London, 7th August, 2008 -

In a bizarre twist of events the Evening Standard reports exclusively that Fabio Capello has been sacked just four matches after taking over from the terror that was Steve McClaren.

While reports as of yet are still unclear it has been confirmed that the High Court has charged Capello with match fixing.
The match in question was England's 1-0 loss to France on March 26 in Paris.

An inside source close to the developments reported that Capello allegedly fixed the game in order to eat a crêpe from an unnamed English team's dressing room whilst scouting an unknown player for the National Team. According to our inside agent, Capello "couldn't stand that Limey food" and was hungering for the tastier Continental palate. An unknown person, speculated to be a French Double-Agent whom the FA have codenamed "Arse" approached Capello and invited him to the clubs facilities to partake in their pre-match buffet. In return Capello was to arrange for France to win in Paris any way possible.

The FA decided to part way with Capello as soon as the High Court informed them of the indictment and because Capello as of yet has only been charged and not convicted is not in breach of his contract. Estimates range from £10 million to the more realistic £22 million compensation the FA had to pay Capello in order for him to accept the termination of his contract.

Coupled with the £800 million the FA owe on the recently reconstructed Wembley the FA is in serious financial trouble. Speculation was rife as to the successor would be but in a surprise move the FA appointed the London-born Bolivian manager Chichen Itza as Capello's immediate successor.

Itza has no prior managerial experience nor any football experience what so ever. Until his recent appointment Itza worked as a fisherman in the Andes Mountains on Lake Titicaca.

Times look bleak for the FA and English football. More news to come as the story develops.





this article is a work of fiction. Written by Matt "LFC Cross" Hamilton for FMD Forums on August 7th, 2008

Good start. I can't wait for your next post. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)

Good detailed start, but maybe try using a layout, with a opening image or a footer image, content is good, but layout could be better.

Keep on going with it .

This is really good (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

London, 11th September, 2008 -


New England manager Chichen Itza took charge for the first time this week with relative success.

With a friendly at Wembley against Belgium to kick off his reign as England's gaffer Itza only had one match to prepare his team before World Cup Qualifiers stared against Northern Ireland three days later. Itza included many known faces and some new ones in his first squad.
(IMG:http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m287/pdcross/engvsniandbelgteamsheet-1-1.jpg)

Itza has announced that John Terry will remain as Captain with Steven Gerrard to remain his deputy.
Among the common names were new boys Liam Rosenior, Ryan Taylor, Steven Taylor, Kevin Nolan, and Dean Ashton. Less common names included Phil Jagielka, Jermain Defoe, Andy Johnson, and Robert Green; all in hot form for their club sides.

The main talking point however was the inclusion of Arsenal shot stopper Manuel Almunia who recently gained English Citizenship. Almunia is understood to have welcomed the call up and hopes to prove his love to his adopted nation.

Unfortunately during the first day of training Vice-Captain Steven Gerrard suffered a harsh tackle which resulted in a broken arm. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. West Ham United's Scott Parker was called up as a replacement.


With the friendly against Belgium and England expected to comfortably win, Itza was expected to experiment with his squad. However the tactics the "Angler", as fans have dubbed him, chose to use resoundingly failed. with England appearing lackluster for the entire match yet with Almunia putting on a goalkeeping clinic the match had a draw written all over it. However in the 90th minute substitute Jermaine Defoe scored a beautiful team move to break the dead-lock.

Debutant Steven Taylor cleared the ball off of his own line with David Bentley latching onto it in the center circle. Bentley settled, then fed a beautiful lofted ball to the edge of the box for another debutant Dean Ashton to head down into the path of Defoe. Defoe coolly fired a thunderous half-volley into the back of the net to steal a deserved draw from the Belgians.

Steven Taylor was named Man of the Match for his key defensive duties including that goal line save to create the counter attack leading to England's goal. It was certainly an excellent debut and showcased a rising star in the England side.

Itza however was left baffled as to what he should do for the following match at Northern Ireland.

(IMG:http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m287/pdcross/eng1belg0-1.jpg)



Three days later Itza was expected to try again in his choice of tactics and the "Angler" duly delivered.

With his first competitive match in charge Itza dispelled any doubters with a resounding 3-0 victory over fellow Home Nation Northern Ireland in England's kickoff in the World Cup 2010 Qualifiers.

