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. Of course, I have been doing this for a few seasons now, so I might be running out of steam a bit. We'll see how I go.
Crystal Palace is competing in the English Premier Division.
| Week 1 | Everton | (Home) | Won 1-0 | ||
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Its always good to start the season off with a positive result, but we have to look at the cost. With the injury to Claudio Stocchi, there is a real risk that we could lose momentum again next week. Realistically, we can't expect Javier to keep a clean sheet against Leeds, so we will be looking for a much better effort from the strikers.
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| Week 2 | Leeds United | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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I've been saying it all week that Leeds were always going to score against us today. Uts to the credit of Javier and the rest of the defense that they didn't score more than the one goal. But the defensive effort cost us the opportunity to score ourselves, so in the final analysis, its a disappointing result.
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| Week 3 | Brentford | (Home) | Won 2-0 | ||
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At the moment we've concede less goals than any other club in the premiership, other than Oxford. Thats something to be proud of, although in fairness we haven't come up against a top quality side just yet. Thats coming up next week, when we face Coventry, so it will be a real test to see if we can keep up the good defensive work then.
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| Week 4 | Coventry City | (Away) | Lost 1-3 | ||
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In the previous games we've at least been able to take pride in the efforts of the defense, but Coventry were just too powerful for us this week. We haven't managed to take a point away from home so far this season, and thats just not good enough. Sure, we've only had the two away games, but its something we seriously need to address before we go forward.
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| Week 5 | Sheffield Wednesday | (Home) | Won 2-2 | ||
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Given that we went two goals up almost at the start of the game, its a littl disappointing to have frittered away that lead. Having said that, I think a draw with a side of the quality of Sheffield Wednesday is a result that we can build on.
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| Week 6 | Oxford United | (Away) | Lost 1-4 | ||
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You go into every game expecting to win, but realistically, playing Oxford away was always going to be a tough ask. Despite that, it was disappointing the way the game panned out. We were a goal up, but we just couldn't hold it together in defence. Any time you get four goals scored against you, you feel a bit disappointed, obviously.
It was also disappointing that we could pull one back, even after Oxford went down to nine men. I don't want to stir up anything with Oxford, but the game wasn't played in a great spirit, and I don't think that the ref was overly harsh there.
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| Week 7 | West Bromwich Albion | (Home) | Won 2-0 | ||
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At the end of the day, I was pretty happy with the endeavour that the lads showed today. Its an important win and it does keep us in touch with the league leaders.
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| Week 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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We really need to pick up some points on the road. Our form at home has been pretty reasonable, so our success is going to depend on how we play away from home. I thought this was a good opportunity for us to pick up at least one point, but it wasn't to be. All credit to Wolves, and its back to the drawing board for us.
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| Week 9 | Tottenham Hotspur | (Home) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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I thought it was a much better effort from the lads than what we saw last week, but at the end of the day its the scoreboard that makes the difference, and we're no better this week than we are last week. In fact we're probably worse off, since we were at home today.
Having said that, though, Spurs are a quality unit, and we didn't ever feel like we were out-classed, our completely out of the game.
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| Week 10 | West Ham United | (Away) | Won 2-1 | ||
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In a way its a relief to finally manage an away win. Its just one of those thinsg where the longer you go without succeeding, the more pressure there is for you to succeed, and the less chance you hace of succeeding in the long run. So in a way we've got that monkey off our backs, and hopefully we can look forward to more of the same.
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| Week 11 | Portsmouth | (Home) | Won 4-0 | ||
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Its a good result, but in the end the scoreboard flattered us a bit, I think. Nelson was certainly on fire, and his hat trick has given everyone a real boost.
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| Week 12 | Newcastle United | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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Look, I think its fair to say that the mid-season break came along at just the wrong time for us. I felt that we were making real progress with the win over Portsmouth, but we've certainly lost that momentum this week.
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| Week 13 | Birmingham City | (Away) | Won 2-1 | ||
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Its very pleasing to be able to come away from Birmingham with the three points, but at the end of the day, that wasn't what we were about today. It was about giving game time to some of our young players, and making sure that they understood the game plan. I have to say I was very pleased with the way that they went today.
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| Week 14 | Chelsea | (Home) | Drew 1-1 | ||
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In the end, I guess I'm grateful for the draw. When Chelsea scored first, I was a bit worried, but to their credit the lads kept their heads, and we were able to pull it back to even terms withing 5 minutes or so. I was disappointed that we weren't able to press a bit harder for the win, though.
I was particularly pleased with the performance of young Mitchell in the midfield today. I think he really gained an idea of what is required at this level, and that will stand him in good stead in the years to come.
