the (lack of) defending on the Belgians behalf.

The game remained fairly even until the 38th minute, when the Milner-Carrick connection surfaced again, Milner fed Carrick, who's sublime first touch gave Stefan Moore sight of goal, his shot hit the inside of the post, but he was first to the rebound to tap it home and give us the lead.

Just three minutes later, and we had another goal, again through Moore, Wright-Phillips found Cole, who volleyed the ball into the path of Moore, Moore smashed the shot into the top corner from the edge of the area, despite the attention of defenders either side of him, these kids sure are classy!

Just a minute later, Glen Johnson passed to Carrick, who hit a first time ball into the path of Wright-Phillips, he got the cross in for Moore, who headed home to give himself a stunning 5 minute hat-trick, and just about stamp the '9' on just jersey already!

Just a minute later, and we had opened up Anderlecht's woeful defending again, Wright-Phillips spotted Cole in enough space to land a 747, and Cole finished cooly at the inside post to make it 5-1, and bring an end to a 6 minute period that yielded us four goals!

Half Time: I changed the entire side over, as planned.

Second Half: A rather dull affair for the fans, with our boys not sure how to play, most of them have hardly any first team experience, and to come on for 45 minutes in a friendly that has no point, and with the result already sown up, most of them seemed to be just going through the motions, I will not judge any of the players to greatly on their performance in this half, because thanks to the efforts of the starters, they were put in a situation where it was never likely they would dazzle, for the record, Anderlecht scored twice to make the score look respectable.

Final Score: 5-1 (S Moore 3, Cole, Carrick)
MOTM: S Moore.
Crowd: 7456.

[Afros]

Some more transfer news ahead of the July 25 friendly against Barnet, Charlie Daniels, Billy Jones, Lee Grant and Owen Price have all joined, Jones from Crewe, Grant from Derby, and the other two from Spurs. Grant will be strait into the first team squad to battle for the Number 1 jersey, while the other three will be in the reserves awaiting the chance to move up.

Leon Best of Southampton, Lee Holmes of Derby, and Leigh Mills of Tottenham are all likely to join in the coming days. All are also likely to join the reserve squad.

Ohh, and if anybody is wondering fee's, I'll post a screenie at the end of the window with a list of all the transfer's and their fee's, most are just poach jobs with a set fee.

[Afros]

July 25: Friendly: vs Barnet, away.

Line-up (4-4-2): Stack; Jagielka, Davenport, Ridgewell, McEveley; Prutton, Barton, Nolan, Richardson; Ameobi, Chopra. Bench: The team who started the first friendly.

First half: This XI showed that a large part of them do not deserve a spot in our first XI for the league, as they struggled to break down a Barnet side who they should easily have accounted for, Barnet actually had the best chances of the first half, but failed to convert. One lowlight was an injury to Micheal Chopra, who was replaced by Cole just before half-time, Cole, however, had our only chance of the half, but failed to convert.

Second half: The group that I feel will make up a large ammount of my eventual starting line-up had Barnet to tackle in this half, and although they never really got into the match, they still managed to find two goals, Micheal Carrick scored both, the first, following up on Cole's initial shot, the second a deflected shot from 30 yards, giving us a perhaps undeserved win.

Final Score: 2-0 (Carrick 2)
MOTM: Micheal Carrick.
Crowd: 4587.

Post-Match thoughts
I think that I will perhaps run the next two friendlies as simulated league matches, with each XI to start once, and see how they go over a full match, because the side who have come out in the second-half in both matches so far have looked flat, overall England's attacking options look bright for the future, with most of England's best young attacking players now playing in the academy, the two friendlies have shown that, over time, the academy will have benefits to the England national side, as I have no doubts the players will benefit from having played a part of their development with each other.

[Heat]

Things are starting to look good, can I just recommend Liam Rosenior, great player, KUTGW

[Afros]

Transfer News
The transfers of Leon Best, Lee Holmes and Leigh Mills were all agreed for the summer of 2004, while on the advice of one of the Academy's junior coaches saw a bid for 19 year old Fulham winger Liam Rosenior, £1.2million should be enough to bring the youngster to the club.

Some outward bound traffic today as well, young Graham Stack informed us in training that he had decided to declare his allegiances to Ireland, so he was given a free transfer out of the Academy, hopefully he can find himself another club, plenty are interested, so he shouldn't have to much trouble.

[Afros]

I decided to play this friendly as though it were a league fixture, because I wanted to give the players a full match to see how they go, as I continue to try to find out who is our first choice XI.

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July 31: Friendly #3: Brabrand, away.

Line-up: Grant; Jagielka, Davenport, Dawson, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Carrick, Milner, Ricketts; S Moore, Ameobi. Subs: Heaton, Johnson, Barton, Nolan, Cole.

First Half: Some haphazard defending by our hosts allowed Shola Ameobi room to shoot, and he made now mistake, fireing home after only 9 minutes, Stefan Moore doubled our advantage on 27 minutes, with a shot that went strait between the keepers legs. Frustration for us, as Wright-Phillips came off injured before half time, replaced by Kevin Nolan.

Second Half: Not much happened, as the second half petered out, as friendlies tend to do, Glen Johnson came on for Davenport, while Joey Barton came on for Carrick in the only siginificant changes, Brabrand had a few chances, but generally Dawson and Davenport, later replaced by Jagielka in the centre, were to strong, and what they did let through, Grant saved.

