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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2020 14:24:40 GMT
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Ghana Take Over Report 2018/19 Season
Is there a club with a better name??? Cape-Coast Mysterious Dwarfs known also as Cape-Coast Ebusua Dwarfs is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Cape Coast. It is currently a member of the Ghana Premier League, and hold home games at Cape Coast Sports Stadium. In game they are simply known as The Dwarfs. Founded in 1932, Ebusua Dwarfs were one of the founding members of the Ghana Premier League and won the 1966 Ghana Premier League. Since then there have no success on the pitch. Off the pitch a big blow happened in July 2019 - The club was ordered to be liquidated by the high court in July 2019 after failing to pay a 20-year-old transfer fee over Patrick Villars to Great Liverpool FC. Luckily I start the save in December 2018.
The aim of this save is to build a successful Ghanaian club side capable of competing with the larger clubs from Morocco, Tunisia etc. For that I need to be successful in our domestic league which will be no small task (pun). We are predicted to finish 14th this season in a league containing 16 sides. We only have 15 players in the first team with little quality in the Under 21s. We have £40k in the bank which was unexpected but are spending £6.5k a week in wages so I don't expect that to last. The end aim is to raise the quality of the domestic league which is currently ranked 17th in Africa. It would be nice to produce and keep hold of players that go onto represent the national side.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2020 14:51:19 GMT
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Ghana Take Over Report 2018/19 Season Cont.
I needed to get something done in writing as I had put it off for so long but I am determined to document this save and I am glad there are so many good saves on here at present. So we continue...
The man to lead The Dwarfs to glory is Kobi Kwasi, a local to these parts but someone who is not well known in the football world. Is that all about to change?
Here is a run down to out past and what facilities or lack of them we have. Plenty of room for improvement.
I have loaded the African Cup created by Dirk for his save and holidayed two test saves to see if it all worked ok. Everything seemed ok but I think some of the predictions are well off and due to the game generating some players for teams there may be big discrepancies in the predictions. For the first save I got sacked after 4 months, on the second go I came 3rd. Lets see how I do. Luckily the board have decent expectations, I am not expecting miracles overnight and neither are they. I expect the likes of Asante Kotoko, Ashanti Gold and Hearts of Oak to be fighting for the league long before we get our act together.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2020 15:58:34 GMT
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Ghana End of Season Report 2018/19
The first season flew by with only 30 games in the domestic league and no African Cup. I have felt that I haven't really got to know the squad yet, this always happens in my first season but more so when I haven't a clue who any of them actually are. Although I am starting to pick out some of my favourites.
I was surprised to see that we made the CAF Champions League draw. Not that it mattered, drawing Sundowns in the prelim round was an inevitable task. We didn't do too bad for ourselves and actually one the first leg but we had no hope going to SA and getting anything out of the game. Brought home how hard the task would be. The domestic cup wasn't much better, the board wanted the quarter final and we lost in the 3rd round, to a team in the division below.
Luckily our home form was a lot better, we really hit the ground running and didn't give anyone else a look in. I expected more from the more from some of the other sides but seeing Asante only lose once shows that there is plenty more to come from them.
We are certainly able to score, at the back we have some issues we were very light at the back with only 2 CB's worthy of the first team and one of those is shockingly bad. We also had limited numbers in the centre of midfield and would often get over run there. I made a few signings as the season developed but as we were topping the league I was reluctant to make to many changes, we weren't exactly swimming in cash.
Best of that bunch in terms of performances was Michael Ohene Agyei Asamoah.
The league win gave us £425k which on top of sponsorship leaves us with £457k in the bank. I can't believe you get that much for winning the league but it quickly goes. There is no transfer budget and only a slight increase for wages. Youth players take home £55 a week, similar to a lot of European league. Talking of youth, our intake was promising a golden generation and it was a total lie. A few signed but none will go onto represent the club any time soon.
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Post by dalenichol on Jul 2, 2020 16:05:48 GMT
That's a really solid first season there ttgb. Ghana is a tricky one, A couple of decent clubs and a lot of decent intakes to be had (although unfortunately not that one, admittedly) but as far as African nations go, at least domestically, quite the ladder to climb. It's perfect for what you're looking to do with it though. A bit of money behind you and some decent intakes and you'll be set for life, so I'm hoping it works out and you can stick with it going forward.
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Post by Nick on Jul 2, 2020 16:15:48 GMT
There really are some great team names around the world, particularly in Africa. We always seem to get a good mix of saves on this forum and this one adds to that.