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| Week 15 | Grimsby Town | (Away) | Lost 1-3 | ||
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Grimsby have a very skillful team, and they really play for each other very well. We knew it would be a tough ask coming here, and they played all over us in the first half. I thought the performance was better in the second half, but that had more to do with them taking their foot off the pedal than anything else.
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| Week 16 | Everton | (Away) | Won 1-0 | ||
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Obviously we're pleased to be able to do the double againts Everton this season, but it has come at a real cost for us. We've got three guys out with injury, and Loria suspended, so its going to be a real challenge to see how much depth we have in the squad at the moment.
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| Week 17 | Leeds United | (Home) | Drew 0-0 | ||
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Look, a nil-all draw is not what the fans came to see, but I think there was plenty we could be proud of in the match today. Leeds have one of the better forward set ups in the league at the moment, and we were able to hold the scoreless, so I think thats something for us to take away and build on.
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| Week 18 | Brentford | (Away) | Lost 0-1 | ||
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Look, its fair to say that Brentford haven't exactly been setting the world on fire this season, but they certainly had out measure today. Its not a great result for the club, if you look at the scoreboard, but Marky Mark Walton and young Stuie Ripley both showed that they are coming along nicely. Hopefully some day in the future we will look back on this day as the start of something very special, but right at the moment, all the lads are pretty gutted with the loss.
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| Week 19 | Coventry City | (Home) | Won 3-0 | ||
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Look, don't get me wrong. Its a great win against quality opposition. But with the excitement and the support of the home crowd, its important that we don't get too carried away. Until wins like this become the rule rather than the exception, we are always going to struggle in this division.
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| Week 20 | Sheffield Wednesday | (Away) | Lost 1-2 | ||
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I was pleased that we were able to take an early lead, but in the end I think that maybe we didn't play an attacking enough brand of football to really take it up to Wednesday today. In the end their experience just told.
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| Week 21 | Oxford United | (Home) | Lost 2-4 | ||
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We have had a tough run over the past few weeks, facing up to top sides every week, and I've been pleased with the way the lads have responded to the challenge. At the end of the day, thats what you have to expect at this level, and we really need to find ways to take more points off these top teams.
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| Week 22 | West Bromwich Albion | (Away) | Won 2-0 | ||
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Look, West Brom haven't had a great season, but that was all the more reason for us to be wary of them. When their backs are to the wall is when a caged tiger becomes most dangerous, and we certainly expected to see West Brom's claws today.
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| Week 23 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | (Home) | Won 1-0 | ||
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It wasn't our best performance for the season, but we did enough, and we've come away with the three points. Really the main hightlight was young Stuart Ripley scoring the goal. I've copped some flack personally for trading away Marky Mark Walton and Paul Mitchell, and keeping Ripley, but I think he has started to justify our faith in him today.
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| Week 24 | Tottenham Hotspur | (Away) | Lost 0-2 | ||
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I think we're still trying to find a settled formation at the back. It was always going to be a challenge coming here and taking on the top team in the league at their home ground. At the end of the day, we just weren't up to that challeneg today, but we'll keep working and striving to improve until we are.
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| Week 25 | West Ham United | (Home) | Won 4-2 | ||
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I thought out movement of the ball into attack was good this week, and we were able to reap the rewards. West Ham gave us a run for our money for the first hour or so, but I was very pleased with the way the boys responded to that challenge, and put on the winning goals when they were needed.
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| Week 26 | Portsmouth | (Away) | Won 2-0 | ||
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Portsmouth have struggled a bit this season, so everyone was tipping us to win this one. We still had to do the job though, and I was very pleased with the way the lads went about doing that.
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| Week 27 | Newcastle United | (Home) | Won 5-1 | ||
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It was very pleasing that we were able to play an entertaining brand of football for the home fans today.
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| Week 28 | Birmingham City | (Home) | Won 3-0 | ||
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It was great to see Simone Loria score a couple of goals. I know that there were some critics of our decision to trade Tony Niro away from the club, but I think that the efforts over the last couple of weeks have really shown that we can score goals without him. Of course, we will be looking to depthen our stocks in attack, especially as it looks like we are certain to be a part of Europe next season.
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| Week 29 | Chelsea | (Away) | Won 3-1 | ||
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I know that its going to make bugger all difference to the big picture, but it has been satisfying to finish off the season with some good form, and to be able to cement 7th place on the table.
Next week will be a real celebration of our achievements this season, and also a home farewell match for the lads who are retiring at the end of the season. After that, we start looking forward to next season.
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| Week 30 | Grimsby Town | (Home) | Lost 1-2 | ||
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Obviously it would have been good to wrap up the season with a win at home, and maybe upset Grimsby's apple cart a bit, but they are a class act Grimsby and they really showed their strength in the second half. I'm sure the fans enjoyed the day anyway, and we hope they'll be back again in force next year.
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© 2001 timnfromoz timnfromoz@hotmail.com
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