Thread: Litex, You gotta Love(ch) them!

Hartynips - I get where you're coming from, but if it was FM2010 then I wouldn't have started as Litex. I'd have started with a team I know so I could get used to it etc etc

This one is because I know FM09 very well and most teams I start with I end up dominating in the "major" countries in Europe. This is a little off the beaten track for me. Although I won't be updating it every day, I hope to update it 3 - 4 times a week (work permitting)

Season Report - 1st August 2008:

"A" Profesionalna Futbolna Grupa Odds:

CSKA Sofia: 2-1 FAV
Levski Sofia: 5-2
Litex Lovech: 3-1
Loko (Sofia): 10-1
Cherno more: 20-1
Slavia Sofia: 33-1

I'm quite happy with the odds there. The bookies seem to think that, although i've not got the strongest team in the league, with a good run of results and a few astute signings then I should be able to mount a strong challenge for the title.

Friendlies:

Litex 1 - 0 Dinamo Bucharest
Wilfried Niflore 76

Pelister 0 - 5 Litex
Ivan Popov 1, 53
Wilfried Niflore 11, 34
Nebojsa Jelenkovic 44

Litex 1 - 0 Slovan Liberec
Wilfried Niflore 77

Sliven 2000 1 - 4 Litex
Yavor Vandev 11 - Wilfried Niflore 23, Tom 46, Tsvetomir Panov 59, Ivelin Popov 62

Litex 4 - 1 Atalanta

Ivelin Popov 25, Tom 38 + 46, Alexandre Barthe 55 (Pen) - Leonardo Talamonti 78 (Pen)

Well, that's my pre-season friendlies over and done with now. I've been lucky in as much as i've not picked up any major injuries, only a few bumps and bruises that will be gone come the start of the season.

I'm pleased with the results and the form of the players, Wilfried Niflore in particular for bagging 5 goals in 5 games! Exactly the sort of form you want coming into the new season for your main striker!

My midfield have been very productive also, with Tom (AMR), Popov (AMC) and Yanev (AML) creating 5 goals between them and my two CM's, Jelenkovic and Acedo setting up a further 3.


Transfers:

Players In:
Sylvinho - D/WBL - Free
Georgi Ivanov - ST - Free

Players Out:

Staff In:
Stephane Roche - Coach - Caen
Antonio Pigino - Coach - Torino
Gwyn Williams - Scout - Leeds
Jay Driessen - Coach - VVV
Aitor Karanka - Coach - Free

Staff Out:
Tsanko Tsvetanov - Asst Man - Free

I'm quite happy with my transfers so far. Sylvinho has been a great bargain for me. The former Barcelona player set up 2 goals in pre-season and brings some much needed quality and experience to my defence.

As for Georgi Ivanov, he's an experienced striker, again something that I was lacking, with some good all-round stats. Had a bit of a shocker in pre-season for me but that lead to Wilfried Niflore getting on the pitch so it helped me. I'm certain that with some more training under his belt then he'll do well for me. He has a record of 121 goals from 289 games, which gives him a ratio of 1 goal every 2.4 games. Not amazing, but considering he was free, i'm more than happy with that. Especially considering the rest of my strike force are between 18 and 24 (except for Niflore who is 27) and have had little game time. He's 32.

My backroom staff is slowly beginning to take shape now. I'm chuffed to bits with the guys i've managed to get so far, especially the scout, Gwyn Williams, who I've relied on many times in the past and has came up with the goods. I'm still struggling to find a quality Physio but i'm sure one will turn up eventually.

For now, I've got the Bulgarian Super Cup to look forward to on August 3rd and the season kick off on August 9th so i'll do another report at the end of August/beginning of September.

