Team Panda Rules OK 2013/14

George
Inbetweener: The Team Panda Rules OK manager

Manager: George (Bromley)

Since: Debut

Sympathies: Millwall

Darts music: True Love Ways – Buddy Holly

Outlook (on 4 September 2013): The debut of the Team Panda Rules OK manager brings a raw south east England edge to the league. Known around the club as ‘The Panda’, the gaffer shares little in common with the soon-to-be-extinct bundle of joy at Edinburgh Zoo. His origins and accent more readily liken the Bromley man to an extra from hit TV show The Inbetweeners, a link cemented when he once revealed he actually went on a school geography field trip to Swanage. He maintains rumours he punched a fish and asked a pensioner at an ice cream stand whether she wanted to suck him off are purely here say.

The form of Olivier Giroud will settle the nerves of the team, even if Kane’s inactivity does the opposite. The Panda will be closely tracking Gareth Barry’s progress now the midfielder’s move to Merseyside means a choice between releasing him or Distin come the October transfer window. The rest of the side literally contains a couple of Johnsons.

With just one substitute appearance, Nani really is living up to the notion that he’s just a not very good Michael Jackson.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X21mJh6j9i4&w=420&h=315]

Under Kenna rules, the manager must release one of the players in red at the next transfer window.

Begovic, A STO £7m
O’Shea, J SUN £11m
Lovren, D SOT £8.5m
Distin, S EVE £14m
Johnson, G LIV £17m
Kasami, P FUL £0.5m
Brunt, C WBA £7m
Johnson, B NOR £8m
Bacuna, L AVL £0.5m
Giroud, O ARS £20m
Campbell, F CAR £11m
£104m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Starting budget: £11m, remaining budget: £0m, net loss: £11m

(Hyperlink denotes to which club player was sold)

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Paid
MID Barry, G EVE £0.5m MID Kasami, P FUL £0.5m
STR Kane, H TOT Free STR Campbell, F CAR £11m

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Paid
MID Nani MUN £0.5m MID Bacuna, L AVL £0.5m
Share Button

Just Put Carles 2013/14

Carles
Showman: The Just Put Carles manager

Manager: Carles (Catalunya)

Twitter name: @cduzpalau

Since: 2010

Last season: 5th

Trophy cabinet: Empty (highest league position – last season)

Sympathies: FC Barcelona

Darts music: Cant del Barca

Outlook (on 4 September): The Just Put Carles boss is one of a trio of Catalans in the Kenna who not in their wildest childhood dreams could have imagined emigration to the UK would end in competing at the game’s highest level. Overcoming his birth in the relative football backwater of the Costa Brava, last season the JPC boss became the Kenna’s most successful foreign manager in the league’s history by finishing in fifth position. Achievement earned the curiosity of his girlfriend, who attended last month’s auction to see for herself just what all the fuss was about. No doubt she was made to regret her decision when the new auction wildcards were unveiled.

Unlike his fellow conquistadores, the JPC manager chose to avoid the tactic of just signing Hispanic players. While Rapids de Cullons CF have five and PSV Mornington have seven, JPC boasts just Angel Rangel – an established starter who will play in defence alongside Guy Demel, Andy Wilkinson and Chris Smalling, in front of goalkeeper Tim Howard. Fernandinho, Dembele, Kacaniklic and Henderson all appear to be getting game time this campaign. Only Ba and Sanogo up front look like bench warmers.

Crucially, the manager takes £13m into the first transfer window in October, making JPC the fourth richest club in the league.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChFJOYO622Y&w=420&h=315]

Howard, T EVE £9m
Smalling, C MUN £1m
Rosenior, L HUL £2m
Rangel, A SWA £5m
Demel, G WHM £2.5m
Mutch, J CAR £5.5m
Fernandinho MCY £30m
Colback, J SUN £0.5m
Henderson, J LIV £0.5m
Walters, J STO £0.5m
Ameobi, Sh NEW £0.5m
£57m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Did not attend. League membership under review.

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out In
Position Player Team Sold Position Player Team Paid
DEF Wilkinson, A STO Free DEF Rosenior, L HUL £2m
MID Dembele, M TOT Free MID Mutch, J CAR £5.5m
MID Kacanilkic, A FUL Free MID Colback, J SUN £0.5m
STR Ba, D CHE Free STR Walters, J STO £0.5m
STR Sanogo, Y ARS Free STR Ameobi, Sh NEW £2m
Share Button

Simmering Sporting take August honours

Lesbians
Getting it on: Defending champions Sporting Lesbian start as they mean to continue (photo courtesy of MatchHerpes.com)

IN MANY ways the Kenna is a carbon copy of the Champions League. Football’s most talented managers locked in a high stakes tactical battle, scrutiny from fans and media across the globe, the thought of premium lager never far away.