Great first season, I wasn't expecting that. My knowledge of Ghanaian football is limited to a few team names, namely the three that finished behind you in the league. Like Dale says, Ghana is a funny one. Like a lot of the stronger African national sides, the domestic league is pretty poor in comparison. Hopefully you can build it up a bit over the coming years.
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Post by Dirk Nowitzki on Jul 2, 2020 16:36:35 GMT
This will be fun, great first season! Did you change the playing dates of the African cups to suit the schedule in Ghana? I hope they'll be a nice addition to your save!
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2020 17:48:16 GMT
That's a really solid first season there ttgb. Ghana is a tricky one, A couple of decent clubs and a lot of decent intakes to be had (although unfortunately not that one, admittedly) but as far as African nations go, at least domestically, quite the ladder to climb. It's perfect for what you're looking to do with it though. A bit of money behind you and some decent intakes and you'll be set for life, so I'm hoping it works out and you can stick with it going forward. Thank you. A but unexpected first season but I expect things to change from here on in, other clubs seem to be spending money, whilst I have gone for some short term fixes I hope to set up a system that I am not having a large turnover of players and maximising my under 21 set up. It will take a long time to get the facilities where they need to be so any trophies and subsequent prize money now is a bonus. There really are some great team names around the world, particularly in Africa. We always seem to get a good mix of saves on this forum and this one adds to that. Great first season, I wasn't expecting that. My knowledge of Ghanaian football is limited to a few team names, namely the three that finished behind you in the league. Like Dale says, Ghana is a funny one. Like a lot of the stronger African national sides, the domestic league is pretty poor in comparison. Hopefully you can build it up a bit over the coming years. Thanks Nick. So far I can see some hope of building the league rep up, as mention above, clubs are spending money which can only do the league some good. This will be fun, great first season! Did you change the playing dates of the African cups to suit the schedule in Ghana? I hope they'll be a nice addition to your save! I didn't see a need to change anything in the end. The cup, like the champions league, spans seasons and games are falling in the right places, it means I have an even spread of games throughout the calender year.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2020 17:48:32 GMT
That's a really solid first season there ttgb. Ghana is a tricky one, A couple of decent clubs and a lot of decent intakes to be had (although unfortunately not that one, admittedly) but as far as African nations go, at least domestically, quite the ladder to climb. It's perfect for what you're looking to do with it though. A bit of money behind you and some decent intakes and you'll be set for life, so I'm hoping it works out and you can stick with it going forward. Thank you. A but unexpected first season but I expect things to change from here on in, other clubs seem to be spending money, whilst I have gone for some short term fixes I hope to set up a system that I am not having a large turnover of players and maximising my under 21 set up. It will take a long time to get the facilities where they need to be so any trophies and subsequent prize money now is a bonus. There really are some great team names around the world, particularly in Africa. We always seem to get a good mix of saves on this forum and this one adds to that. Great first season, I wasn't expecting that. My knowledge of Ghanaian football is limited to a few team names, namely the three that finished behind you in the league. Like Dale says, Ghana is a funny one. Like a lot of the stronger African national sides, the domestic league is pretty poor in comparison. Hopefully you can build it up a bit over the coming years. Thanks Nick. So far I can see some hope of building the league rep up, as mention above, clubs are spending money which can only do the league some good. This will be fun, great first season! Did you change the playing dates of the African cups to suit the schedule in Ghana? I hope they'll be a nice addition to your save! I didn't see a need to change anything in the end. The cup, like the champions league, spans seasons and games are falling in the right places, it means I have an even spread of games throughout the calender year.
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Post by chaodck on Jul 2, 2020 18:01:17 GMT
Great choice of save ttgb, very glad to have a lot of saves going on in the forum and from a lot of different parts of the world. That was surely a brilliant first season mate, good luck maintaining that with the vultures circling around your players (I see a lot of WNT on that squad pic). How are the board expectations coming up? I assume they are absolutely marveled with you and your success this season will cement your place in the helm for a while, but what do they want for next season?
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jla
New Member
Posts: 52
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Post by jla on Jul 3, 2020 10:43:29 GMT
Great save choice and fantastic first season. Will be keeping up!
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Post by ttgb on Jul 3, 2020 10:58:10 GMT
Great choice of save ttgb, very glad to have a lot of saves going on in the forum and from a lot of different parts of the world. That was surely a brilliant first season mate, good luck maintaining that with the vultures circling around your players (I see a lot of WNT on that squad pic). How are the board expectations coming up? I assume they are absolutely marveled with you and your success this season will cement your place in the helm for a while, but what do they want for next season?