Season Update - 1st September 2008

Competitive Games:

CSKA Sofia 0 - 3 Litex (Bulgarian Super Cup)
Jelenkovic 2, Nikolov 65, Popov 79

Litex 5 - 0 Belasista ("A" PFG)
Jelenkovic 4, Popov 23, Niflore 46, Nikolov 53, Tom 69

Maribor 1 - 3 Litex (UEFA Europa League)
Branko Baranja 86 - Yanev 2, Niflore 45 + 49

Loko Mezdra 1 - 3 Litex ("A" PFG)
Fausto 49 - Tom 16, Pazin O.G. 70, Popov 81

Litex 3 - 0 Sliven 2000 ("A" PFG)
Niflore 7, Nikolov 39, Popov 48

Litex 4 - 0 Maribor (UEFA Europa League)
Niflore 5 + 14, Yanev 34+64

Great start to the season for me! I won the Super Cup against my fierce rivals in a convincing fashion. I've dominated Maribor in the UEFA Europa League and i've hammered the opposition i've came up against in the league.

As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) has 6 in 6 to make him my top scorer so far and is also my top performer with an average rating of 7.65
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is my top assist maker with 5 assists.


Transfers

Players In:
Henny Schilder - DC - Volendam - £550K

Players Out:
Mihail Venkov - D/WBL - Celta - £500K

Staff In:
Jan Straub - Scout - FC Utrecht
Aldo Peccini - Scout - Torino
Dirk Jahnke - Scout - Gladbach

Staff Out:

Once again, i'm quite happy with my transfers. I've lost a LB but I had 4 of them to begin with and bought a CB (I only had 3) for only a £50K loss.

As far as my staff is concerned, i've once again concentrated on expanding my scouting network. Unfortunately, the release and hiring of all my staff to date has set me back £850k which leaves me with a miniscule transfer budget for the rest of the season. Hopefully though, if I can get a good run going in the Bulgarian Cup and the Europa League then i'll get a little bit extra into the coffers.

Season Update - 1st October 2008

Competitive Games:

Cherno More 1 - 3 Litex ("A" PFG)
Lazarov 13 - Niflore 55, Sandrinho 85, Tsvetanov 90

Litex 2 - 2 Zenit (UEFA Europa League)
Niflore 30 (Pen) + 71 - Rosina 47, 77

Litex 3 - 1 Minyor (Pernik) ("A" PFG)
Yanev 45, Popov 51, Ivanov 87 - Ivanovic 43

Litex 2 - 2 CSKA Sofia ("A" PFG)
Tom 53, Acedo 68 - Zehirov 4, Promes 38

Litex 1 - 1 Lokomotiv Sofia ("A" PFG)
Popov 87, Yanev Sent Off 69 - Karadzhinov 41


September was indifferent for me. On the plus side of things, there is the fact that i've maintained an unbeaten record and claimed 2nd place in the league. However, there have been some poor performances of late and there seems to be a horrible habit of conceding first creeping in to the team. I conceded first against Chernomore, Minyor (Pernik), CSKA Sofia and Lokomotiv Sofia and that's not good, at all. So i'm now forced to take a long hard look at my defence and find out where the frailties lie. Well, I know where it lies. Its in the centre. Barthe, Nikholov and Schilder have turned in some apalling performances recently and its not looking up, especially with my next match being the away tie against Zenit. If I lose, i'm out of the UEFA Europa League!!

Against CSKA Sofia Schilder turned in a 5.9!! and against Lokomotiv Sofia Nikolov turned in a 5.6!!


As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) has 9 goals from 11 games to make him my top scorer so far and is also my top performer with an average rating of 7.44
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is currently joint with Nebojsa Jelenkovic (MC) with 6 assists.


Transfers

Players In:


Players Out:

Staff In:
Gordon Cowans - Coach - Aston Villa
Miguel Angel Espana - GK Coach - Free

Staff Out:
Said Ibraimov - Coach - Free
Nikolay Dimitrov - Youth Coach - Free
Jan Derks - Youth Coach - Free
Ferario Spasov - Youth Coach - Free

No transfers for now as the window is closed. I've got my eye on a few players but my finances are threaders unless I sell someone.

As far as my staff is concerned, i've recruited Cowans to be my Attacking coach and Espana as a new GK Coach.