The two competitive arenas share one other inescapable comparison – no manager has ever won twice on the bounce.

So it’s with great interest that everyone is watching the indomitable progress of Sporting Lesbian.

The defending champions, who won the Kenna so convincingly in May, are right back on top of the table after three competitive weeks of the season.

Podolski, Giaccherini, Wilson, Coloccini, Coleman and de Gea are all, like Mick Philpott in hero mode, setting the place on fire. Goals, assists and clean sheets are flooding in. And Stevan Jovetic hasn’t even played yet.

The omens bode well for the Sporting boss, in the last three seasons the winner of August’s MOTM award has gone on the take the title.

Things don’t look so rosy for Still Don’t Know Yet. In four of the eight Kenna seasons, the last-placed team at this stage of the campaign has gone on to be relegated.

League table

3 September 2013 - 3 of 37
Kenna table 3 September 2013 – week 3 of 37

Weekly scores

This week
    Manager Points Goals
1 Piedmonte Phil 37 1
2 Headless Chickens John N 33 1
3 Dynamo Charlton Alex 32 1
4 Pikey Scum Jack 31 1
5 Sporting Lesbian Ben M 28 0
6 Team Panda Rules OK George 27 1
7 Northern Monkeys Hugo 25 0
8 Rapids De Cullons CF Jorge 24 1
9 Newington Reds Dudley 24 0
10 Spartak Mogadishu Abdi 23 1
11 Hairy Fadjeetas Aiden 23 0
12 Lokomotiv Leeds Ben S 23 0
13 FC Testiculadew James N 21 0
14 Lurliners Luke 20 1
15 Just put Carles Carles 20 0
16 PSV Mornington El Pons 19 0
17 Young Boys Denney 19 0
18 Bala Rinas Lewis 15 0
19 Judean Peoples Front Sholto 13 0
20 KS West Green Stix 13 0
21 Still Don’t Know Yet Pete 10 0
22 St. Reatham FC Mike 8 0
23 This is Sparta…Prague Rich 7 0
Points Player
Player of the week 11 Davies, B – SWA – DEF
Club Piedmonte
Share Button

Rapids de Cullons CF 2013/14

Jorge
Senor Peligroso: The Rapids de Cullons CF manager

Manager: Jorge (Catalunya)

Twitter name: @BoatBarandCo

Since: 2010

Last season: Did not enter

Trophy cabinet: empty (best finish – 12th in 2010/11)

Sympathies: Barcelona

Darts music: Boat drinks – Jimmy Buffett

Outlook (on 30 August): ‘Come back to the boat’. The words sound so innocent. After eight hours of Kenna auction in the pub, the Rapids manager invited the league back to his bar: a boat moored on the River Thames. What most managers weren’t expecting (some, including the chairman, already know the boat well, and some other places) was another six hours of shooters surrounded by young Spanish women. Football aside, this is the most dangerous manager in the Kenna.

On the pitch, Rapids have the the potential to beat the manager’s last Kenna outing of 12th place. Buying players new to England’s shores is always a risk, but Negredo and Aspas are already proving to be worthy signings. The rest of the side look capable of making appearances and providing spark, although how long will it be before John Terry is hauled before the authorities on a charge of inciting racial hatred?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSfONJYIyGM&w=560&h=315]

Stekelenburg, M FUL £17m
Terry, J CHE £14m
Alonso, M SUN £2.5m
Lugano, D WBA £1.5m
Caulker, S CAR £1m
Young, A MUN £3.5m
de Guzman, J SWA £4m
Pienaar, S EVE £8m
Arteta, M ARS £10m
Negredo, A MCY £25m
Crouch, P STO £10m
    £96.5m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Did not attend. League membership under review.

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Paid
DEF Garrido, J NOR Free DEF Alonso, M SUN £2.5m
STR Aspas, I LIV Free STR Crouch, P STO £10m
Share Button

Pikey Scum 2013/14

Jack
Solitary cup win: The Pikey Scum manager

Manager: Jack (Hampshire)

Since: 2005 (co-founder and committee member – charts and graphs)

Last season: 15th

Trophy cabinet: Canesten Combi Cup winner 2008, Claudio Caniggia World Cup 2006 win (under review)

Sympathies: Spurs

Darts music: I’m A Pikey – Enrique Iglesias

Outlook (on 29 August 2013): A true workhorse on the Kenna committee in producing the weekly spreadsheet, the Pikey Scum manager’s struggle to translate his enthusiasm for the league into success on the pitch has driven him to a cider-only diet. Since the validity of his 2006 World Cup tournament victory was called into question during last year’s ‘Kenna in the bag’ inquiry, a solitary Canesten Combi Cup win in 2008 is all to be found in the manager’s trophy cabinet. League form in particular is poor. The Hampshire man has languished in mid-table obscurity throughout his Kenna career.