Final Score: 2-0 (Moore, Ameobi)
MOTM: Shola Ameobi.
Crowd: 5472.

Post-match thoughts
Davenport and Dawson look to be the soundest choice in the centre of defense, with Jagielka down the right, and Matty Taylor at left back, Milner and Carrick are the stand out central midfielders, while Wright-Phillips has the right wing to himself, Ricketts or Richardson will take the left wing, with Ameobi or Carlton Cole to partner Moore up front, what can be considered our strongest XI is pretty much sorted.

Some bad post match-news, the Denmark tosser who injured SWP is now an enemy of the Academy, as the energetic winger is out for a month with an injury, tosser! And Rohan Ricketts has pulled a hammy, so he'll be joining SWP on the sidelines, but only for three weeks...

[Unused User 1]

KUTGW :y:

This is a good story, and I am enjoying reading it.

Keep it up

[Afros]

Some news that I'm sure will please some people, Liam Rosenior from Fulham for £1.2 million. In other news, the friendly with AGF on August 6 has been cancelled, I feel that with the Aug 3rd friendly against FC Nordsjaelland and the final friendly on August 9 against Esbjerg fB, the players will get enough practise in, especially since some of the first team players have been involved in the friendly program we organised for the reserve team.

[Afros]

Aug 3: Friendly #4: FC Nordsjaelland, away.

Line-up: Grant; Jagielka, S Taylor, Ridgewell, M Taylor; Nolan, Carrick, Milner, Richardson; Chopra, Ameobi. Subs: Heaton, Johnson, Prutton, Barton, Cole.

First half: A bad start then, as our hosts took a third minute lead, the initial shot was saved, however the follow-up was not likely to be saved as well, and FC Nordsjaelland were 1-0 up. On 27 minutes, we allowed them to get a cross in out of nowhere, and they were 2-0 up, this after Micheal Chopra showed he may be the first academy student shown the door when he missed two easy opportunities. Half time came around, with me not happy with the effort so far.

Second Half: The second half started in the same manner as the first, Micheal Chopra managing to miss another chance with the half not even 30 seconds old. On the hour, I made a triple subs, the woeful Chopra was replace by Carlton Cole, Ridgewell had picked up a slight knock, so Johnson replaced him and then swapped with Jagielka, and the simply appalling Kevin Nolan was replace by David Prutton, who swapped positions with Milner. Carrick and Ameobi combined near the end to give Cole a half chance, but by the time he had room for the shot, the angle was to tight, but he still managed to win a corner. Full time finally came on the sides worst friendly performance, made more frustrating by the low standard of the oppisition, how can we expect to survive the Premiership when we can't challenge shit like this?

Final Score: 0-2
MOTM: Erikson (one of their players, scored both goals)
Crowd: 9437

[Afros]

The pre-season odd's for the Premiership title have been announced.

6-4 Arsenal, 7-4 Chelsea, 5-2 Arsenal, 12-1 Newcastle, 25-1 Academy, 40-1 Aston Villa.

These odd's are probably quite flattering to us, we have a squad with little Premiership experience, but I feel that we should be able to finish mid-table at worst, which is about all the board are asking, absurdly the supporters expect us to win the League this season...

I have also decided to leave my Assistant Manager to take care of our last friendly, we have seen everything we need to see from the squad, and all this is about is giving the players one last stretch of the legs ahead of the Premiership's opening game a week after.

I have also decided on what will be my first choice line-up, baring injury, it is as follows, in 4-4-2: Tommy Heaton; Phil Jagielka, Micheal Dawson, Callum Davenport, Matthew Taylor; Shaun Wright-Phillips, James Milner, Micheal Carrick, Rohan Ricketts; Stefan Moore, Carlton Cole.

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Ohh and in our final friendly, Stefan Moore netted twice as we draw 2-2 with Esbjerg fB in our final friendly match, we're primed for Blackburn!

August Fixtures
Sat Aug 15, 15:00: Blackburn, home.
Wed Aug 20, 19:30: Newcastle, away.
Sun Aug 24, 16:00: Southampton, home.
Sat Aug 30, 15:00: Portsmouth, away.

[Afros]

Saturday August 16, 15:00. FA Premier League, vs Blackburn, home

Pre-match talk: Wembley stadium was buzzing with atmosphere, this was the first time a League fixture had been played at the famous venue, and this was a historical day for more reasons then one, also being the first League Fixture for the FA's new English Football Academy, all eye's were trained on Wembley to see how the kids would go.

Team News: Rohan Ricketts was still not 100% from his hamstring injury, so I wasn't keen to risk him, although he'll probably be involved somewhere for Newcastle on Wednesday, Shaun Wright-Phillips is also still injured, but he is unlikely to return to the team until after the early September break for internationals.

Line-up (4-4-2): Heaton; Jagielka, Dawson, Davenport, Taylor; Nolan, Milner, Carrick©, Richardson; Moore, Cole. Subs: Grant, Johnson, Barton, Prutton, Ameobi.

First Half: We dominate them for the entire half, but our strikers (think, CC) have yet to find the back of the net, Blackburn have been restricted to just one shot all half, and that was off target anyway, I guess at least the defense is solid, even if the attack is having an off day.