A little bonus so far is that a player called Momchil Tsvetanov (AML) seems to be a player destined for the top (or as close to the top as he'll get in Bulgaria!) - He's only 18 but his stats are decent for his age. He has 1 U-21 cap to his name and from 6 sub appearances for me he's scored 1 and set up 2. My assistant is giving him 5 stars and saying he'll be a leading star in the future.

Season Update - 1st November 2008

Competitive Games:

Zenit 1 - 0 Litex (UEFA Europa League)
Radek Sirl 70

Loko (Plovdiv) 0 - 2 Litex ("A" PFG)
Barthe 76 (Pen), Sandrinho 89 (Pen)

Litex 1 - 1 Chernomorets (Burgas) (Pernik) ("A" PFG)
Tom 42 - Lyubenov 37, Samuel Bamba Sent Off 86

Levski Sofia 2 - 1 Litex ("A" PFG)
Simonovic 11, Krastovchev 21 - Ivanov 23

Slavia Sofia 0 - 4 Litex ("A" PFG)
Nikolov 2 + 7, Acedo 32, Jelenkovic 55


October was yet another strange month for me. I went out of the UEFA Europa League against Zenit St Petersburg, despite putting in a good performance, my DR got skinned over and over again and I had no replacement for him. On top of that, my strikers became very goal-shy and didn't look capable of finishing their dinner, let alone putting the ball in the net!

In the league, my unbeaten run came to an end against my fierce rivals, Levski Sofia, thanks to a complete defensive collapse in the opening 20 minutes of the match! From that point on I dominated but yet again, strikers were mostly shot-shy, except for Ivanov who scored a header from point-blank range. This prompted me to make a formation change for my final match of October which lead to a 4-0 victory, but once again, none of my strikers got on the score sheet. I've had words with the strikers and told them i'm disappointed in hope of giving them a kick up the ass to score a few goals. The next month will tell me if its worked or not!



As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) is still my top scorer with 9 goals from 16 appearances.
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is still my top assist maker with 7 assists.
Tom (AMR) is now my top performer, with an average rating of 7.31 from his 16 appearances.


Transfers:

No transfers at all this month. Again, i've got my eye on a few individual to come in to the club but I just can't afford them yet. Besides that, I can't bring in any loan players or buy anyone until January. Last time I checked, there's nobody worth bringing in on a free transfer either.




* For those of you who may have wanted the writing a little bigger, I have done so. If it's too big just let me know and i'll take it back to how I had it set up originally.

Season Update - 1st December 2008

Competitive Games:

Litex 1 - 0 Vihren ("A" PFG)
Panov 20

Pirin (Blagoevgrad) 2 - 1 Litex ("A" PFG)
Kondev 8, 53 - Nikolov 63

Svetkavitsa 0 - 4 Litex (Bulgarian Cup)
Niflore 15, 69 + 85, Regnani 83

Litex 4 - 1 Spartak Varna ("A" PFG)
Tom 2, Jelenkovic 10, Popov 18, Chilibonov 86 - Sakaliev 70 (Pen)

Botev Plovdiv 0 - 4 Litex ("A" PFG)
Regnani 5, Yanev 28, Tom 43, Nikolov 80


November was a much better month for me!

4 wins, 3 of which being convincing and only one narrow loss, scoring 12 and conceding only 3 goals in the process. It would seem that taking over my media engagements instead of leaving them up to my assistant has really paid off for me and instilled the confidence and work ethic into the team that i've wanted.

I'm still quite disappointed with my strikers though. Although Niflore bagged himself a hat-trick, it was in a cup game and upon reviewing his stats, he's only got 3 in the league!! His other 9 goals were in the UEFA Europa League and the Bulgarian Cup. On the other side of things, my other main striker, Georgi Ivanov, has been bid for by Lens for £500K, which i've accepted. Considering I got him for free, he's only on a one-year contract, he's only scored 2 goals and he's 32 years old - i'd say that it's going to be a great bit of business for Litex.