Could he overcome eight hours on the jungle juice and use the auction to improve this season? Certainly Sturridge and Lambert are the most fashionable English strike partnership since Shearer and Owen, both scousers have started the campaign scoring goals. Joe Cole is enjoying a renaissance in east London, but how long until his familiar foes of injury and form catch up? Carrick, Sandro and Morrison are regular starters, yet workaday. More spectacular are Clichy, Azpilicueta and Jenkinson coming forward.

The Pikey Scum manager has been here before though: exciting prospects but he never can quite motivate them into a unit capable of winning the Kenna. Three Manager of the Month awards in seven years: must be the cider.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfYT_8DnMpc&w=420&h=315]

Ruddy, J NOR £4.5m
Clichy, G MCY £19m
Shawcross, R STO £15m
Parr, J CRY £0.5m
Koscielny, L ARS £2.5m
Morrison, J WBA £9m
Elmohamady, A HUL £0.5m
Willian CHE £10m
Cole, J WHM £0.5m
Sturridge, D LIV £38m
Lambert, R SOT £4.5m
£104m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Starting budget: £12m, remaining budget: £2.5m, net loss: £9.5m

(Hyperlink denotes from/to which club players were bought/sold)

Out       In      
POS Player Team Sold POS Player Team Paid
DEF Azpilicueta, C CHE Free DEF Senderos, P FUL £2m
DEF Jenkinson, C ARS £0.5m DEF Koscielny, L ARS £2.5m
MID Sandro TOT Free MID Lamela, E TOT £5.5m

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out       In      
POS Player Team Sold POS Player Team Paid
DEF Senderos, P VAL Free DEF Parr, J CRY £0.5m
DEF Cole, J WHU Free MID Elmohamady, A HUL £0.5m
MID Carrick, M MUN Free MID Willian CHE £10m
Share Button

St Reatham FC 2013/14

Mike
Last public appearance: The St Reatham FC manager

Manager: Mike (Surrey)

Twitter name: @mister76mike

Since: 2012

Last season: 20th (last place – relegated)

Trophy cabinet: Empty (best finish – last season)

Sympathies: Everton

Darts music: In Too Deep – Genesis

Outlook (on 28 August 2013): As the catastrophe of last season unfolded, the then Woking manager faced questions on all sides. Questions from fans about the the team’s dire performances, questions from the Woking board about his ineffectual transfer dealings, questions from Europol about suspected match fixing and questions from Surrey CID about why his DNA was found splashed all over the battered corpse of a female Sky Sports News presenter abandoned on Chobham Common. Somehow his alibi stood up, the Crown Prosecution Service failed to put a convincing case together and the manager was able to attend the Kenna auction at the helm of new employer St Reatham FC.

A fresh season has brought a fresh set of questions, the biggest hanging over the potato head of the manager’s star signing Wayne Rooney. Will he stay? Will he play? Now he’s got a family will be continue to ‘play away’? How is he supposed to form a strike partnership Gerard Deulofeu when the Catalan doesn’t start a game? How does one pronounce ‘Deulofeu’? Is it ‘Jew-Low-Few’? Will the Anti-Defamation League come down on Kenna HQ like a ton of bricks for that comment? Has the Society of Black Lawyers forgotten that incident when they came down on the Kenna? Does the surname of Victor Moses qualify him for more protection from the Anti-Defamation League or would the Society of Black Lawyers take precedence? Will Victor Moses have his own Exodus? To where?

All these questions and many more will be answered over the course of the next few weeks. All the while the St Reatham FC manager will look in the mirror each morning to find an answer the most pertinent enquiry: can he get away with it again?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6f2vyeO8Hs&w=420&h=315]

Foster, B WBA £0.5m
Delaney, D CRY £0.5m
Walker, K TOT £17m
Kompany, V MCY £5m
Sagna, B ARS £5m
Giaccherini, E SUN £0.5m
Nolan, K WHU £0.5m 
Moses, V CHE £0.5m
Dyer, N SWA £3m
Deulofeu, G EVE £16m
Rooney, W MUN £39m
£100m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Starting budget: £10m, remaining budget: £4m, net loss: £6m

(Hyperlink denotes from which club player was bought)

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Value
GK Mannone, V SUN Free GK Foster, B WBA £0.5m
MID Yoshida, M SOT Free DEF Kompany, V MCY £5m
MID Westwood, A AVL Free MID Ramirez, G SOT £0.5m

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Value
DEF Martin, R NOR Free DEF Delaney, D CRY £0.5m
MID Diame, M WHU Free MID Giaccherini, E SUN £0.5m
MID Ramirez, G SOT Free MID Nolan, K WHU £0.5m
Share Button

