Div 2 Press - AUGUST'06

Season 17 pre-season predictions for Division 2

I did one of these last season and don't think I was too far off the mark - so here goes again.

Champions
This is a no brainer. Falkirk have the best T11, best T17, the most CP, the most cash and the youngest team in the division. They also have a very capable manager in Craig McPherson. It will take an incredible amount of bad luck or mis-management for these to fail to win the division.

Also promoted
Berwick, Livingston and Queens of the South. Very difficult to predict at the moment with so many teams of similar strengths. Queen of the South are the poorest of the three but have the best goalkeeping pair. Livingston are very young and will not be so badly affected by mid-season aging.

Play-off hopefulls
Queens Park, Huntly, Clyde and Inverness. Queens Park and Huntly have among the best T11 of the division but the former has a terrible back-up goalkeeper and the latter have only 2k and a poor amount of CP.

Clyde are low in cash but high in CP and have a decent side, but Phil always seems to blow it somewhere with an NMR and he has more votes for division 3 manager of the season despite have a stronger side than Deveronvale and finishing below them, so this is why I have them as a play-off hopeful only SESL/Moonie.gif

Inverness are my former side and former League champions and shouldn't be down here. This is one side I always follow.

Trying to avoid the drop
Deveronvale, Albion Rovers and Buckie Thistle. One reason I've put myself in here despite being one of the oldest teams is because I've already agreed on a couple of TP/CP trades so know my T17 will increase quite a lot compared to other teams. And we have a lot of money to spend in auctions.

Albion Rovers don't have a great T11 but do have a very good T17. They could do with a second keeper by mid-season though.

Going to be close
Arbroath and Hamilton. After CP is added to T17 these two are siginicantly worse than those above and significantly better than those below. But they have two of the best managers in SESL.

Relegated
Nairn, Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath. Currently the weakest three in terms of T17 and Nairn have the most money at 290k which means none of these will be competing in the early auctions for the better players.

I've noticed that 3 of my bottom 5 were promoted last season. And the oldest 5 teams in Division 2 are also promoted teams.

Season 17 promises to be as exciting as season 16 for Deveronvale. However this season I am definitely not even considering promotion. We are too old and don't have enough young players to be able to stay in Division 1. Season 17 will be about holding on to a mid-table position, keeping morale up around 0.500 to keep the cash coming in, and setting the side up for promotion in season 18 or 19.

Will place my seasons press releases here. Will hopefully get some press up for tomorrow with my opening game against RR on wednesday.

Deveronvale claimed sole 3rd place for the oldest club in SESL after the trade that saw Mark Cowie (FW 1/9) leave for Motherwell in exchange for Shaun Fagan (MF 5/11).

While the trade is one sided, in terms of value, for Motherwell, Cowie realised that he would only get a game at forward after mid-season 18, unless there was a long term injury to one of the other three forwards.

He knew that he might get a game in midfield or on the wing halfway through this season but we are likely to be investing in an apprentice before then.

Shaun Fagan will immediately be replacing David Nicholls (MF 5/7) who has asked to be put on the transfer list.

(In other words I've added 4 SL to total MF + 100k + 1 CP for the loss of a player who isn't likely to play for Deveronvale and wasn't going to be trained)

(Point made by FAL noted and post edited)

Cowie Fagan McNichols?
All just names to everyone, bar the writer. A note of age and SL may make it better.
With so many press threads popping up already, how is Phil going to keep track of awards every week or month?

S17 Starts tomorrow for BUC at home to MON SESL/clap.gif

....on paper it should be a home victory and we will be settling for nothing less thats for sure!. It looks like Division 2 is going to be an exciting league this season so here are my predictions:

CHAMPIONS: FAL - Mr McPherson wanted a challenge.... S17 unbeaten in the league it is then?!

PROMOTION: LIV, QoS, BER - T11s not quite there at QoS or LIV yet but with the resources avialable it will be sooner rather than later and T17s will see them through until then. Umberto to bounce back with solid T11 & T17.