As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) is still my top scorer with 12 goals from 20 appearances.
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is still my top assist maker with 9 assists.
Plamen Nikolov (DC) is now my top performer, with an average rating of 7.35 from his 21 appearances.


Transfers:

Players In:

Alessandro Regnani - MC - Free
Gianluca Miolli - GK - Free
Jos Dofferhoff - DM/MC - Free

This month I was forced to make some signings due to injuries. First of all, my sub GK got an injury which is going to keep him out until January, and with no decent youngsters I was forced to look for a free transfer. Miolli is 20, a former Torino player and my scout gave him 4 stars for potential so he was brought in.

On top of that, I was looking for a young midfielder to bring in and make an understudy to my first-team players. With that in mind, I made a search and found a young polish midfielder, Jos Dofferhoff. He's 15 years old, 6ft 1", with a high work rate, determination and natural fitness. The rest of his stats aren't amazing but he was given 7 stars by Gwyn Williams so I had to snap him up! Hopefully he'll come good. If not, i'm sure i'll be able to sell him on for a decent bit of cash.

As for Alessandro Regnani, he's a 19 year old CM with a high work rate, determination, stamina and decision making stats - as well as having decent mental stats overall. He's not amazing technically but his mental stats make him a very competitive midfielder, which is what I was needing. He was scouted by my scout Aldo Peccini who gave him 5 stars for potential. Given the fact he's played 4 games scoring 2 goals i'm quite happy with his signing.





1st December until 21st February is the Bulgarian Winter Break so i'll be playing friendlies during this period. Hopefully it'll give me time to look for some cheap players. I need a spare Right Back and Right Winger, so hopefully i'll find something soon!!

Season Update - 1st January 2009

Competitive Games:

Naftex 0 - 4 Litex (Bulgarian Cup)
Popov 5 + 20, Georgiev O.G. 14, Yanev 20



You know how I said there were no games in December? Turns out I was wrong! lol - The draw for the Bulgarian Cup game against Naftex was made on 3rd December. As you can see, I hammered them 4-0. Which is to be expected really, they are in the "B" PFG.


As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) is still my top scorer with 12 goals from 21 appearances.
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is still my top assist maker with 10 assists.
Plamen Nikolov (DC) is now my top performer, with an average rating of 7.36 from his 22 appearances.


Transfers:


Players In (Joining on 15/1/2009) :

Alexandru Iacob - DM/MC - Steaua - £190K
Luciano Narsingh - AMR - Heerenveen - £100K
Damien Le Tallec - AM/FC - Rennes - £350K

Players Out:

Georgi Ivanov - ST - Lens - £500K
Tom - AMR - St Ettiene - £3.5m

Staff In:

Rainer Schrey - Fitness Coach - Hoffenheim


This month I decided to bring in a new fitness coach. My other fitness coach is good but he's trying to do 2 tasks (Aerobic and Strength) for 38 players, which is a bit of a strain. So I hired Rainer Schrey. He has good stats and will hopefully help to improve the physical attributes of my players.

This month saw the transfer of Georgi Ivanov to Lens for £500K. As I stated last month. Considering his age and lack of goals for me, coupled with the fact I signed him for free, then £500K is a great bit of business! Unfortunately though, St Ettiene made me an offer I couldn't refuse for Tom. £3.5m for one player in this league is amazing, and as you can see, the £4m i've made selling these two players has allowed me to bring in 3 players for a combined total of £620K - Which leaves me just under £3.5m left to bring in any other necessary replacements/additions.

Iacob is a 19 year old Romanian DM/MC that i've managed in previous games and I know him to be a useful player.

Le Tallec is a player who i've heard lots about from friends, although i've never managed him myself. But for £350K I see him as a bargain. It might not work out, but then again, i'm not going to lose much money if it doesn't.

Narsingh I had scouted when I accepted the offer for Tom. He's only 18 but his stats are fairly good and my scouts gave him 7 stars, saying I should sign him at all costs. So for £100K i'm happy.

