series situation (rd 13)

this saturday the team displayed its all time best performance. this was enough to take the lead in the series. we now stand a very good chance at advancing to the playoffs (hopefully we'll win against AC tel aviv, and secure first place by goal difference).
the palyoffs will probably be a whole other story, since i'll probably be playing one of the best teams from those that finished 5th place in div3.
the rest of our series table remains unchanged. phink barbi will probably escort monsterz on the way down to div5.

series situation (rd 12) + some thoughts

nap time's over, it's time for the big game now.
next week we'll play asaf haifa for the series championship and a shot at qualification. if we lose, we might find ourselves in 3rd (even 4th) place at the end of the season. this would still fulfill our expectations of the season (as published on a former, now deceased, website), which were to finish in places 4-1, with promotion considered a bonus. however, seeing a shot at promotion made management greedy, and i admit i'll be a bit bummed out if we do not promote. i'm a bit tired of staying in the same division until i'm one of the top teams. i want to try playing in leagues where my team will be average. then we'll see if i'm any good at this :)

series situation (rd 11)

well, i hoped antennas will do the trick, and they did. we now trail only three points behind haifa, and have yet to meet them in two weeks' time (we play the walkover next round). if we win that game and the one against AC tel aviv, we're in for the qualifiers.
cool for us... :)

player portrait: kraisingha benjakalyani

i thought i might do a "player portrait" from time to time, to let u in on my thoughts and feeling about the team's players.



the first player portrait features Kraisingha Benjakalyani. Kraisingha, nicknamed "kraizy" (pronounced like "crazy", duh), was born in Prathat Thai. he played one match at his home club (opened as and extra inner mid in a friendly game and got 1.5*), and was sold 9 days after he was sold to a day-trading club in the USA. he played there 2 games, and 11 days after his arrival to the club he was put on the transfer list. hapoel kolbo-shalom purchased the 17yo passable playmaker for 135k NIS (27k euro). he was worth 115k NIS at the time.
during the three seasons and 45 games he played that passed since then (35 of them official games), kraizy developed into quite a player! his assessed value is now over 5M NiS, and he has poor experience and 11 goals, including one hattrick. soon, probably as soon as late this season, he will become the club most lucrative sale ever. if this scenario indeed gets realized, he will be sold as a 20yo magnificent player. the revenue from the sale should enable the club to get some enforcments, either for surviving divIII or for getting there... btw, there are also other candidates for the transfer list, but he will probably be the one, because of financial AND tactical reasons.