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) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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Obviously, we would have liked to have got the season off to a positive start, but I guess that wasn't to be. If you compare this game with the same game last year, its obvious that we did much better this time around. But Coventry had a few players missing through injury and suspension, so only time will tell whether or not we have improved in the last 12 months.
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| Week 2 | Birmingham City | (Home) | Drew 2-2 | ||
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I think there was a bit of tiredness from the UEFA cup fixture in midweek, but we can't use that as an excuse. After all, Birmingham were in exactly the same boat as us.
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| Week 3 | Exeter City | (Away) | Won 3-0 | ||
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| Week 4 | Derby County | (Home) | Won 3-1 | ||
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| Week 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | (Away) | Lost 1-0 | ||
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It really was heratbreaking for us today, losing to a 90th minute goal. I guess it just goes to show the importance of never losing your focus, even when it looks like the game is over and done with.
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| Week 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | (Home) | Lost 4-2 | ||
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Spurs played 5 at the back against us today, and it seemed to throw the lads a bit. I was pleased with the way that the lads held their heads up and never threw in the towel, but Spurs were just too good for us on the day.
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| Week 7 | Newcastle United | (Away) | Won 3-0 | ||
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I think we probably learnt something from the loss last week, since Newcastle also played 5 at the back against us this week, but this time we were able to come away with 3 points.
I am happy enough with the way that we have started the season, but so far we have really only picked up points against the teams that are in the bottom four or five places in the premiership. The real challenges to succeed still lie ahead of us.
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| Week 8 | Leeds United | (Home) | Lost 1-2 | ||
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It was disappointing not to be able to do the business in front of our home fans. With European competition going full bore at the moment, we have had a busy start to the season, and I think some of the lads are getting a bit jaded, but thats no excuse for some of the rubbish I saw today.
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| Week 9 | Oxford United | (Away) | Lost 0-3 | ||
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Playing Oxford at home has always been a big ask, so I suppose we're not really surprised to lose. I thought there were a few good signs this week, but we really need a win soon to get us back in the hunt. After this result we're 11th, and thats a bit too close to the drop zone for my liking.
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| Week 10 | Manchester City | (Home) | Won 1-0 | ||
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The pressure has been building on us in the last couple of weeks, and it was good to see the alds responding in such a positive way. Tony Niro's goal was a classic, and I think we were a bit stiff not to have had a couple more.
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| Week 11 | Sunderland | (Away) | Won 2-0 | ||
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Two wins in a row, and two clean sheets in a row is certainly much better. And we'll be having a couple of defenders coming back from loan spells soon, so its all looking pretty positive right at the moment. Still, its consistency that brings success in the league, and with the cup ties coming up, the lads will have to keep at the top of their game week in and week out.
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| Week 12 | Watford | (Home) | Lost 0-3 | ||
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It was a very disappointing performance today. I will take the blame for that, since I haven't had my finger on the pulse at the club in quite the way I would like this week. Still, the lads need to remember that they are professional athletes, and that they are expected to perform regardless of the circumstances.
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| Week 13 | Grimsby Town | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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I guess it was an improvement on last week, but thas not saying much, is it? We have all our players bak from loan, so this is as good as it gets, in terms of the players we have available to us. We will be taking a long hard look at the set up, and seeing if we can't do something about it before next week.
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| Week 14 | Everton | (Home) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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I think thats, what, five losses on the trot? Thats just unacceptable. I was disappointed that we weren't able to put on a better performance at home. It was pretty lacklustre, wasn't it? We're rapidly losing touch with the leaders, and we wouldn't want to be halfway through the season with nothing left to play for.
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| Week 15 | Charlton Atheletic | (Away) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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Obviously, its better to draw than to lose, so I guess we could see this as a step in the right direction.
The spirit the game was played in was pretty good, I thought. There were a couple of incidents that shouldn't have happened, but overall it was just a tough, tight struggle. Its not what the fans want to see, but its the kind of thing that just has to be done sometimes, especially when you are a team that hasn't had a win in five outings. We just scrapped for what we could get today.
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| Week 16 | Coventry City | (Home) | Won 2-0 | ||
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Well, after the month we have had, we'd be happy with any win, but it was really pleasing to be able to beat one of the real championship contenders. The really important thing will be how we back up again next week. Its all very well to win a game that you didn't expect a result from, but it won't count for anything if you don't win the games you are expected to win.