I'm still on the search for another RB but nothing's turned up that interests me yet.

Season Update - 1st March 2009

Friendlies:

Litex 2 - 1 Litex Reserves
Narsingh 3, Popov 34 - Adriano Miranda 31

BSK Borca 0 - 3 Litex
Barthe 31, Le Tallec 48, Tsvetanov 65

Litex 3 - 2 Rapid Bucharest
Niflore 3 + 61, Sandrinho 37 - Kiss 64, Pasarica 90


Competitive:

Belasitsa 0 - 1 Litex ("A" PFG)
Nikolov 66

Litex 2 - 0 Loko (Mezdra) ("A" PFG)
Jelenkovic 1, Niflore 48




I struggled to make friendlies for February so I decided to play my reserves again and once again they proved to be tough opposition for me. There was a good performance against Borka, with Le Tallec getting himself on the scoresheet and the closely fought match against Rapid Bucharest. I was a little disappointed to concede a goal in the 90th minute but I still won it.

In my first competitive match since the 4-0 drubbing of Naftex on December 7th, I came up against bottom of the table Belasitsa. They put up a hell of a fight against me and their GK was absolutely on fire, saving a fair few chances and their defence cleared one off the line too. Eventually, my ever trusty CB popped up to score the winning goal from a corner.

My next match went a little better. Again, I dominated from start to finish, taking the lead after only 37 seconds thanks to Jelenkovic. This time, however, Niflore converted a chance just after half-time to put the game to bed for us.



As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) is still my top scorer with 13 goals from 23 appearances.
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is still my top assist maker with 10 assists.
Plamen Nikolov (DC) is still my top performer, with an average rating of 7.35 from his 24 appearances.


Transfers:

No more transfers in or out for me since the last update. The only thing of note is that Radoslav Dimitrov (RB) has agreed to join Sportist Svoge at the end of his contract.


Summary:


All in all, a good winter break and a great start upon my return to domestic competition! As the screenshot shows, i'm only one point behing CSKA Sofia now, so i'm in a good position to overtake them! I play CSKA Sofia in 3 games time so that match could decide which way the title goes, as i'm 12 points clear of our next nearest rivals, Lokomotiv Sofia!

In April, I have the Quarter Final of the Bulgarian Cup to look forward to, playing Chernomorets (Burgas) away from home!

Season Update - 1st April 2009


Competitive Fixtures:

Sliven 2000 0 - 0 Litex ("A" PFG)
Vandev Sent Off 76

A draw but by no means a bore! I dominated the match from start to finish but a combination of my failure to test the keeper often and him saving whatever I threw at him on target meant the game was going to be a shut-out. Even after Sliven 2000 has Vandev sent off, I failed to turn my possession and numerical advantage into a win.

The match stats show that Litex has 15 shots, but only 3 on target, 5 off target and 7 blocked without having a single clear cut chance.

Possession wise we had 64% of it, winning 6 corners, 18 free-kicks and 36 throw-ins - which just goes to show, possession doesn't always win you matches!

Litex 1 - 0 Levski Sofia ("A" PFG)
Nikolov 45

A hard fought victory for my side today against a strong Levski Sofia side. A very evenly balanced game was swung in my favour in first half injury time by Plamen Nikolov's header from a corner. Nikolov has been on form for me so far this season, scoring 10 goals from set-pieces, picking up 4 assists and 5 MOTM awards along the way. His form hasn't gone unnoticed by the bigger teams in Europe, with the likes of Middlesbrough, CSKA Moscow and Hoffenheim all reported to have an interest in him - for the sake of scraping wins, I hope I can keep him!

The stats for this match show just how close it really was!

• I had 19 shots
• Levski had 15
• I hit 5 on target
• Levski got 7 on target
• I hit 9 off target
• Levski hit 5 off target
• I had 5 blocked shots
• Levski had 3 blocked shots
• I had 5 clear cut chances
• Levski had 1 clear cut chance

Possession stats show I had marginally more possession, with 56% - the other stats are just as close, with me getting 69% of passes completed, 91% of tackles won and 55% of headers won. Levski had more crosses completed with 20%, something i'm going to have to look into stopping, and they won 66% of headers they challenged for.