Second half: The second half continues in much the same fashion as the first, although Blackburn manage to get a couple more shots, on 63 minutes, I bring on Ameobi for Cole, and Barton for Milner, to see what they can do. Time is running out, we are creating openings everywhere, but frustratingly, our shots seem to always go to Brad Friedel, I look at the bench, Johnson, Prutton and Grant, not much attacking potential there, so I decide to stick with the boys on the field. Finally on 84 minutes, our pressure has paid off, Carrick passes to Richardson, who gets to the by-line and crosses it in, and the man of the moment, Stefan Moore, is right there to tap it home, Wembley and I go up as one! A nervous 8 or so minutes follows, but we hold out for what was a well deserved 3 points in a game which, despite the scoreline, we dominated, and deserved to win.

Final Score: 1-0 (Stefan Moore 84)
Stats: Poss: 59%-41% Shots/On: 21/10-5/3 Cor/Free: 6/17-5/17 Throw/Off: 20/5-18/3.
MOTM: Jay Bothroyd (Blackburn) How a striker who played in a side that lost 1-0 and was convincingly out-played in Possession, Shots and every other aspect, could earn MOTM I have no idea, but I guess his dad must give the award or somthing.
Crowd: 77,632.

Post Match Comments
I think the late winner changed what I was planning to say on this match. We got lucky here, there is no doubt. So often teams can dominate as we did, and either not score, or concede a late goal, thankfully these kids showed great resolve to keep pressing until they found a goal, I think this shows a lot about their character. On another day, this could have been 4 or 5 nil, the ammount of shots that were hit strait at Brad Friedel was amazing, but, we got three points, and that is the most important thing.

[Afros]

Ohh, and if everybody's wondering, all the match stats include the academy's stats first, hope nobody was confused on this!

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Wednesday August 20, 19:30. FA Premier League, vs Newcastle, away.

Pre-match talk: Newcastle had spent big in the summer, bring in £23 million worth of talent, they had won at Everton on the opening day, and came into this clash with us as clear and deserved favourites.

Team News: Rohan Ricketts returns for us today, but SWP is still out. I have decided to play a 4-5-1 formation to give ourselves a better chance of sneaking a draw.

Line-up: Grant; Jagielka, Davenport, Dawson, M Taylor; Barton, Welsh, Carrick, Milner, Richardson; S Moore. Subs: Heaton, Johnson, Nolan, Ricketts, Ameobi.

First half: We scrap well, generally restricting Newcastle to long range efforts, one of which that arsey Turk Tuncay gets home, Milner had our best chance of the half, but he blazed over, still only 1-0 down at half time, we're not out of it yet, especially with Nolan, Ricketts and Ameobi on the bench roaring for action.

Second half: We hold our own, but unfortunatly the barcodes score another Arsey goal... not that it was lucky, just that Nicky Butt scored it. Ok, bad joke, I decide to turn to the bench at this point, Ameobi comes on for the Matthew Taylor, Nolan for Milner, and Ricketts for Richardson, as we switch to a more adventurous 3-5-2/3-3-4, to see what we can do. It pays almost immediate dividends, the man who is likely to be the academy's graduate, Carrick, plays a ball over the top for Rohan Ricketts on 68 minutes, and Rickett's marks his debut for the Academy with a classy finish, here we come! Heaton showed why he deserves to be between the sticks minutes later, as he saved twice in 3 seconds from Jenas from point blank range to keep us in the match. Then on 81 minutes, the barcodes faithful have been silenced! Carrick's corner did a ping-pong around the area, before Ameobi slotted it home, we're level, could we snatch a winner! It was not to be, as Mary Poppins grabbed a late winner for the boys in footballs most boring kit, we lost the match, but as I told the boys on the bus on the way home, at least we had helped Newcastle on what is the only purpose of the existance of their club, to help ever-increase the the size of the already massive ego posessed by 'Poppins' Shearer.

Final Score: 2-3 (Ricketts 69, Ameobi 82)
Stats: Poss: 43%-57% Shots/On: 10/7-15/11 Cor/Free: 3/19-2/15 Throw/off: 19/12-27/12.
MOTM: Sanli Tuncay (Newcastle)
Crowd: 52,164.

Post Match comments
Despite losing this match, I was still proud of the effort the boys put in today, 2-0 down after an hour, bringing on Ameobi, Ricketts and Nolan was a last throw of the dice more then a master-stroke, but it almost paid off, Ameobi and Ricketts both scored as we levelled it up, Ameobi pulling himself in front of Carlton Cole in the pecking order, conceding the late equaliser was a bit frustrating, but young players are prone to lapses on concentration, and overall, they did not play all that badly.

[Dean]

Rohan Ricketts :y:. Oh and KUTGW!

[mfcfan]

I like it matey, shame about Man Utd being replaced though!!!!

[Nelson]

yup kutgw!

[Afros]

Cheers guys. Rohan Rickett's is class IMO, well, at least on CM anyway, he always seems to do well, and he is useful, because he can play either flank, meaning if SWP is injured for example, I could switch him over, and play Richardson, rather the Nolan.

[Afros]

Sunday August 20: 16:00. FA Premier League, vs Southampton, home.

Pre-match talk: Saints have been in good early form, having held Chelsea at the bridge after being 2-0 up, and then smashing Everton 5-2 at St Mary's, this promises to be a corker.

Team News: Ricketts will return to the first XI today, SWP has shown some promising signs he could be back for our next match, but still out today. Lion Rosenior looks likely to make his debut down the right.

Line-up (4-4-2): Heaton; Jagielka, S Taylor, Dawson, M Taylor; Rosenior, Carrick, Milner, Ricketts; Ameobi, S Moore. Subs: Grant, McEveley, Barton, Nolan, Cole.