PLAYOFFS (Promotion) CONTENDERS: QP, INV, CLY, HUN, BUC - QP & HUN could be automatic candidates but no second keeper @ QP & lack of MF power @ HUN with no K means playoffs are a good bet. CLY & INV have good T17s so should be there or there abouts. As for BUC...well i'm ever the optimist SESL/wink.gif

.

PLAYOFFS (Relegation) CONTENDERS/RELEGATED: DEV, ARB, COW, HAM, ALB (BUC realistically!) - Resources & T11/17s for DEV (BUC) should see them maintain thier Div 2 status and for the rest it looks like a long hard season with highs & lows a plenty.

RELEGATED: NAI, DUM - Lowest T11 & T17 & no K for DUM = bottom of the table, 3rd lowest T17 & no back-up keeper as yet at NAI = Big Trouble.

Right or wrong we'll see but good luck to all this season...cannot wait!

Dan.

NAI Press no.1
Richard Burnett

Well what can I say? I left NAI as potential division 3 champions and without doubt they had the opportunity to mix it with the big boys. However I return a mere 3 seasons later and the squad is far weaker than what it was, the only plus is that we are in the 2nd division however as far as I can see this is a definite negative. We are undoubtedly the bookies favourite to have a short and ultimately less than sweet visit to the 2nd division however the chairman has placed his faith in me and I shall try my up-most to keep this team in the Division. I realise this is a massive task but write NAI off at your own peril im 100% positive we will cause a few upsets this season.

My first game back in charge sees a game in the CECIL against Raith Rovers. Looking at the teams and the leagues we play in most would write this match off as a NAI win however when you take a closer look at the teams it seems all is not what it seems as despite being a league below us they have a squad which should be capable of beating us. This means tactics will have to play a strong part in the game and to have any chance of taking a victory into the second leg I will no doubt have to go gung ho and hope my strikers have a better day than there opposite numbers.

Just before I finish would like to wish all managers well in there attempts this Wednesday to progress in the CECIL competition.

Press End

** BUCKIE PRESS ** SESL/header.gif

Well BUC kicked off S17 in fine style at home to MON in the CECIL cup. BUC knew MON could pose a challenge if underestimated and therefore fielded the strongest team possible. This ploy paid dividends with a comprehensive 4-1 victory with influential WGs Skelton & Laver grabbing 3 goals between them & with the 3 goal winning margin Laver also grabbed a most welcome captains bonus SESL/clap.gif

. In the return leg BUC were able to rest up several key players but the weakend side still came up trumps with a hard fought 1-0 victory. Indeed BUCs new bosman signing Ben Fitzgerald put in a Man of the Match performance between the sticks saving all that was thrown at him (3 shots! SESL/wink.gif

), so it finally looks like BUC have a solid back-up for Bowman which could be all important this season. So who's up next...RAN...yep one of the big boys in the next round and although RAN would be expected to win at a canter BUC will certaininly trying to be David to their Goliath!.

On other fronts BUC secured at deal with FAL pre-season for 13 CP with 10 TP moving the other way & looking at similar trades recently this looks like good business and it should ensure key members of the squad fullfill thier potential this season. Luke Skywalker (1, 10 MF) has also moved on to pastures new at ROS. In a deal worth 6 TP Skywalker was deemed surplus to requirements in a strong BUC MF & it is anticipated that some new faces in other key areas will be arriving at BUC in the near future.

So all in all a positive start for BUC and we certainly intend to keep the momentum rolling in the difficult league opener at BER followed by DEV at home next Sat...should be good!! SESL/header.gif

Deveronvale Press

Once again it wasn't a great start to the season as Deveronvale lost to St Mirren over the two leg preliminary round of the Cecil Cup. Whereas last season it was on away goals to Huntly in the division above, this time it was to a lower division team. However St Mirren are a stronger side, currently 3 SL per player stronger than Deveronvale and probably shouldn't be in the 3rd division. In fact they have the 5th best T11 in the whole league (due to early coaching of course).