It was also a clean game with no yellow or red cards picked up by either side.

CSKA Sofia 1 - 2 Litex ("A" PFG)
Kiril Kotev 37 Zlatinov Sent Off 40 - Popov 22, Nikolov 68

This game was the highlight of my season, personally, as it is the final game against the leaders, CSKA Sofia, and a win in this match would see me leapfrog them into 1st place. It was, however, an away game!! (Eek!)

GOAL!! - The game looked good for me after I took the lead in the 22nd minute thanks to my talismanic captain, Ivelin Popov! My AML, Yanev, went on one of his mazy runs down the left before being hacked down and winning us a free-kick. Yanev took the free-kick himself, sending the ball across the area and Popov rose highest at the far post to head back across the goal and into the far corner.

GOAL!! - On the 37th minute, the game swung back in CSKA Sofia's favour with a goal from a corner. Zlatinov sent in the in-swinging corner and Kotev rose above everyone else to power a header in and draw level.

Red Card!! - In the 40th minute, Litex win a free-kick Ivalyo Bozev tripped Yanev. For some unknown reason, however, Zlatinov has elbowed Alexandre Barthe in the face!! The referee had no option but to show him a straight red card.

GOAL!! - Litex take the lead again thanks to Plamen Nikolov!! Popov dribbled down the right flank, only to be fouled by Rapnik. Yanev stepped up to take the free-kick and found Nikolov unmarked in the area, who powered the header into the goal past Petrov, who could only stand and watch as ball flew into the net!!

Once again, a VERY hard fought victory for my Litex side. CSKA Sofia dominated me in most departments, winning more headers and tackles, completing more crosses (46%!! CRAP!!) and winning more corners. I completed more passes, had more possession (58%) and had 3 more shots on goal than they did, as well as having the only clear cut chance of the game.


As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) is still my top scorer with 13 goals from 26 appearances.
Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is now joint with Hristo Yanev (AML) as my top assist maker with 10 assists.
Plamen Nikolov (DC) is still my top performer, with an average rating of 7.34 from his 27 appearances.


Transfers:

Nothing to note on the transfer front this month


Summary:

March was a good month for me! I managed to pick up two hard fought victories, although i'm a little disappointed with the draw. I've managed to go 3 points clear at the top of the league and with 10 games remaining in the league, I'm set for a run at the title now! If only I can get my strikers to start firing them in. I know that there's a problem with Le Tallec only speaking French, so he's going to find it difficult to communicate with the rest of the team so I got him learning from his fellow countryman, Niflore - only now i've realised that Niflore doesn't speak a single bloody word of Bulgarian, despite being in the country for over 2 years!!

April also sees me play 7 games in quick succession. So i'm going to have to watch my players for fatigue, maybe turn down training a bit for this month and give them plenty of time to rest in-between games. I've also got the match I mentioned in the last update against Chernomorets Burgas in the Bulgarian Cup Qtr Final.





I've tried out 3 different match reporting methods this month. Can people let me know which one they prefer and i'll stick to that one. My personal preference is the final one, kind of a Sky Sports Score Centre style but whichever any readers of this prefer then i'll stick to that. Thank you

Season Update - 1st May 2009




Competitive Fixtures:


Minyor (Pernik) 0 - 3 Litex ("A" PFG)
Vitanov O.G 16, Popov 35, Niflore 85


GOAL!! - 16 minutes in and we have the first goal of the game! An own goal by Vitanov! Le Tallec put in a low cross from the right which Nyagolov tried to hack clear, only for it to hit Vitanov and go flying past the keeper! 1-0!

GOAL!! - A second goal for Litex, who've been dominating this match so far, in the 35th minute! This time the scorer is Popov, who makes a run to the far post to get on the end of a Doca Madureira cross from the left wing. The Minyor left back is beaten in the air and it leaves Popov free to head the ball into the goal and past a scrambling Ivanov! 2-0!