First half: This was one of those drab affairs one often see's in games involving boring teams like Southampton, Saints played with their usual lack of flair, restricting us, and themselves, to any real chances, the ground announcer had to fire a loud flair at half time, because majority of the crowd had fallen asleep with boredom and Southamptons negativity.

Second half:Just like against Blackburn, it was Stefan Moore who broke the rot at Wembley, Matty Taylor's cross was missed by Ameobi, but Stef was right behind him to knock it home and give us the lead. Not long after, Kevin Nolan came on for Milner, and McEveley came on for Rosenior, who is still lacking some match-fitness, McEveley switched to left-back, Matty Taylor to the left wing, and Ricketts changed flanks. With 15 minutes to go, the points were all but sown up, Ricketts teed it up for Nolan, who's shot was saved, however, Ameobi followed up and put it home. With a few minutes left, Carrick's corner found Nolan at the near post, who rounded off the scoring to send the team top of the Dullness table home empty handed and licking their wounds.

Final Score: 3-0 (Moore 52, Ameobi 75, Nolan 87)
Stats: Poss: 55%-45% Shots/on: 14/9-2/1 Cor/Free: 4/9-3/15 Throw/Foul: 36/12-17/9
MOTM: Shola Ameobi. He justified being given a starting role, got a goal, and made a general nuisance of himself.
Crowd: 81,160.

Post-Match Comments
Ameobi justified his selection well, and provided the perfect strong man-fast man partnership with Stefan Moore, Ricketts is looking quality, it looks, at the moment, like Ricketts, Moore, Ameobi and Carrick are favourites to graduate from the accademy.

(Graduation is getting 15 caps)

[Afros]

Friday August 29: England Under 21's Squad announcement
This was the first England squad announcement since for the season, and it was going to be interesting to see who made it, and who didn't, here is the list of academy players who made it into the squad.

Lee Grant, Phil Jagielka, James McEveley, Glenn Johnson, Matthew Taylor, Peter Whittingham, Micheal Dawson, David Prutton, Steven Taylor, Joey Barton, Darren Ambrose, Jermaine Pennant, Kevin Nolan, Rohan Ricketts, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Carlton Cole, Shola Ameobi, Micheal Chopra. 18 players!

8 players made the squad who were not involved in the academy set-up: Rhys Evans, Richard Lee, Peter Clarke, Micheal Tonge, Jordan Stewart, Quincy Owusu Abeyle, Jay Bothroyd, Jermaine Defoe.

The media were now praising the academy setup, many of the guys who made the squad had not been involved in the under 21's setup before. Many also speculated that Stefan Moore may be in line for a full England call-up, because otherwise, why was he left out of the squad?

As for me, I'm off to try slip some quick moves for Tonge, Evans, Lee and Stewart. The others I believe are either in a position where they are better left, or already developed enough to not need the academy.

[Afros]

Academy in Evans and Tonge double swoop
The English football academy have made a double swoop for promising England Under 21's Goal Keeper Rhys Evans, and young midfielder Micheal Tonge, the duo cost the Academy £500k and £3.3million respectivly, both will be available for the match with Portsmouth on Saturday. Manager Bryan Robson (my manager name :p) said that he is pleased to add these two to the squad, and this will be the Academy's final additions for the window.

Here's my complete transfer list: http://img117.exs.cx/img117/4456/transfers7wi.jpg

[Afros]

Saturday August 30: 15:00. FA Premier League, vs Portsmouth, away.

Pre-match talk: Pomey currently sit 5th on 7 points, while we are 2 places and a point further back, we start marginal favourites.

Team news: SWP returns on the bench, Micheal Tonge will make his debut off the bench, no other major news.

Starting line-up (4-4-2): Grant; Jagielka, Dawson, S Taylor, M Taylor; Rosenior, Carrick©, Milner, Ricketts; Moore, Ameobi. Subs: Heaton, Tonge, Wright-Phillips, Johnson, Cole.

First half: Some quite shithouse defending allows LuaLua to give our hosts the lead, the entire defense know they are at fault, standing around and watching after the keeper saves and the ball doesn't go out is not proper defending now, is it? Matty Taylor almost made up for it not long after, his brilliant pass releasing LuaLua who scored again, apparantly sombody forgot to tell him he no longer plays for Pompey. The story of the half, that cocky little shit LuaLua, normally he's hopeless, but today, he has decided to play-act that he's really a footballer, at half time I'm going to ring my Hollywood connections and reccomend him for a role in a movie, such is his ability to act out somthing that he plainly is not.

Second half: Pompey started brighter again, why are we being played off the park by this decades Wimbledon? To make things complete, they got a goal on the hour that was stereotypical of the dons reign of Power, the ball bounced around in the box, hit Yakubu on the arse, rebounded onto Kamara's back, and into the net. I decide attack is the best form of defense from now on, Tonge and Wright-Phillips coming on for Dawson and Rosenior, both who have been woeful today. It pays off almost immediatly, as Stefan Moore volleys home a cross from Ameobi. That is all we manage, and another of the Premierships hack teams gets 3 points further from safety. I try not to get to frustrated, but it is mind-boggling how players with the skill of SWP, Ricketts, Milner and co could be beaten by 11 hacks is beyond me...