Thanks pal. Thankfully the board also believed it was a one off. The expectations for the second season was a mid table finish. 3rd season they want a top half finish and our 5 year plan is to be the best of the rest. There have been messages of a consortium takeover which could change things but those are just rumours at present.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 7, 2020 15:04:05 GMT
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Ghana End of Season Report 2020
For my ease I will report on a yearly basis, this will cover the full domestic season and part of the African Cup and Continental competitions. As mentioned above the African Cup and Continental competitions cross over the domestic season, which ultimately means we play games 12 months of the year.
We the extra games this season I wanted to add some more depth to the squad and bring in some quality in key positions. If we are to raise the profile of football in Ghana then I needed to make use of the 4 foreign player spots. The following were brought in for free transfers and all (Apart from Anye) fitted straight into the first team. Lee Addy, Derick Anye, Seidu Bancey, Godwin Igwe, Jeitoso, Brahima Ouattara, Joseph Seidu, and Souleymane Diakite who joined as the domestic season ended.
Things were a lot tighter in the league this season with Asante Kotoko improving massively and keeping us on our toes. We yoyo'd between 1st and 2nd a number of times and I was worried that their superior defence would assist their goal different and take the title off us. Luckily we faced them at home in our penultimate game of the season and a 3-1 win gave us the title.
Results | Table
We also completed the domestic double by winning the MTN Cup. This was a lot tougher then planned and teams really take it seriously.
Results
So far we are doing well in the Western African Cup but we know that you have to win all your games to have a chance of topping your group and we are yet to play the much fancied FC San Pedro. We get to play them at home which is a bonus but I think they will be favourites on paper.
Results | Table
I was aiming for some progression in the CAF CL after dropping out at the preliminary rounds last season. Our draw this year was slightly better, a tie against MC Oran, the Algerian champions awaited us. We had the advantage of the tie being played in the middle of our calendar whilst they were just completing pre-season. Our extra fitness paid and we were the surprise 7-3 winners. In the first round we faced Jwaneng Galaxy from Botswana, I expected the thrash them but they were a well structured side, happy to keep the ball and hit on the counter. We had that extra bit of quality in the final third to win the tie 3-1 on aggregate. The win sent us into the group stages. There are no easy draws here and after three games we have three points. I don't expect to progress but positive results means more money so I will try our best.
Results | Table
Another really good season. It is nice to see there is a bit of competition in the domestic game and if the clubs continue to spend like they do then I am hopeful it will continue. Our new boys really added that extra quality that we need to be competitive outside of Ghana. Bancey and Ouattara. Defensively we struggle at times and lack quality in depth but with little to no budget it has been hard to improve. I am starting to see more concrete interest in my players and some of the more promising players are refusing to sign new deals and being poached. I will have to be prepared for a fairly fluid turnover of players whilst I build our reputation.
I will sign off with the youth intake which wasn't great and didn't produce anyone of note. A few signed for their personality but at this rate I won't have a under 21 side soon.
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Guido
New Member
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Post by Guido on Jul 7, 2020 15:52:10 GMT
Mad props for the name of the club
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Post by ttgb on Jul 10, 2020 10:33:51 GMT
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Ghana End of Season Report 2021
Another season completed here in Ghana and another successful year for my Dwarfs. I will start with the transfers which were introduced throughout the year. The windows are different to Europe whereby we get out biggest transfer window in the middle of the season, running beginning of August to end of October. We also get another one for a month, running between December and January. So I tend to make most moves mid season. No significant outgoing transfers. The following were added during the year, all for free - Kwado Mensah, Hafiz Konkoni, and the big one, former AC Milan and Barcelona star Kevin-Prince Boateng. Aminu Mohammed joined us on loan from Man City. Mensah was brought in to cover the AMC position, whilst Konkoni looks a fine prospect. Kevin-Prince was a gamble worth taking, brought in at the end of September when I knew I was losing two AMC's, although I knew he would only be with us until June the following year. The plan was to get him some coaching badges and sign him as a coach. This didn't work out in the end but that is for next year. Finally Mohammed joined to provide cover as the league season was ending and we get our run of continental football.
Because of our involvement in the African Cup and the Champions League we were always playing catch up in the league, there were a lot of games in the first few months but once we had played our games in hand we were back sitting on top. Asante tried to stay with us but they just couldn't hold on. It would have been nice to have gone the season unbeaten but you can't have everything.
Results | Table
We couldn't match last season with a league and cup double. To be honest it is now a competition that I use to give the reserves a run out when I can. They did well up until the Semi Final where we took an hammering.
West African Cup
This is where it may get confusing as I first have to update you on the progress from the 20/21 cup before mentioning the 21/22.