GOAL!! - And it's Wilfried Niflore, the substitute, who's got on the end of a cross from Popov, goalscorer turned provider, and powered in another header from 6 yards out! Great work on the right flank between Panov and Popov, skinning the poor Minyor left back, before sending in a beautiful cross for Niflore to be left with the simplest of finishes, unmarked at the far post! 85 minutes gone, 3-0 Litex!


Cherno (Burgas) 1 - 2 Litex (Bulgarian Cup)
Chilikov 19 - Doca Madureira 12 + 25


GOAL!! - Doca Madureira has given Litex the lead after 12 minutes!! Yanev takes a corner which is scrambled around the penalty area before falling to Le Tallec, who remains composed and sends in a low cross to Doca Madureira who ghosts in between the CB and GK to tap in from no more than 6 yards out!

GOAL!! - 19 minutes gone and Cherno have drawn level thanks to Chilikov! Cherno have started brightly against Litex and its no surprise they've managed to pull one back! Gonzalez was left with too much time on the ball on the right flank and he put in a cross for Chilikov to slot in on the volley from 12 yards out. Poor defending from Litex! What on earth was Sylvinho doing letting Gonzalez have so much time on the ball?!

GOAL!! - And it's that man again, Doca Madureira!! He's spent most of the season in the reserves but what an impact the 24 year old Brazilian is having already! His second of the game in the 25th minute coming as a result by yet more good work by Le Tallec, who runs past 2 players on the right flank before sending in a cross for the waiting Doca Madureira to head in from 8 yards out! Fantastic stuff!!


Litex 3 - 0 Loko Plovdiv ("A" PFG)
Panov 3, Popov 64, Niflore 88


GOAL!! - UNBELIEVABLE JEFF!! Litex are 1-0 up after only 3 minutes gone through the right back, Panov! Regnani has the ball in midfield and spots the run of Panov behind the Plovdiv full back - Panov picks it up in the edge of the 18 yard box and rifles a shot into the top corner, the keeper had absolutely no chance! 1-0!


GOAL!! - A second goal and this time from Popov in the 64th minute! Yanev sends in a cross towards the far post from the left - Popov ghosts in behind the left back, who's having a torrid time out there today, and is left with a simple header, 6 yards out! 2-0 Litex!!


GOAL!! - Wilfried Niflore, the substitute, has scored in the 88th minute to put this game to bed! Initially there's some great work on the right flank from Panov and Popov, before Popov skins the left back again and rifles in a cross for Niflore to lose his marker and head in, unmarked, from 6 yards out! 3-0!!

Litex 2 - 1 Chernomorets ("A" PFG)
Doca Madureira 6, Nikolov 49 - Urbanc 1

GOAL!! - After only one minute Chernomorets have taken the lead! Urbanc picks up the ball after a scrappy exchange in the centre of midfield, turns around, and then from what must be 40 yards out he sends a missile straight for the top corner, leaving Sissoko nowhere near it! 1-0 Chernomorets!

GOAL!! - Litex draw level after 6 minutes through Doca Madureira! Yanev makes a run down the left flank and pulls it back to the edge of the area to a waiting Jelenkovic, who plays a deft through ball to Doca Madureira who taps in from 8 yards out! Beautiful stuff! 1-1!!

GOAL!! - Litex take the lead after the restart through a typical Plamen Nikolov bullet header!! Litex win a corner which Yanev sends in towards the front post, Nikolov gets free from his marker and powers it in from no more than 6 yards out to make it 2-1 to Litex!!

Cherno (Burgas) 0 - 2 Litex ("A" PFG)
Tsvetanov 51, Niflore 80

GOAL!! - Litex finally take the lead in this match through Momchil Tsvetanov in the 51st minute!! The young Bulgarian, who started this match to give Yenev a rest, got on the end of a Sylvinho cross at the far post and steered his header past the keeper from less than 6 yards out! 1-0 Litex!

