Subject: »[NT] Update

You are right. Apologies. It's Mr. Gibbage's fault. He just can't help spamming.

Btw - nicely done. I really didn't expect you to make any money on Giacomi. :)

Again - spoilers - don't read if you plan to watch some other NT action.

All in all, things went fairly well for Canada today. Our win coupled with Austria's loss means our destiny is back in our hands. Dropped points by Venezuala, Colombia, Peru and Scotland improve our chances of sneaking in even if we lose next week.

Cross your fingers for no more injuries and a decent week of form updates. :)

Looking at the 3rd place race (Canada is technically a 2nd place team ATM - considering worst case scenario).

With 1 Week to Go
K New Zealand 19 +17 (Turkey, +1)
I Sweden 18 +25 (Ireland, +1)
M Canada 18 +25 (Lithuania, - 1)
D Colombia 18 +18 (Australia, -1)
C Scotland 17 +22 (England, -2)
F Portugal 16 +34 (Latvia, +5)
B Uruguay 15 +26 (Indonesia, +5)
E Venezuela 15 +17 (Hong Kong +2)
J Peru 15 +12 (Guatemala, +8)
A Wales 15 +12 (Al Magrib, +10)
G Belarus 15 +5 (Moldova, +5)
L Serbia 12 -25 (South Africa, -1)
H Macedonia 10 -29 (Costa Rica, +1)

If everyone does exactly what they did in the first week of qualifying,

New Zealand 22 +18
Sweden 21 +26
Portugal 19 +39
Uruguay 18 +31
Canada 18 +24
Wales 18 + 22
-----------
Peru 18 +20
Venezuela 18 +19
Colombia 18 +17
Belarus 18 +10
Scotland 17 +20
Macedonia 13 -28
Serbia 12 -24

Tho an exact repeat is unlikely. :D Some possible (bad for Canada) differences:
- Colombia could beat Australia this time
- Venezuela could get a much better + against Hong Kong
- Scotland could get point(s) against England

If Canada loses, and 2 of 3 of these occur, we'll miss the WC.

The only potential difference that would benefit Canada would be a loss by Sweden against Ireland. But it would need to be a larger margin of defeat then Canada's (should Canada lose) for it to help.

NT Milestones - Greece II

Luc O'Hara - 30th cap

Adam Ortega Santiago - 20th cap

Scottie Wang - last goal of his hattrick was his 40th goal in 35 matches.

Seem to have gotten through match day with no new knocks. Good news. :)

Now hope for some love on the form update.

Not much movement in form today. Villanueva slipped 2 levels - biggest mover I noticed. Amado the only key player (I noticed) who ticked up.

I will be chasing managers this week for skill updates on certain players. Want the freshest information possible heading into the Lithuania match.

Should also mention I've received several SK-mails encouraging me to run for a second term even if things don't go our way this weekend. I am considering it. :)

I've long tracked Abu Touchette (he's a product of my youth system), and often thought he had an outside chance of making the NT. His PM is attractive. Never got the left-side skills he needed though - particularly pace.

Would need a fair bit of work still which is tough considering his age.

Abu Touchette, age: 24
value: 1 641 200 C$, wage: 13 320 C$
club: Ristorante di Luiggi, country: Canada
divine form, good tactical discipline

adequate stamina, tragic keeper
solid pace, divine defender
weak technique, formidable playmaker
weak passing, poor striker
(edited)

meh, not as good as his younger brother Satinder :P

Got through the week without any other knocks. :)

The Parker question was answered by Parker himself. His recovery has been slow - instead of the projected SI 3 or 4 he'll be SI 5 on Saturday.

Adrian Stalteri (GK) has been added to the roster.

Renda's form hits formidable!! Highest it has been in about 3 seasons.

Very nice. :) At the same time Caron, Klukowski and O Lav are all tragic. :S

Along with Renda (who was +2) notable form gainers last night were Amado (+3) and Bradshaw (+2). Most of the decliners were on defense - Dehere, Villanueva, Mayard amoung them. Fichaud held at solid, which is the worst form I can ever remember for him. :P

Francois McGhee has been released from the NT.

He is a fairly rounded defender who, like Mayard, suffered from "bridsmaid-ism". He was often one of the last line-up cuts in my previous tenure, and was down on the depth chart during Slavko's time.

This season some of the younger defenders (Malhotra, Holden, Sebrango) have over-taken him. Then this week his manager declined to send an update. Managers of star players can get away with that, but managers of fringe players ... not so much.

Amado's knock today rules him out for 3 weeks. If he's going to go out, this isn't a bad time to do it.

That means all 4 of my Canadian strikers (Amado, Wang, Biron, Broussard) will have missed at least 2 trainings this season due to injury. If any of you are considering striker training, make sure your trainer's cupboards are fully stocked. :)

Friendly against Australia is booked for this weekend. Cometer and I are still hammering out if there will be any line-up restrictions.