BERWICK TO BOUNCE BACK

Still bouncing!

Alright. I'm finally willing to concede that Huntly's current lead will probably hold up and we will earn promotion. ALB on top, SRA and BER following, with HUN in 4th. How's that? I'm actually hoping for better, but not expecting much in the way of miracles.
Huntly's team continues to slowly improve without overspending on extra coaching/training points. Looking around the league it would appear that several other managers are not so frugal. GMcD at Clydebank especially. 47 CP spent so far in 16 games for them? 31 x 25K = 775K spent on extra coaching so far. That's not even touching the TP yet. Sheesh. Take your time and spend the money on getting another player in the auctions so you have some depth. CP and TP expenditures should be viewed as long-term player investments and not short-term fixes. Put into the right players, a few CP well-spent can bring benefits for seasons to come. Sunk into just one extremely high SL and older player, 10 CP will be gone by season's end and the rest of the team will be worse off for it. Huntly currently have rebuilt themselves over the past few seasons into the force we currently are. While far from the top of the heap, we are able to play a pretty potent lineup in 8 out of every 10 matches instead of the Win 2, Lose 1 that several other managers appear to still believe in. I'll save that rant for another time...
After mid-season, our coaching and training will shift to the defense to gear us up for a potential Cup run while being able to hold off the challengers in Div 3 with a solid defense while resting the top shooters for Cup matches. I'd love to win the 3rd Division after years in the cellar, yet if it comes to needing to rest a few players I have to say I'm leaning towards playing for a draw in a league match instead of throwing a Cup Group match. Next season we'll be among those predicted to be relegated back down to Div 3 anyway, so Huntly's first-ever appearance in the SESL Cup Quarterfinals would be a great thing to hang our hats on for seasons to come when we're back down in Div 3 where the grass is greener, the managers more friendly, and the press more lively. The longer I'm in this league the more I'm starting to think that everyone in Div 1 (Robin D excluded) seems to take the game too seriously and turns every passing joke into a potential personal insult. Come to think of it though, that could make for a lot of fun in press every week! Here's for promotion to Div 2 to see what kind of trouble we can cause! We know where the fun is at... success comes and goes every weekend while a good scandal can last all season long. You may not need to fear Team Huntly, but their press editor may be too much for you to handle. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

So, we are now over halfway through the season and QP are distinctly middle of the road...

We sit 9th out of 16 (top of the bottom half!)
We have won 7, lost 7 and drawn 2 of our 16 matches
We have scored 25 goals but conceded 30
We lost in the first round of the CECIL Cup

Actually, to be average is not too bad for this team. We started the season in the bottom 4 for T11 and T17 and average SL and we have now climbed to, well, average for all three.

At least we are fairly cash rich now (something we have not been for several seasons), and our squad has a much better all-round quality than it did at the start of the season with a best 11 that can compete with most in the third division (as witnessed by this weeks win over HUN and draw with the ever-improving GRE).

Crawford (28)

Elliott (29)

Reilly (22) Hutton (20) Ferry (19)

Carroll (19) Bowers (24)

Thompson (25) Mullen (15)

Ferry (29) Quinn (15)

Of course this is all before mid-season ageing and this team is going to suffer quite badly when that hits us, after all, only one of the above is Age 0 or 1 (though we do have another couple in the reserves).

However, I reckon we are now on the right path (although with some way to go) and if we can continue to spend wisely and make the right trades we could have a better season next year and start to challenge for one of those top 4 places.

Still bouncing!

Is "bouncebackability" a word?

Only if you are a tall orange feline with a springy tail who is a regular on "Winnie the Pooh."

I don't understand the "Winnie the Pooh" reference, but I think this still sounds funny.

Can we do previews for season 15 soon?

The most wonderful thing about Tiggers,
is Tiggers are wonderful things.
Their tops are made out of rubber,
their bottoms are made out of springs.
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is,
I'm the only one.
Oh, III'm the only one!

Oh, the wonderful thing about Tiggers is,
Tiggers are wonderful chaps.
They're loaded with vim and vigor.
They love to leap in your lap.
They're jumpy, bumpy, clumpy, thumpy,
Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is ...
III'm the only one!

Now you're talking!

Now you're singing!