GOAL!! - Litex have put the game to bed in the 80th minute through Wilfried Niflore's 16th goal of the season! Regnani passed the ball to Niflore on the edge of the 18 yard box, who turn his marker this way and that before firing it in low to the keepers right just inside the box! A great goal by Niflore! I'd forgotten that he had feet, he scores so many with his head!! 2-0 Litex!

Loko Sofia 1 - 2 Litex ("A" PFG)
Zekara 90 - Le Tallec 63, Nikolov 69

GOAL!! - And it's Litex who break the deadlock in the 69th minute through Le Tallec!! Panov hoofs the ball forward from the half way line and the Loko Sofia defence only clears it as far as Jelenkovic on the edge of the area, who finds Le Tallec to his right. Le Tallec turns his marker and from the edge of the 18 yard box hit a screamer into the top corner! We may have had to wait a few games for Le Tallec's first goal but it was definitely worth it! 1-0 Litex!

GOAL!! - 69th minute and Litex extend their lead through, you guessed it, Plamen Nikolov! The defender is on fire this season and has scored yet another goal, this time from a Jelenkovic free-kick. Jelenkovic, who has been pulling all the strings for Litex, crosses the ball in from the right and Nikolov climbs above his marker to head in from 6 yards out! 2-0!

GOAL!! - Loko Sofia have pulled on back in second half injury time, but it's nothing more than a consolation! Zerara is brought down 30 yards out and steps up to hit the free-kick flying into the top corner past Sissoko. 2-1!

Litex 2 - 0 Slavia Sofia ("A" PFG)
Regnani 10, Jelenkovic 32 (Pen)

GOAL!! - Litex open the scoring at Lovech after 10 minutes through Alessandro Regnani!! The young Italian starting and finishing the move off, getting on the end of a Doca Madureira shot that is parried into his path after running from deep! 1-0!

GOAL!! - A second goal for Litex, this time Jelenkovic converts a penalty after Damien Le Tallec is brought down in the box. Jelenkovic stepped up confidently and the Litex Vice Captain drilled it straight down the middle! 2-0 Litex!

As far as my players are concerned:-

Wilfried Niflore (ST) is still my top scorer with 16 goals from 33 appearances.


Tsvetomir Panov (DR) is now joint with Hristo Yanev (AML), Ivelin Popov (AMR) and Nebojsa Jelenkovic (MC) as my top assist maker with 10 assists.

Ivelin Popov (AMR) is now my top performer, with an average rating of 7.31 from his 34 appearances.


Transfers:

Staff In:

Charles Camporo - Scout - Zenit
Mario Vossen - Scout - Gladbach
Diego Perez - Scout - Free
Vasile Miriuta - Scout - Cottbus
Clint Van Der Wiel - Scout - Free

This month I decided to extend my scouting network a little further. I've never hired any of these scouts before but their individual knowledge of their nationalities will help me greatly in the search for good, cheap players.

Camporo is French, Vossen is German, Perez is Spanish, Miriuta is Hungarian and Van Der Wiel is Dutch.



Summary:

Very Very good results in April!! I lead my team to victories in all 7 of our games and qualified for the Semi-Final of the Bulgarian Cup!

It's a close ran thing for me to nominate a player of the month for Litex, but it has to be either Popov (AMR) or Duca Madureira (ST). Popov has been consistent all season for me, playing all 34 games, scoring 12 and setting up 10 in the process. As for Duca Madureira, I brought him from the reserves to the first team because of the congested fixture list in April, hoping he would just make up the numbers more than anything, but he's impressed me alot!! He's played 7 games, scored 3 and got 3 assists! I just hope he can keep it up!

Also this month, the Litex Board offered me a new contract, with my current deal due to expire on 30th June 2009. I was offered a 4 year deal but chose to negotiate for a one-year contract extension until 30th June 2010.

Just a quick note to let anyone following this know that there probably won't be an update on this until Monday (9th Nov '09) due to my work commitments (Night Shifts!)