The retirement of Alex Taylor

Your work ethic in the transfer market deserves applauding bro! Good work keep it up

I love the effort youre putting in behind the scenes man! Keep it up!

Atoobie For me it is very restrained and I also have some more signings to come.

mgriffin2012 Yeah would have even taken a couple of the other seeded sides over them but, oh well.

Lippo Yeah, was annoying to say the least, will have to play well to get past them

BeanyUnited Cheers, hopefully they can work out for Alex

mgriffin2012 Thanks

OHL would be a tough start to the season finishing third and only a point behind Brugge. It was also an away day for the start of the season and Alex wanted to start the season with a win.



Despite the number of new players Alex had signed only one, Andre Martins had made the starting eleven for the first Brugge game of the season. Trusting his side from last season to continue to play well.

Brugge got the season under way and passed the ball around well. The game was slow starting as Brugge committed a needless foul in the OHL half. OHL tried to attack down the left wing until a powerful tackle from Simons ended that. OHL picked up the loose ball and pushed forward again. Delporte got the ball down the wing outside the box, he passed to Ojo inside the box. He rolled the ball back to Cerigioni who fired in a wonderful cross. Regales got up above Denswil and powered a header in past Butelle to put a stinker on the start to the season for Brugge.

A minute later and Brugge had a free kick out wide. Gedoz whipped it in and it was headed back to him. Gedoz cut inside breezed past a man and fired a shot on target. It was an easy save though as the shot was poor.

A minute later Brugge were going forward again. Vanaken played the ball out wide to Meunier, he played a 1-2 with Martins to get himself in space. He whipped in a cross Vossen flicked it on at the near post. A defender at the back post headed it back across goal and Gedoz reacted quickly to volley the ball in from close range to level the game. Alex was pleased as the defender hung his head in shame.

The game then petered out until half time with nothing created. Alex tried to encourage his side to create a winner and told them that they could do it.

Three minutes after half time Butelle hit a goal kick long. OHl pushed foraward and the game descended into head tennis around the Brugge box. OHl got the ball down further out and passed forwards quickly to the edge of the box. Regales received the ball and turned before passing to Ojo. He was in on goal but, blasted from 20 yards out. Butelle got down low to tip the powerful shot behind for a corner. Vanaken headed away the corner to end the danger.

The game was again slow and without chances until 20 minutes were left. Again OHL launched an attack Brugge looked poor at the back and they pushed forward quickly. Kostovski played in Regales. Regales took a touch and slipped a low shot past Butelle. It rolled past the post and wide for a goal kick. Alex breathed a sigh of relief and told his defence to tighten up.

Alex put on Ribiero for Vossen in the hope of snatching a winner. He had a wonderful touch to bring down a long kick and played the ball wide to Gedoz. His cross was good but, headed away and OHL countered. It was quick and easy for them to cut through the Brugge defence. Kostovski was slipped in and screwed his shot well wide of the target.



In the end Alex was pleased with the point as his side had been second best for the game but, snuck a goal from a mistake to claim a point.



The table was just forming but, Alex’s side was 7th as only four teams won on the opening day.

Not a bad result considering the performance. You'll build on that I'm sure

A result to build on bro!

Lippo Yeah played poorly so happy to sneak the point. Will have to improve for Monaco though

BeanyUnited Yeah avoiding defeat is a good start just have to use it as a base to better results

It had been a busy day for Alex as he headed back home. Fejsa had signed for the club and had his first training session. Alex was pleased with what he saw from Fejsa in his first training session but, he would be unable to play him in the big games against Monaco as he had not signed before the registration deadline for the game.



He headed home after doing a quick bit of scouting as it was Jake and Ellie’s birthday. There party had been on the Sunday and Alex had learned he knew nowhere near Flemish to control a group of kids. While most of the kids went to the American school his kids went to some didn’t but, they understood his English better than his Flemish which was a blow to his confidence. Even if most of the Flemish he knew was football related instead of being useful for controlling a bunch of kids.

Alex got back at a decent time and much to the relief of the twins as they were finally able to open the rest of their birthday presents. In a frenzy of wrapping paper the rest of the gifts they had were opened in a matter of minutes. After all that was done and Alex spent a great deal of time trying to get the gifts out of the packaging without injuring himself.

After some successes he was able to give them some of the stuff out of the boxes and was able to finish getting all the stuff out of the packaging. After getting some hyper kids to sleep Alex watched some football before doing the same himself.

Alex got to training and let Philippe train the team in the defensive arts to try and keep Monaco out the next day. The team was drilled in the shape they would have to keep against Monaco and Alex hoped they could keep them out and not concede an away goal that would be costly.

Some final scouting had been done and it seemed likely that Falcao would be leading the line for Monaco and despite having had two poor seasons in England Alex was aware that he was a talent who could turn on his form and fire some goals in against any team which included Brugge. Thomas Lemar in behind would also be a risk that the defense would have to try and keep quiet to get a good result.

Alex made only one change for the game against Monaco with Schonheim coming in at left back for his debut as he offered more defensive stability. Alex felt that his front three carried a goal threat especially if Martins and Vanaken could get forward to aid them. Monaco on paper had the better team with Falcao the biggest name playing up top. The well paid team had a great deal of talent and Brugge would have to play well to get anything out of the game.

The two teams walked out and after the Champions League anthem played got the game underway. The first half was a midfield battle with both sides struggling to break down well drilled and organised midfields. Alex was pleased enough as they hadn’t conceded an away goal which was a big goal of his.