We topped the group, going unbeaten in the progress. The winners from each group go through to the quarter finals with each of the knockout rounds being played over one leg. These games were surprisingly easy, including the win in the final over ASEC Mimosas. Like I said before, the scheduling of this competition plays into our hands more so than some of the other nations. Winning the final puts us into the semi final of the African Cup against the winners of the other areas. Again a one legged tie, this time against Egyptian champions Pyramids. A massive continental semi final and only 204 fans turned out to watch us get hammered.
So moving onto this year. Four games played, four wins and four clean sheets, a perfect start.
Results | Table
CAF Champions League
Like above I will conclude 20/21 season before moving onto the most recent. Our results picked up in the second half of the group stages and we managed a couple of wins which lifted us to 3rd in the table. Not a bad showing for our first time in the group stages.
Results
In the new campaign we nearly never got to the group stages which would have been devastating. A easy preliminary round win over Centre Chiefs of Botswana lined up a first round tie against Primeiro de Agosto of Angola. On paper we should have walked this but they seemed a very capable side and we needed away goals to progress. The three group games we have played so far have been a lot more straight forward and we are on course for qualifying from the group.
Results | Table
Another good season where we played above expectations. Plenty of goals from our attacking players and a lot tighter defence. Igwe, Diakite and Ouattara were all excellent, keeping hold of them is key. You will see that Ouattara is leaving and will move in February after Seattle met his £200k release clause. Mensah his back up also leaves at failing to agree terms, so the hunt for a AMC will begin.
Squad
The youth intake was poor but expected seeing the level of my facilities. Both training and youth facilities were recently upgraded to below average with another upgrade agreed and taking place.
Alhassen Andoh was the pick of the bad bunch.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 10, 2020 11:54:48 GMT
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs Ghana Continental Cup Update 2021/22
I thought I would update you on the continental competitions separately as it seemed a bit confusing in my last post.
West African Cup
Despite dropping two points in the draw against Salitas FC we topped the group to move through to the quarter finals.
Boukake FC of Mali were our opponents and I was very optimistic that we would come away winners. We were on a great run domestically I didn't see the 0-2 defeat coming. It was a bit disappointing going out of the competition so early but it did mean I could concentrate on other matters.
Those other matter was the..
CAF Champions League
We sailed through the group stage winning every game and only conceding 3 along the way.
We were drawn against Tunisian powerhouse ES Tunis in the quarter final but luckily we played the first leg away. This was never going to be easy so I decided to go ultra-defensive and play for the draw. Despite this plan we had the lionshare of possession and managed 9 shots on goal, compared to their 1. The game ended 0-0 but we were unlucky not to score. At home we were a different beast and scored 3 without reply. A semi final against defending champions Club Africain awaited. A goal in the 3rd minute gave the lead in the first leg which was played at home. The tie in Tunisia was a lot more entertaining, they had to score and were 3-1 up after 40 minutes. Leading up to the game I had been contemplating starting Konkoni upfront instead of Bancey, with Igwe now operating as a AMC. The decision paid off as he scored in the 48th minute which meant we were through to the final on away goals.
In the final we faced Pyramids who had knocked us out of the African Cup last year. This is the game I mentioned in another thread where the game crashed afterwards when I went to change the skin. We won that game 2-0. This time it was a different sort of game. It was totally one sided with us having all the ball. But we just couldn't break the deadlock. Pyramids seemed happy to sit back and only registered 2 shots at goal and only 1 on target. As I ramped up the pressure the ball fell to Konkoni who slotted home to give us the victory with 8 minutes to spare.
Champions of Africa
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Post by Nick on Jul 10, 2020 18:18:20 GMT
Massive achievement that, ttgb. Especially so early on in the save. It's not like you've had an easy run either. The north African clubs are always strong so to beat three of them in the knockouts is good going.
Kevin Prince-Boateng is the kind of transfer you love to see with a club like yours. How did he do? You mentioned that signing him as a coach didn't work out.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 10, 2020 19:18:36 GMT
Massive achievement that, ttgb. Especially so early on in the save. It's not like you've had an easy run either. The north African clubs are always strong so to beat three of them in the knockouts is good going. Kevin Prince-Boateng is the kind of transfer you love to see with a club like yours. How did he do? You mentioned that signing him as a coach didn't work out. Thanks Nick, very happy on the win but the competition is hard to win as you have to go through the preliminary rounds each year. The win did nothing to boost the league rep but we did enter the top 100 clubs in Africa. Kevin-Prince did ok in the end, a bit slow starting and a couple of injuries but he provided good cover, I was shocked when I went to offer him a coaches job as he said he hated me. I put him in two coaching courses, he now manages in our division 1. At least he did some tutoring for us.
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