Itza changed from the 4-4-2 used against Belgium to a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Liam Rosenior was given his debut as a Right Back with Parker and Barry performing the defensive duties down the middle of the pitch. Lampard played a free role just behind Owen who held the line. Rooeny started to Lampard's right with Downing on his left. Terry and Ferdinand partnered Eachelle in Central Defense, with Ashley Cole playing Left Back. Almunia earned his second cap in goal.

Itza's England started off well, with 5 shots in the opening 15 minutes. They made the breakthrough when Rooney won a corner to be taken by Downing. John Terry Rose the highest to head home with the help of the crossbar. Just before half time, Déjà vu struck again as Downing once again found the Captain Terry on another corner. Terry thundered another header into the back of the net.

Crouch replaced the lack luster Owen after halftime with England settling back and beginning to play the counter. Steven Davis received his second yellow on 68th minute. Jermaine Defoe replaced Downing and Joe Cole replaced Lampard on the 77th minute. With his first touch of the game Defoe latched onto an Ashley Cole throw in to fire a tremendous effort into the back of the net from the left wing and 35 yards out. England continued the pressure for the remaining time to see off a thoroughly broken Northern Irish team.

Terry received Man of the Match for his Set-Piece heroics

(IMG:http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m287/pdcross/eng3northire0-2.jpg)


England were also drawn alongside Poland, Macedonia, Belarus, and San Marino for their World Cup Qualifiers. As nobody expected an Andes fisherman with no prior football experience to have such a natural gift for management, some may question weather or not he has stolen the title of the "Chosen One" from Jose Mourinho. Only time will tell whether or not he can succeed.

England's next matches are San Marino(Away) and Macedonia(Home) on October 11th and 15th, respectively.

Great win over Ireland there, you look like you have a great team. Who would you say is your most promising youngster at the moment? I hope more success comes!

And I'm surprised by the small amount of comments! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

Thank god that you could be n.ireland, your better than previous england managers already.

You've not conceded either. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/msn_thumbs_up.gif)

Odd defence though Jagielka and Rosinier?

I would use Almunia in the team if i could no shame in that.

Yea well I've been walloping everyone so far. Only conceded once in qualifiers and that was in a 9-1 win over Macedonia. Beat Sane Marino 8-0, Poland 4-0, and Belarus 3-0. I think in the 6 matches so far I'm 6-0-0 with 29 for and 1 against. Damn Arsenal bought Frey so Almunia never plays now. Robert Green is always hurt, Wigan got demoted so Kirkland is out, James retired from international football, and Ben Foster is terrible. I'm left with Scott Carson and Joe Hart as keepers. Luckily by defense is impregnable.

Owen ahs been tearing people to shreds. Leads the charts among all antions with 9 goals in 6 matches, in the form of 3 hat-tricks. Rooney follows with 6 from 6, then Lampard with 4.

Gerrard has been terrible. Hasn't scored for me yet and has only given 3 assists. I've moved him all voer to get him to do something but he normally just gives a 6 rating.


The reason I'm using Rosenior and Jagielka is club form. I'm also keeping all u-21 players in the u-21 squad until the turn 22. so I'm keeping Richards down. Jagielka has been in top form and is a good utility player to leave on the bench, he can come on as Center Back, Right Back, or Right or Center Mid.

Best prospect so far is Agbonlahor. He just tied Michael Owen for Premiership top scorer and in his 2 international appearances he has given and assist in each. Beckham surprisingly at 34 still holds a place, even picked up MOM honors against Macedonia with 2 goals and 3 assists.

Yeh i guess thats a good enough reason to include them. Do you use the average rating then, too pick your squad i mean?

That's a great start there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Have you played Kevin Nolan yet? I started him for me and he scored on his debut, then on his 2nd he scored again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) . Good luck, KUTGW!

Just normally pay attention to recent form over last 5 matches. That is the easiest way when managing national teams. Player softne get pissed but it also sometimes encourages them to play better to get back in the squad. I dropped Rio Ferdinand because he had an 8-7-5-6-6 form and he got pissed and complained to the media. I responded with something like he must earn his place and all of the sudden he scored 2 goals for ManU and had all 8's for form. His first start back in teh England Squad he scored off a corner.