Final Score: 1-3 (S Moore 61)
MOTM: Lomana LuaLua. (Pompey) He managed to hack himself a brace, just was the lucky man to two bad cases of defending...
Stats: Poss: 52%-48% Shots/On: 7/4-10/6 Cor/Free: 2/15-3/11 Throw/Off: 29/1-11/2
Crowd: 20,076.
And did anybody tell the any of those 20,076 that the Academy isn't called 'Southampton', because they spent the entire match chanting about how shit Southampton are, I spose, when you know your club isn't going anywhere, you've gotta amuse yourself somehow!

Post-Match Comments
We begin the international break in 7th place, played 4, won 2, lost 2. So far the system is going well, although the players need more experience in breaking down teams like Pompey and Blackburn, who are happy to hack a lucky goal then put everybody in front of the goal, these sort of teams are a cancer on the league, and I blame them, as much as the influx of foreigners, on the decline of the England side.

September Fixtures
Sat Sep 13: 12:30: Arsenal, home.
Sat Sep 20: 15:00: Birmingham, away.
Tue Sep 23: 19:30: Coventry, away. Carling Cup Second Round.
Mon Sep 29: 19:30: Charlton, home.

[Tommy]

another class story from an Aussie, KUTGW

[Afros]

Tommy, I think this story will get better the longer it goes, once players start graduating from the Academy, (I've decided to make a new policy, any offer over £10million will be accepted) I will be able to report how they are going with their careers, as well as reporting how the latest group are going, rather then just doing match to match reports.

---

Saturday September 13: 12:30. FA Premier League, vs Arsenal, home.

Pre-match talk: Arsenal sit one place below us on the table, equal on goal difference, but having scored few goals, they start as deserved favourites, however, and we will have to work hard to get a result here.

Team news: No iniuries or suspension, SWP is set to make his first start of the season after his injury.

Line-up (4-4-2): Grant; Jagielka, Dawson, S Taylor, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Milner, Carrick, Ricketts; Ameobi, S Moore. Subs: Heaton, Johnson, Tonge, Nolan, Cole.

First half: Arsenal start the brighter, with Reyes finding it all to easy to get to the by-line and put a ball in, and after 20 minutes, our defence decide that French number 14 isn't worth bothering about, and he scores unmarked at the far post. Our defence is having all sorts of trouble with Reyes, as Dawson lets him run through all to easily, at half time, I instruct one of my full-backs to man-mark Henry wherever he goes, and the other gets Reyes.

Second half: Unfortunatly on 48 minutes, Henry is allowed to nod home an easy goal, as our defence again goes to sleep. Who put the ball to his head? If you thought Reyes, expect a nasty phone call from Robert Pires, caus it was him. My full-back's have been doing a brilliant job man-marking Henry and Pires, keeping right on 15 yards from their respective men. Unsuprisingly, Henry scores again with Reyes involved in the build-up, again, Arsenal did it frustratingly easy. Finally we get one back, Ricketts gets some space down the left and crosses it in for Moore, who finishes well on an angle, nice one boys! Strait away, I bring on Cole for the booked Steven Taylor, Nolan for Milner, and Tonge for Carrick, get 'em boys! Unfortunatly they don't 'get 'em' and we drop the points... ohh well!

Final Score: 0-3
MOTM: Who else? He gets it every week...
Crowd: 89,983.

Post Match Comments
We can't make the same excuses we did for the Pompey defeat here, because the truth is, we got outplayed by class oppisition, well, that number 14 our defense didn't give enough respect to anyway... Our trip to Birmingham is shaping as a big match now, we need a result. And to be honest, these kids have a lot of work to do, if they want to justify their claims as England's generation next.

[Afros]

Saturday September 20: 15:00. FA Premier League, vs Birmingham, away.

Pre-match talk: We come into this match as favourites, and I feel we can win this one, after all, our oppisition are like a bull seeing red when an opponent in Claret and Blue comes along, but wearing white, we shouldn't have to many worries.

Team news: Again everybody is fit, amazing! I've decided to try another formation, to give some other players a run. Think somthing similar to Chelsea's 4-3-3. Davenport comes back in as well, because Steven Taylor was aweful vs the Goon.

Line-up: Heaton; Jagielka, Dawson, Davenport, M Taylor; Barton, Milner, Carrick; Wright-Phillips, Ricketts; Ameobi. Subs: Grant, Johnson, Nolan, Barton, S Moore.

First half: Davenport has an impact after 36 minutes, releasing SWP down the right, Shaun ran free into the area, and finished with customary class to give us the lead. I expected Birmingham to be hard to break down, and being another of the 'boring brigade' this proved to be the case, but we are going well so far.

Second half: A dull start to the half, but on 58 minutes, Dawson makes a mistake, and the donkey himself breaks away, somehow he manges to get the ball in the general direction of the goal, and it goes in, they've equalised... On the hour, Nolan comes on for Ricketts, Prutton for Barton and Moore for Ameobi, hopefully we can grab a winner. Unfortunatly its an equaliser, as we allow the winger, who, as a Villa fan, I am ashamed to be a countryman of, Lazaridis, to score. Some more aweful defending allows Heskey to grab his second, I'm sure the players were wishing the match would never end, after seeing my reaction on the sideline. Unfortunatly it does end, and to put it simply, we recieved a bill for the repainting of the dressing room from Birmingham after the match, such was the ferocity of the bollocking I gave the players. One would think that being porn dealers, they'd be able to afford it...