St Mirren's reward is a game against Queen of the South in the 1st round in a nicely balanced quarter of the draw that includes, Livingston, Dundee FC, Queens Park, Elgin City, Inverness and Partick Thistle.

Although disappointed at the loss it means that Steve Turner doesn't have to think about making sure he has a strong enough lineup in the cup, to avoid blow-outs, and can concentrate on finishing mid-table in the league.

"It's going to be a struggle this season as our squad is quite old, and will be for a couple of seasons until we get some youth into the side. The money saved last year should help us compete in the auctions and we have our eyes on a couple of players already."

Unfortunately, Steve Turner won't be able to attend the first auction (and may not be able to bid in the second) as he'll be enjoying a €10 bottle of Coca Cola at Caffé Florian in Piazza San Marco, Venezia, Italia at the time.

Ciao!

Barnard returns and promises results

Tyron Barnard returned to Inverness last week after a 2 month lay off to sort out personal matters. He immediately led them into the CECIL Cup proper, which he feels will be the clubs best chance of silverware this season.

Inverness drew both games, but made it through by courtesy of the away goals rule. Barnard now has set his sights an an incredible league run.

The team does look quite exciting with the young players in Abou Diaby, Theo Walcott and Almunia. Barnard also has a lot of experienced players to lean on, especially Michael French, Craig Dargo and Darren Dods.

In the upcoming session Barnard has identified the QOS game as the tough one, where a draw will be a good result, but looks towards the Huntly game as must win.

Another highlight for Barnard this season is the opportunity of playing against Steve Turner, Barnard says this will be one of the highlights of his SESL career, especially seems both managers have managed the other side.

Goodluck to all managers in S17

COW PRESS

Season 17 - Survival the aim

De Ja Vue over at Glebe Park, Cowdenbeath. This will be the 4th season that manager Bishop has been in charge of the mad cows and at the start of each season the principal aim always seems to be survival. However in that time we've went from being perennial wooden spoon chasers to promotion to division 2 and last season even enjoyed a bit of battle for advancement to the top tier. So maybe we've surprised ourselves at how well we actually do once we get down to the nitty gritty, we certainly surprise others as Cow always seem to be a favourite for relegation amongst our peers, this season shows no sign of that trend halting.

However I can't blame them, I too think we'll struggle to survive relegation. Our squad is small and aging. We only have one decent keeper and mid-season aging could be catastrophic to our midfield and attack, the lynchpin of our recent successes. With no SL elixir available for them relegation is a real threat.

As soon as season 17 opened up again COW had a tough decision to make. They could spend their CP on aging players and hope for survival or choose to trade the CP for TP. With the current valuation on TP allowing us a one on one swap for CP we decided that buying TP in bulk was the route to go. Our squad was certainly aging and may have survived season 17 but come season 18 we would have had zadda strength. It was felt that sooner rather than later we would have to invest in youth and theres no time like the present. We just hope that we'll not be in division 3 when we bear the fruits of the TP spend!

Season 17 - The rest of the pack

Champions - Falkirk
Theres not much to choose amongst the top SL11 sides. But Falkirk have the youngest side in the division. They also have cash to splash and lots of TP. If they
can use this to buy themselves some more CP them they should walk the league.

Nearly rans - Livingston
The only side I can see capable of mounting a challenge. A quick spend & use of CP might catch Falkirk cold and let them gain an early lead.

Middle Ground - Bevy of teams!
This is what makes division 2 the most exciting division. Theres not much between any of the teams and that may be the reason why it's in this division that the real managerial ability will shine through. Theres no real superteams and everyone is in with a chance with surprising Falkirk or Livingston and grabbing glory.......or failure.

Relegation - Dumbarton, Nairn, Albion Rovers.......& Deveronvale
All much of a muchness. Deveronvale have by far the oldest squad and seem to believe they can CP their way out of trouble for this season. Certainly have the resources to do so... the rest are selected simply because they currently have the weakest squads in what will be a tight tight league. I've not picked Cow because I believe we can survive! Relegation contenders in this division is hard to pick, it could be that those who make the effort and put in the hours this season will be the ones to avoid it.