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| Week 17 | Birmingham City | (Away) | Won 3-1 | ||
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This win was just as important as last week's one, if not more so. Birmingham may be down in the relegation zone, but they still have a great team, so it was very satisfying to be able to come away with the three points.
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| Week 18 | Exeter City | (Home) | Won 3-0 | ||
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It was really make or break time for Exeter, and we expected to come out hard. Fortunately we scored early, and the crowd really got behind the lads, and took the wind out of their sails. I was quite pleased to come away with the full three points when all was said and done.
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| Week 19 | Derby County | (Away) | Won 2-0 | ||
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I think its fair to say that there has been a fair bit of turmoil at Derby this season, and they have really struggled to win a game. But that just puts extra pressure on teams playing against them. No one wants to be the first to lose to them. It will happen sooner or later, and I'm just glad it didn't happen to us.
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| Week 20 | Sheffield Wednesday | (Home) | Drew 1-1 | ||
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Well, obviously it would have been good if we could have managed a win today. I thought we created enough chances, but it just wasn't to be. Wednesday are in top form at the moment, so a draw is not too bad really.
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| Week 21 | Tottenham Hotspur | (Away) | Lost 0-2 | ||
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We just didn't have enough options in front of goals today. I thought we did well to make some chances, but we just lacked that killer blow in front of goals. Hopefully when Ferreira joins us from Romania in the next week or two that will help us out a little.
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| Week 22 | Newcastle United | (Home) | Won 3-1 | ||
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Ferreira gave us just what we needed, straight out of the box. I don't think Newcastle were ever really in it after he scored in the first five minutes. Of course, he did tire a bit as the game went on, but thats something we will be working on out on the training track. The rest of the lads were good as well. We really put last week's result behind us with our overall performance today.
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| Week 23 | Leeds United | (Away) | Lost 1-0 | ||
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We went to Leeds confident that we would be able to come away with the three points, but that didn't eventuate. I think the most disappointing thing from our perspective was that we once again failed to trouble the scorers. This was even though Leeds had to play Jack Turner in goals. He's a great lad, Jack, but he's no Nigel Martyn, and its disappointing that we couldn't get anything past him on the day.
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| Week 24 | Oxford United | (Home) | Lost 2-1 | ||
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It was definitely an improvement on last week, but at the end of the day, its not the result we wanted. There is still a lot of room for improvement in this squad, and hopefully we'll really see some of the lads come into their own.
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| Week 25 | Manchester City | (Away) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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I was pleased that we managed to keep a clean sheet this week. A solid defense is vital at this level, and we've certainly shown that we can provide that. But up the other end we are still lacking somethign in front of goals. As a team, I think we need to go away and take a logn hard look at that aspect of our game.
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| Week 26 | Sunderland | (Home) | Won 3-1 | ||
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Its been close enough to a month since we last had a victory, so it was good to chalk one up. Sunderland took the lead in the first half, but we never threw in the towel, which was pleasing. It was also pleasing to see the strikers working together for each other a bit better this week.
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| Week 27 | Watford | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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If we had won this game, it would have been a terrific boost, but at the end of the day Watford just had too much to play for. They needed the win to stay in with a chance of winning the premiership this year, and quite frankly we didn't have as much to play for.
I think a couple of the games we have played lately have shown up deficiencies in out structure, and we will be considering some alternatives soon. The players have all been placed on notice that we might be looking for something different from them over the next three weeks.
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| Week 28 | Grimsby Town | (Away) | Lost 2-3 | ||
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We got some returns for our efforts up forward this week, but we were let down by some lapses at the back. Grimsby Town are a very good side, and they really made the most of the opportunities we gave them. I didn't think we played too badly, but Grimsby were obviously the better team on the day.
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| Week 29 | Everton | (Home) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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We're coming to the end of a long season, and its been a successful one for the club, but we have to look forward, and not back. Even though the result today wasn't that special, I think that the way we played, and the things we tried out will serve us well going forward.
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| Week 30 | Charlton Athletic | (Home) | Won 3-0 | ||
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It was a good result to end the season, and confirm our place in 8th. Charlton didn't have a full squad to choose from, so we were in a good position to be able to exploit their weaknesses.
Look, at the end of the day, it won't make much difference, but today's win will give us a bit of a boost to take foprward into the next season.
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© 2001 timnfromoz timnfromoz@hotmail.com
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