Final Score: 1-3
MOTM: Emule Heskey... Shows how bad we played...
Crowd: 29,986.

Post match comments
The boys are made to realise that this kind of tripe will not be tolerated, I ask them why they are here? They say, to play for England! I say, do you think England fans would put up with such inept performances? Basicly the players are made to realise that if they want to be England players, and remain at the academy, they had better pep-up fast.

[Afros]

Wednesday September 24: Carling Cup, vs Coventry away.

Pre-match talk: We need to get a win here, its as simple as that, our season is threatening to get away from us, and a win here would re-boost morale.

Team news: Micheal Carrick is the only man out, with a broken wrist.

Line-up (4-4-2): Grant; Jagielka, S Taylor, Dawson©, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Prutton, Nolan, Ricketts; Moore, Ameobi. Subs: Heaton, Johnson, Milner, Tonge, Cole.

First half: We start brightly, and after only 7 minutes, Stefan Moore crosses in for David Prutton to score on his starting debut for the team. On 21 minutes, Matty Taylor put a cross in, and Stef calmly made it 2 with a nice finish. Just a couple of minutes later, Nolan passes to Moore, who advances on goal and hits an unstoppable shot to give us an even greater buffer. Coventry have a couple of half-chances before the interval, but we hold out to lead 3-0 at the break.

Second half: 5 minutes in, and Dawson has his first Academy goal! A Prutton corner, and he was to strong in the air, 4-0! On the hour, we bring on Cole for Stevie Taylor, he goes strait up front, Tonge comes on for Ricketts and Milner for Prutton, as we push to really embarass the sky blues. The match starts to fizzle out, but Micheal Tonge gives the traveling fans somthing to remember in injury time, getting the ball outside the area and hitting a bullet of a shot that hit the inside of the post and went in to complete the rout.

Final Score: 5-0
MOTM: Stefan Moore. A West-Midlands local boy, who grew up a Villa fan, he would have enjoyed getting 2 goals, as the Cov fans gave him hell for his Villa connections.
Crowd: 19,976.

Post-match comments
I appologised to the lads for my comments after the last match, I realise that as young guys, they are prone to have concentration lapses now and again, its just that against bigger and better teams, they suffer more for them, they showed today that they are also keen to try outlandish and flashy tricks, as most youngsters are, I suppose I am going to have to endure the frustrations if I am going to keep at this job, I guess.

[Spav]

Very good start, Afros. KUTGW mate.

[Afros]

Monday September 29: 19:30. FA Premier League, vs Charlton, home.

Pre-match talk: We lie in in 16th, our bright start eroded by successive defeats to a 3-1 scoreline, at home to Arsenal sandwhiched by our visits to Pompey and Birmingham, Charlton's away record is abismal, however. They have yet to score on their travels in 3 attempts, some good newa for us then.

Team news: As you would expect here, with everybody available. Carrick is being dropped, he's trying to be a hero to much, continually shooting from way out, which is fucking frustrating...

Line-up (4-4-2): Grant; Jagielka, Davenport, Dawson©, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Milner, Prutton, Ricketts; Ameobi, S Moore. Subs: Heaton, Johnson, Nolan, Tonge, Cole.

First Half AfterShola Ameobi proved he is a selfish arsehole, trying to shoot when he had three players free in better position, Milner made up for this not long after, blasting one in from outside the area, this still doesn't stop my frustration at the players continual insistance that passing to the available forward in the area is not a better option then shooting from 45 yards. One day these kids will learn footballs long lost secret, PASSING.

Second Half: Quite a dull start to the half, as one would expect when your oppisition is such a suffocatingly boring team as Charlton, on the hour Nolan comes on for Prutton, Tonge for Ricketts, and Cole for Ameobi. I consider asking the chairman for deckchair funds for my frontmen, who have a combined total of three shots between them, Ameobi wasted both his joining the midfield in wasted long-rangers, while Moore didn't get his ONE shot until the 89th minute, and I'm not kidding...

Final Score: 1-0 (Milner 26)
MOTM: James Milner, was outdone by SWP in the wasted 35 yard shots three to two, but at least one of his snuck in...

Crowd: 89,973.

Post Match Comments
I really think our midfield group need to sit down and realise that a midfielders main role in football is to get the ball to distrubute either to the wingers, or directly to the strikers. The wingers need to realise that when they get the ball, their primary role is to get to the by-line and cross it in. Neither the wingers or the central players should be consistantly shooting from 35 yards, and our midfield group consistantly do, at the cost of our strikers, the guys paid to score goals, not getting enough of the ball, if these midfielders want to crack the England setup, they had either develop a nack of scoring every other game, or learn to pass...

[Afros]

End of month
So its the end of September, and we sit in 13th on the table, P7, W3, L4. Scored 10 and conceded 12. For goals scored, we are 7th tied in the league, for goals conceded, we are 16th. We are 5th in the home table, but 17th in the away table.

Academy Graduation Guidlines
The Football Association have released the guidlines for what a player must have achieved to be known as a graduate of the football academy, they are as follows.

To be known as a Graduate of the Academy, a play must have fulfilled either of two goals. The first of these is to have recieved 15 England caps, the caps may have been achieved before joining the club, although no player with more then three caps can join the club. A player may also be called a Graduate if he moves from the club for a transfer fee greater then £15million, because such a fee is usually reserved for a player who is considered amongst the elite players anyway.

