I am the manager of Crystal Palace in the Mystify soccer game.
One of the joys of following all forms of football is the fact that the coaches and managers tend to use the same cliches and metaphors week in and week out, no matter what the details of the sport. This page gives me a chance to exercise my creativity with some Manager's comments on the results of my team in the Mystify game.
| Week 1 | Coventry City | (Away) | Lost 0-3 | ||
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It was a disappointing result. Coventry are certainly the benchmark of the league, and we never even looked close to them. To be fair, I asked the lads to try something new this week, but we've been working on it all through the off season, and I would expect professional footballers to make a better effort at adapting than what we saw today.
We were 16th at this time last season, and we're 16th again. The only way from here is up.
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| Week 2 | Birmingham City | (Home) | Drew 1-1 | ||
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Bruce Dyer showed us the importance of a bit of experience today. I think some of the younger strikers are still feeling a bit in awe of the circumstances they find themselves in, but players like Bruce will help them keep it all in perspective.
If you draw the parallels with last season, its not too bad. We only managed one point from out first two games last season too, so its really just a question of where we go from here. There are 4 other teams in the same situation as us at the moment, and we play 3 of them in the next 3 weeks, so its absolutely vital that we take some points out of these games.
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| Week 3 | Grimsby Town | (Away) | Lost 1-0 | ||
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I think some of the lads are still a bit over-awed to be in the Premiership. I am trying to drum into them that, no matter how many times you've seen a guy's name in the papers, he's still just a man, and if you're good enough, you'll be able to take the ball off him.
Having said that, there is no substitute for skill, and Grmisby produced some great stuff today. We need to watch and learn.
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| Week 4 | Derby County | (Home) | Lost 1-0 | ||
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Its very disappointing. We are just struggling to find a route to goal at the moment. We're not letting in heaps of goals, so if we can solve the problems up front, we can get right back into the mix.
Derby finished below us in Division 1, so obviously we were keen to keep ourselves ahead of them. It just looks like they are fitting in to the Premier League better than we are at the moment, so we'll ahve to see what we can do to catch up with them.
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| Week 5 | Portsmouth | (Away) | Won 4-2 | ||
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For whatever reason, Portsmouth thought they could play their second stringers against us today. We talked about it with the lads before the game, and I'm pleased to say that they responded to the lack of the respect in the best way possible.
If you looked at the two line ups on the park today, you'd say it was a game that we should have won, and its pleasing that we did. Having said that, we probably let in a couple of goals that we shouldn't have, so there's plenty of room for improvement.
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| Week 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | (Home) | Won 1-0 | ||
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I was pleased with the lads' efforts today. It wasn't the greatest game to watch as a spectator, but we took on a talented team, and we stuck to the game plan and came away with the result.
In all honesty, this wasn't a match that I expected us to be able to win, but it compensates for some of the earlier matches where I was hoping we would do a little better than we did. To consolidate on results like this, we really need to win the ones we expected to win, not just the upsets.
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| Week 7 | Newcastle United | (Away) | Won 2-1 | ||
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I don't want to rubbish Newcastle, but this was a game we really had to win, and I'm pleased taht we did. I think the lads have learnt that any team in this division, no matter whether they are having a good run or a run of losses, is well and truly capable of matching it with us. We were fortunate in the end, but every win is a good win at this level.
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| Week 8 | Manchester City | (Home) | Won 2-0 | ||
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Its a fourth win in a row, which is very pleasing. Some of the other clubs in the Premier Division are starting to take a bit of notice of us now, which is going to make our job that little bit harder. Its all about respect, and I think we have earned a bit of respect in the last month, not just with the results we've got, but also with the way we've gone about the game.
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| Week 9 | Oxford United | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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We've managed to hold Oxford scoreless for 87 minutes, which is a pretty good effort when you look at the quality of their attacking players. I know that the Oxford fans weren't too impressed with the style of game we played, but they have to realise that we are not in the Premier Division just so that we can be the Washington Chiefs to their Harlem Globetrotters.
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| Week 10 | Millwall | (Home) | Won 3-1 | ||
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I know that it really means something to the fans, but I try to view the clash with Millwall as just another game. There were some nasty incidents out there today, and I think the ref was right to reach for his card on a couple of occasions. But there was also some very attractive football played by both teams, and I think the fans really got a great spectacle.
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| Week 11 | Sheffield Wednesday | (Away) | Lost 1-2 | ||
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In the end I think we were just lacking in that touch of class that you need to get past a quality outfit like Sheffield Wednesday. I'm not happy with the result, but I thought the lads gave a pretty good account of themselves today.
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| Week 12 | Watford | (Home) | Won 1-0 | ||
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Its always good to give the fans a win at home. The game could have gone either way, but in the end that one goal was enough for us. We face Watford again midweek in the cup, so we can go into that game with a bit of confidence. Of course, we'll be playing away that game, so the defense will have to be tighter than they were today.
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| Week 13 | Leeds United | (Away) | Lost 2-4 | ||
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We were able to keep in it for the first hour, but in the end the class of Chris Sutton just showed out. Sutton was all class out there today, and he certainly deserved his hat trick. I'm confident we can learn from the experience going forward.