VACATION REPORT

The demands have been great, and the cats are all to happy to please. Yes. Vacation stories: You want 'em, we got 'em! Gather up the babies, and grab the old ladies. Huddle around the fire and we'll share what we have.

...but first, a little soccer action. BAM! BAM! That's the sound of MOT falling quickly and obediently in the opening foray of the CECIL Cup in consecutive games. At first, the cats figured that they'd just use the matches as a "tune up" of sorts for the bigger dance that is the "Regular Season." Here we are in Division 2, which, as far as the kitties are concerned, is a very long way from Division 3. Unfortunately, it is an equally far distance from Division 1. Well, we'll get down to business and see what we can do. The goal this season is:

NO RELEGATION
NO NMR'S
BE KIND TO STEVE TURNER

Now, back to the vacation stories. The big event was Phil & Mary climbing a 14,259 ft. mountain...Long's Peak in Colorado. This mountain was a beast. An eight hour climb on the way up, they left at 3:00 a.m. At eleven a.m., Phil drug his weary shell of a human corpse up the last sheer piece of rock face...where Mary was already sitting on a rock preparing lunch. Preparing lunch was harder than it might appear, because she had to continuously fight off a marmot the size of Calvin. The trail to the top was littered with boulder fields, ledges with sheer drops, ridges, high winds, granite rock faces that seemingly go straight up (made more complicated by precipitation making it really slick), and loose rock underfoot. The way down was pretty much the same, with a couple of lightning storms added in. Due to the lightning, all the treacherous stuff they eeked through on the way up...they ran through on the way down. Phil looked like Indiana Jones with a backpack running across ledges and jumping from rock to rock. Other adventures on this trip: a flat tire in Kansas, hot springs in Ouray (one minute after they got in the pool, lightning struck and they had to leave...but what a minute that was!) and some really good meals.

But the highlight of the trip was Clyde & Calvin guiding Clyde FC to a pair of wins over MOT's Dave Dowson. Now THAT doesn't happen every day!

Meow,

Clyde & Calvin

Participation Bonus money has been posted on the blog!

Clyde & Calvin

QOS Press
So far, everything has gone spectacularly well this season. It started with a very useful trade, as we acquired a top class midfielder (Xabi Alonso, MF 3/26) in exchange for a reasonable defender (2/18) who wasn't going to be coached and 4 TPs. This trade attracted no comment at the time, as it was swamped by the enormous HIB/DFA trade, but it gave QOS 10 SL20+ players and moved us top in Top11 and Top17.

Then we had a fairly good draw in the preliminary round of the CECIL Cup. East Stirlingshire were slightly weaker everywhere and QOS deserved to win both games with a 5-0 aggregate. Of course, the reward is a match against St Mirren, who are the strongest side in the third division by some margin, but you can't have everything!

The first two league matches had the potential to be difficult, but our opponents were very helpful. QP played 5-4-1 stall, saving themselves for the easier match against Nairn, but QOS's first 11 made short work of them and should have won by more than 2-0. Inverness were even more helpful; Tyron played a powerful team but then wasted it by using two star defenders as man markers. The one remaining defender couldn't keep the midfield fully supplied all by himself, so the whole team was weakened. The end result, a 2-1 win, was fortunate but welcome, expecially because both Inverness and QP are among the stronger sides in the division.

In the first auction, QOS acquired 5 CPs at 82 each, which is a bargain considering that they were going for virtually 100 at the end of last season. We still need more CPs and TPs (don't we all) but the harsh realities of life outside the first division are now starting to hit and our bank balance is just not increasing quickly enough!

So, looking forward to the rest of the season, it is really too close to call. There are no less than six teams (Falkirk, QP, Berwick, Huntley, Inverness and QOS) with Top11's between 23.6 and 24.0, while Livingstone's excellent young squad cannot be ignored. Falkirk have the youngest team, most money, lots of TPs and the best Top17, so it should be their division to lose, but the battle for promotion will be very tight.