If a player does not graduate before he reaches his 26th birthday, he is to be sold, because any player who is 26 or over can not represent the academy.

October Fixtures
Sat Oct 4: 12:30 vs Chelsea, away.
Sat Oct 18: 15:00 vs Everton, home.
Sat Oct 25: 15:00 vs Middlesbrough, away.
Wed Oct 29: 19:30 vs Gillingham, home. Carling Cup 3rd Round.

[Afros]

Saturday October 4: 12:30. FA Premier League, vs Chelsea, away.

Pre-match talk: Chelsea lie in 10th, just 3 places and 2 points ahead of us, but in terms of experience, ability and everything else, they are streets ahead, the talk is how many they would score, not would they win.

Team News: As you are here, with nobody out injured/suspended, will probably play a more defensive line-up, however, and hope to nick a point.

Line-up (4-5-1): Grant; Jagielka, S Taylor, Dawson, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Barton, Carrick, Prutton, Ricketts; S Moore. Subs: Heaton, Milner, Nolan, McEveley, Ameobi.

First Half: Not happy with Damien Duff, when after 19 minutes, he stupidly injures SWP, so on comes Milner, Duff proves he really is a classless twat. Even worse, no booking for the Irishman. Our line holds form however, and at half time, its still level, but we've had 1 shot in 45 minutes, this is Southampton football at its best...

Second Half: A heart breaker for us, but a deserved goal for Chelsea, the player now only above Duff on my hated list of Chelsea players, Makelele, gets a goal, how we concede a goal to a man with a mammoth 15 goals in over 360 matches I'll never know, when we've kept Ruud and Mutu quite for near an hour. On the hour, Ameobi comes on for the booked Dawson, and McEveley for Taylor, as we switch to an attacking 3-5-2 formation. Unfortunatly Ameibi earns himself a spot on the shortlist of players to be sent back to the reserves to learn how to play their position, as he twice beats John Terry with supurb skill, only to make a complete hash of the one on one with the keeper, twat.

Final Score: 0-1
MOTM: Rio Ferdinand.
Crowd: 42,399.

Post-Match comments
Every team has those matches where you know that you are going to need to take every chance you get, or you will not get anything, Shola Ameibi had two chances to give us an equaliser here with one on one's with the keeper, and yet he fluffed both of them. Shola is obviously a talented young striker, but he needs to learn to be ruthless, and grab your chances, still, this was a good overall effort from the boys, who did well to restrict Chelsea to 1 goal.

[Afros]

Downing heading to academy
Stewart Downing has been announced as the English Football Academy's latest signing, in a deal believed to be worth £3.3million. Downing will join the Academy at the start of the January transfer window, and will be battling the likes of Kieron Richardson and Rohan Ricketts for the left wing spot at the club.

Downing said that he is delighted to be joining the Academy, and hopes to learn a lot from the experience, along with working with some of the other talented English footballers around.

In other related news, Crewe's Dean Ashton and Ipswich's Darren Bent have both been linked with moves to the Academy.

[Afros]

Saturday October 18: 15:00. FA Premier League, vs Everon, home.

Pre-Match talk: Everton sit a place and a point below us in the league, and will believe they can get a result here at Wembley, but we start as favourites.

Team News: Kevin Nolan is out injured, he injured himself during England Under 21's training, I've decided to give a few different players a run, as they all deserve a chance.

Line-up (4-4-2): Heaton; Jagielka, Davenport, Dawson, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Prutton, Ricketts, Tonge; Moore, Chopra. Subs: Grant, McEveley, Milner, Richardson, Ameobi.

First half: Tonge justifies his first start early, as he finds space down the flank, passes into the area to the unmarked Matty Taylor, who picks out SWP at the far post, and we have the lead! On the half-hour, some delightful passing in the midfield from Ricketts to Prutton gives Chopra a chance, but unfortunatly, he put it just wide. We continue to bombard the goal of the hapless Scousers, however, they refuse to wilt, and we go in at half time firmly in control but with only a slender lead.

Second Half: The half is not even 15 seconds old, strait from the kick off Prutton gets the ball and puts Chopra through, from a tight angle he manages to finish for his first goal at the Academy, 2-0, whoo! Just past the hour I decide to make a triple change, so off come Tonge, SWP and Moore, with Richardson, Milner and Ameobi their respective replacements. Davenport is injured on 79 minutes, no problems, Prutton switches to right-back, with Jagielka switching to the centre, we can coast this ship home. Nobody told Chopra, however, as he gets onto the end of Richardson's delightful long-ball to ram home a third and ensure the win, Wembley errupted!

Final Score: 3-0 (Wright-Phillips 12, Chopra 46, 81)
MOTM: Callum Davenport. He was a rock at the back, and combined with Dawson to keep the Toffee's highly rated duo of Rooney and McFadden quiet.

Post Match comments
Micheal Chopra looks a better player then I had thought, as does Prutton. Ricketts took to the midfield role alright, while Tonge enjoyed being given a start for once, Milner may regret his poor start to the season, because he is opening doors for players more then willing to walk through them.
Crowd: 77,435.

[Afros]

Saturday October 25: 15:00. FA Premier League, vs Middlesbrough, away.

Pre-Match talk: We are level on points with Boro, but above them on goal difference, Man Citeh sandwhiched between us, a vital game for both sides, then.

Team News: Nolan is still out injured, with the same XI from the previous game likely to start.