The game continued to be dull and Alex was pleased enough as the game edged near to the hour mark. Brugge got the ball into the middle and out wide but, when they tried to move the ball inside Toualan intercepted the pass. He played the ball up to Falcao who just had enough time to turn. Lemar played the ball wide to Germain who whipped in a cross. Denswil headed the ball away. Toualan played the ball back up to Boschilla. HE played the ball onto Salli who cut inside past Meunier and then in space just inside the box he blasted a shot into the top corner that left Butelle no chance.

Alex was annoyed to let a goal in, especially an away goal. He kept his side cautious but told them to push forward a bit more to try and get a goal to level the game.

On 70 minutes Gedoz stood over a corner. It was headed just out the box to Vossen, his pass to Vanaken took a deflection and fell to Ribeiro. He fired a first time shot at goal from 14 yards out and Subasic reacted quickly to catch the shot that ended up being right at him. Monaco quickly attacked on the counter. Salli played the ball wide to Lemar who ran into the empty space ahead of him. He cut inside to try and get a better angle for the shot. He hit a powerful effort towards the bottom corner that Butelle got down quickly to push away for the corner.

After that the game fizzled out into a disappointing 1-0 loss for Brugge which meant that Brugge would have to travel to Monaco and win to get into the next round.



His team had played well and Alex had some hope that they could snatch a narrow win to get into the next round.

Tough break man but nick an away goal yourself and then anything can happen!

BeanyUnited Yeah, it was tight so hopefully er can make it even tighter in Monaco

Alex was heading back from training and reading some scout reports. He had spent time with the midfield hoping to give them the confidence to try some more risky passes as his side had struggled to create chances in the first two games and against a team, KV Kortjik, who would sit in against them Alex would need his team to create more chances.

Alex hoped that his midfielders would pick some very good chances out and that Vossen or whoever he picked to play upfront was able to finish them. He pulled into the driveway and headed inside. His kids still weren’t at school so they would be going to training with him tomorrow as Rachael had some plans for the day. He just hoped that they wouldn’t say anything bad about the players while they were there.

After a night of carefully not saying anything bad about any of the players Alex brought the kids to training. With the sale of De Fauw some of the kids they had hung out with there had left although with McCauley arriving at the club there were some kids who spoke English as a main language there which was good for them.

With a game the next day training was light and Alex worked with the strikers on finishing and was happy enough with how they did. Some nice goals and some good saves. Alex hadn’t decided who would lead the line against Kortjik and felt that Vossen was marginally better at finishing than his rivals for the starting spot so Alex had decided that he had done enough to earn the starting spot.

He went to his office after training was over and was looking over scout reports when Jake burst into the office in panic. Before Alex could ask what was wrong he had hid in a gap between a cabinet and some drawers. “Don’t say I’m in here.” He said.

Alex then guessed that a game of hide and seek was going on and wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of a lot of kids bursting into his office while he was trying to work but, decided that he could deal with it for a day or two.

He looked back over reports that had been filed about players in the Croatian top league. There were some decent looking prospects and all the club’s except Dinamo Alex hoped he would be able to force to sell at a decent price for him. A couple of players interested him but, before he could take a closer look Ellie was in the room. “Have you seen Jake” she demanded to know.

Alex had long ago learned that the best strategy in these scenarios was to not respond with a yes or no and shrugged. He regretted that choice as Ellie began looking all around the office and found Jake soon after. They then both left and Alex was able to get back to looking over players. He phoned the scout in Croatia and asked him to take a closer look at a couple of players who the scout had highlighted as having good ability and potential and he thought would be available at a decent price.

He spent a couple hours looking over other reports, planning tactics for the game tomorrow and planning some future training sessions. Occasional interruptions from hiding kids aside it was a productive day as he headed out to go back home only to learn that Lauren had found a very good hiding spot and he was enlisted to find here before they left. Some time later she was found hiding in a small cupboard and Alex was able to finally head home.

Alex couldn’t believe what he saw when he got the KV teamsheet. They were playing a 4-2-3-1 but with every player one position further back than usual so they had no striker and an attacking midfielder as there most advanced player. Alex knew his side would have to work
hard to break them down and some moments of real skill.

The first half ended with nothing. Brugge had been on top by miles but, all of their shots had been from range and very few of them had been on target. Alex told his team to be more patient on the ball to try and get the ball closer to goal and find better chances to test the KV goalkeeper. He also put on Ribeiro to go two up front with 4 in midfield.

Seven minutes into the second half Gedoz was brought down and won a free kick. He whipped the ball in and Ribeiro was able to take the ball down on his chest and hit a low shot towards goal. Keet got down low to push the ball away. The rebound was hit away for a throw in ending the chance.

The game rumbled on until with only 2 minutes left KV got the ball and won a throw in deep in the Brugge half. It was played to Ulens and his cross was blocked. The ball was cleared by Cools to Ribeiro who lost it and KV went back on the attack. The ball was worked wide to Ulens again. He cut inside and passed to Mercier who turned and played in Rolland. One on one with Butelle Rolland hit his shot to close to him and Butelle easily blocked the shot with his legs before Cools cleared away the rebound.



The game could have been used as the definition of a bore scoreless draw. Alex was concerned by the lack of goals from his side with only one goal in three games. It was a ratio that he had to improve if he wanted any hope of this being a successful season for Brugge.



The draw saw Alex’s side drop to 12th place in the table something that he would quickly have to change if he wanted to stay in a job.

Tough break, Alex has the ability to turn it around so I am still optimistic for the future!

Not the best of starts I'm counting on you to pick it up!