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| Week 12 | Watford | (Home) | Won 1-0 | ||
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Its always good to give the fans a win at home. The game could have gone either way, but in the end that one goal was enough for us. We face Watford again midweek in the cup, so we can go into that game with a bit of confidence. Of course, we'll be playing away that game, so the defense will have to be tighter than they were today.
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| Week 14 | Everton | (Home) | Won 2-1 | ||
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Its a team sport, and its always a team effort, but the difference between three poins and none today was down to one young lad, Davide Onorato. There's been a bit of criticism floating around for young Davide, but today he really showed what he can do. He's a young lad, still learning his trade, so it'd be unfair on him to expect this kind of performance week in and week out, but he was impressive, wasn't he?
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| Week 15 | Chelsea | (Away) | Won 1-0 | ||
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I was reasonably happy with the defensive effort today. Chelsea always play well at home, but I think we stood up to the challenge pretty well. I'd like to see more attractive football being played, but on days like today you can only play as well as your opposition let you.
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| Week 16 | Coventry City | (Home) | Drew 2-2 | ||
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I don't want to sound arrogant, but I was a bit disappointed with the result. Coventry aren't having a good run at the moment, and I felt we created the better chances. Still, thats the nature of football, isn't it?
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| Week 17 | Birmingham City | (Away) | Drew 2-2 | ||
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It wasn't a bad result today. We had to come from behind twice, but I thought there was only one team that could have won it in the last half hour, and that was us. I just felt that we ran the game out better than Birmingham did. Still, we're happy with the point to cement our position in the league.
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| Week 18 | Grimsby Town | (Home) | Won 2-1 | ||
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We rattled on two goals in quick succession, which was very pleasing for us, but in the middle of the celebrations Grimsby pulled one back, so the three points weren't secure until the final whistle. I don't know about anyone else, but I was on the edge of my seat for the last 30 minutes, but in the end we did the job, and came away with the three points.
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| Week 19 | Derby County | (Away) | Lost 1-2 | ||
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It wasn't a great game for us, was it? Derby just had answers for everything we could throw at them. Its particularly disappointing since we know that Derby got promoted at the start of the season, the same as we did, so its not as if they have had longer to get used to the Premiership or anything like that. Still, there's always next week, I guess.
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| Week 20 | Portsmouth | (Home) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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Its been a long while since we lost two in a row. Obviously, thats a good thing, in that we haven't been struggling along all season, but it also means that the players haven't really had their mettle tested. Next week is going to be a real test, to see if we can dig ourselves out of our form slump.
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| Week 21 | Tottenham Hotspur | (Away) | Drew 1-1 | ||
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Well, its an improvement on our performance over the last couple of weeks, but we're still not quite there.
Obviously we're not going to win the league this season. I suppose Europe isn't completely out of the question, but realistically, we're just going to spend the rest of the season building the club for next season.
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| Week 22 | Newcastle United | (Home) | Won 3-2 | ||
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It was good to get a win on the board, even if the defensive effort wasn't quite as sound as we'd been hoping for. Newcastle really tested us out, especially in the second half, but it was good to see level heads prevailing so that we could score that winning goal.
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| Week 23 | Manchester City | (Away) | Drew 1-1 | ||
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I know some of the fans expected a win in this game, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Manchester City have a great young squad, and they just need another season or two to work out how to put it all together on the pitch. It was good to see Sam Phillips scoring the equaliser. I think some people gave forgotten just how important he is to us.
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| Week 24 | Oxford United | (Home) | Lost 0-2 | ||
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Oxford are certainly a great team. They have every right to be up there, staking a claim to be the best team in Europe. But having said that, I was disappointed that we didn't put up a bit more of a fight today, especiall as we were in front of our home crowd.
I guess I have to take my share of responsibility for the result. The rearrangements we have made at the back over the last few weeks seem to have confused the lads a bit. If we keep on fighting, I am sure we can dig ourselves out of this form slump.
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| Week 25 | Millwall | (Away) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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I've been around this club long enough to realise that the fans are disappointed every time we do anything less than absolutely thumping Millwall. I'm pretty happy with the result, although I felt the lads were a bit lacklustre today. Its been a long season, and there's not much left to play for this season, so its understandable, but its still not something that we can afford to accept.
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Week 28 | Leeds United | (Home) | Lost 3-0 | |
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Its a disappointing loss. I grant you that there has been a fair amount of turmoil about the club over the last few weeks, but I don't think that we can use that as an excuse. Leeds are a great team, but we should have played better than that.
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| Week 29 | Everton | (Away) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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Well, compared to the last couple of weeks, it was a good result. It would have been nice if we could have taken all three points, but Gavin knows what he's doing, and he has Everton performing pretty well.
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| Week 30 | Chelsea | (Home) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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Well it was a home game against the bottom team, so we probably should have got a win today. In the end, though, Chelsea probably had more to prove than we did, and they played better than they have for most of the season. We know they have a great squad, and its just a matter of getting all that horseflesh to gel on the park.
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