Line-up (4-4-2): Heaton; Jagielka, Davenport, Dawson, M Taylor; Wright-Phillips, Prutton, Ricketts, Tonge; Moore, Chopra. Subs: Grant, McEveley, Milner, Richardson, Ameobi.

First Half: Rohan Ricketts managed to earn my wrath at half time, as he had 5 of our seven shots, and staggeringly, only one of these was on target, and all were from the 25 yard range. Our two strikers, well Moore anyway, had 2 shots between them, with 1 on target. Reall, sombody should tell Ricketts he can pass to the strikers...

Second Half: Amazingly, our midfielders deciede to give Chopra a shooting chance, but unfortunatly he could only force a save from the keeper, not long after, SWP cut back inside brilliantly, then shot terribly. On the hour, Milner comes on for the poor Ricketts, Richardson for the quiet Tonge, and McEvekey for the poor Jagielka. With a bit over 10 minutes left, Gareth Southgate ensures he'll win the hotly contested race for the Boro showers by earning a red card. But we can not find an opening, a bad point at the end, SWP came off injured after coliding with one of Boro's hacks, Queudrue.

Final Score: 0-0
MOTM: Tommy Heaton. he did well, saved eveything asked of him.
Crowd: 35,098.

Post match comments
We had twice as many shots, 11-5 in fact, yet we still got less on target. Our midfield is wasting good field position by trying their luck with consistant hopelessness from long range, as a result, our strikers are getting minimal service, and when they do get the ball they have to much pressure on them, which results on them fluffing the chance.

[Afros]

Also, could people post some feedback occasionally? I'd prefer to know if its shit and nobody's reading, then posting to an empty audience, or if people have advice, feel free to post somthing, its always good to know sombody is interested!

[DannyBecks]

i love this story! very good idea, i look forward to seeing players 'graduate' and the next generation come in.

[pholiveira]

It's a good idea, because it's all about one thing that I always liked, the rising of new stars to write their names in history. Wishing that some of they are from the EFA.

[Dr Barry]

Great story, just wandered into TMD aimlessly and ended up reading the whole thing, good to see Ridgewell and the Moore brothers in the team.

Oh and... you can't win anything with kids.

[Afros]

Originally Posted by Dr Barry

Great story, just wandered into TMD aimlessly and ended up reading the whole thing, good to see Ridgewell and the Moore brothers in the team.

Oh and... you can't win anything with kids.

Sombody better tell Uncle Doug then

Good to see a fellow Villan getting 'round these parts!

[Tal Ben-Haim]

Get Ameobi starting hes top notch Talent!

[Afros]

Wednesday October 29: Carling Cup, vs Gillingham, home.

Pre-Match Talk: We start as overwhelming favourites, unsuprising, considering Gillingham are bottom of the Championship, but still, football is a fickle game, so we must be careful.

Team News: Micheal Dawson is suspended having reached 5 yellow cards, but everybody else is available.

Line-up (4-4-2): Heaton; Jagielka, Davenport, S Taylor, M Taylor; Wright Phillips, Nolan, Prutton, Tonge; Moore, Chopra. Subs: Grant, McEveley, Milner, Ricketts, Ameobi.

First Half: On 9 minutes we take the lead, after some good work by Moore and Chopra, Moore surged from half way, passed to Chopra and continued his run, Chopra lobbed it over the top for him, and Stef's shot had enough venom to make it in despite a hand from the keeper. The story of the half, however, is David Prutton's continual surges through the middle, only to ignore the movement in front of him and blaze over the bar, much to the annoyance of Stefan and Micheal. However on 45 minutes, Kevin Nolan shows him how to hit the target, blazing one inside the right hand up-right before the keeper even moved.

Second Half: Within a minute of the restart, Gillingham defender Ian Cox handballs in the area, and SWP stroked the penalty home to effectivly kill the match off. On the hour, Ricketts comes on for the frustrating Prutton, McEveley for Tonge, with Matt Taylor moving to the left wing, and Shola replaces the quiet Chopra. After 70 minutes, we have 3, SWP's brilliant flick-on finds Moore, who comfortably slots it home to the inside post to give us 4 for the night. Our scoring ends there, although we are not to worried, a good result and we live to fight another tie.

Final Score: 4-0 (Moore 10, 71. Nolan 45+. Wright-Phillips 46.)
MOTM: Shaun Wright-Phillips. He was everywhere, slowly showing he could well be the man to replace Becks.
Crowd: 75,750.

Post match comments
This result proves my thoughts, that these kids can play, but do not yet have the experience to win tough matches, which will come over time. The records show that so far this season, we have only lost one match that we scored first in, against Birmingham away, and every match we have won our opponent has failed to score. This shows that the sides confidence lifts once we score, but when our opisition score, the side seem to panic, they will no doubt learn how to deal with these issue's over time, I have no doubt, but hopefully thats a short time!

[Afros]

November Fixtures
Mon Nov 3: 19:30, vs Bolton, away.
Sat Nov 8: 15:00, vs WBA, home.
Wed Nov 12: 19:30, vs Man City, away.
Sun Nov 23: 14:00, vs Norwich, home.
Sat Nov 29: 15:00, vs Tottenham, away.

Comments:
I see us getting another 8 points from November, hopefully draws at Man City and Bolton, and wins at home to WBA and Norwich will be our results, the Spurs game at the end of the month is 4 days before our Carling Cup visit to the other team in North London, sure to be a tough pair of matches after the comparative ease of our other 4 November matches.