PSV Mornington 2013/14

Pons
Another wasted chance: The PSV Mornington manager

Manager: El Pons (Catalunya)

Twitter name: @RamonPonsUK

Since: 2009

Last season: 10th

Trophy cabinet: empty (best finish – 9th in 2009/10)

Sympathies: Barcelona

Darts music: La Bamba – Ritchie Valens

Outlook (on 27 August 2013): The original Catalan import, the PSV manager was a Kenna regular long before London’s trendiest bars sold Estrella Damm in bottles, let alone on tap. Unfortunately, that wealth of experience has only brought the antimadridista three mid-table finishes and the ignominy of last-placed relegation in 2010/11. His most notable contribution to the Kenna remains the acrimonious El Gran Cat fight scandal in April 2012, when a war of words erupted with rival Catalan the Just Put Carles manager.

Santi Cazorla and Jose Enrique aside, this season’s PSV team look to continue the mediocre tradition. Robles and Muniesa haven’t yet left the bench; Amorebieta, Gutierrez, N’Zogbia and Carroll are all injured; and commentators still use the words ‘confidence’ and ‘lack of’ when speaking of Fernando Torres. Support for the side’s top talent is left up to a battling-for-his-place Jolean Lescott and Leroy ‘The Bouncer’ Fer.

It’s only a matter of time before yet again the high pressure of the Kenna forces the PSV manager to seek tactical inspiration by locking himself in his office with a week’s supply of arroz con leche and a cardboard cutout of Pep Guardiola.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp6j5HJ-Cok&w=420&h=315]

Robles, J EVE £0.5m
Kelly, M LIV £0.5m
Amat, J SWA £0.5m
Lescott, J MCY £1.5m
Amorebieta, F FUL £2m
Nani MUN £0.5m
Cazorla, S ARS £30m
Westwood, A AVL  £0.5m 
Fer, L NOR £0.5m
Torres, F CHE £30m
Carroll, A WHM £15m
£81.5m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Did not attend. League membership under review.

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Paid
DEF Enrique, J LIV Free DEF Kelly, M LIV £0.5m
DEF Muniesa, M STO Free DEF Amat, J SWA £0.5m
MID Gutierrez, J NOR Free MID Nani MUN £0.5m
MID N’Sommnia AVL Free MID Westwood, A AVL £0.5m
Share Button

Young Boys of Vauxhall 2013/14

Denney
Don’t mention the war: The Young Boys manager

Manager: Denney (Wales)

Twitter name: @andenney

Since: 2006

Last season: Did not enter

Trohpy cabinet: Champions 2010/11, Canesten Combi Cup winners 2008/09

Sympathies: Spurs

Darts music: Gentle Ben theme

Outlook (on 26 August 2013): Returning after a season-long layoff to focus on defending the club’s ambiguous name to the probings of Operation Yewtree , the Young Boys manager has lost a lot of the luck that made him one of the successful ever entrants in the Kenna.

In a near-copycat predicament to the Spartak Mogadishu Luka Modric fiasco last summer, £25m signing Gareth Bale is all but set to move to sunnier climes, while dark clouds have gathered over £17m Nicolas Anelka, whose future even as a player hangs in the balance. There’s no more joy in the rest of team, where Vincent Kompany and Nathan Baker both face lengthy periods on the treatment table.

Known as ‘Gentle Den’ at the club for his patented arm-round-the-shoulder approach to teasing the best out of his team of Young Boys, the manager will have get to work quickly on the remaining members if he wants to put together a credible challenge this season:  Jonathan Walters has already started his campaign with a trademark missed penalty.

However, it’s common knowledge that behind the avuncular exterior lies a rigid disciplinarian, and come previous transfer windows those otherwise performing well have been culled for not meeting the manager’s unique demands, often to the detriment of the club’s title chances (this was sadly before the Kenna was so extensively chronicled on these pages).

For legal reasons, former players have always declined to speak of their experiences breaching the club’s strict code of conduct. Scotland Yard may have cleared him for now, but the Young Boys manager has never been able to shake the stories of cold showers, plastic cable ties and a scoutmaster’s uniform.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsaFjefpjJM&w=420&h=315]

Cech, P CHE £16m
Demichelis, M MCY £0.5m
Santon, D NEW £5m
Evra, P MUN £11m
Flanagan, J LIV £0.5m
Holtby, L FUL £0.5m
Brady, R HUL £1m
Ireland, S STO £0.5m
Delph, F AVL £0.5m
Adebayor, E TOT £14m
Traore, L EVE £0.5m
£50m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Starting budget: £11m, remaining budget: £14.5m, net profit: £2.5m

(Hyperlink denotes to which club players were sold)

Out In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Paid
DEF Kompany, V MCY £5m DEF De Michaelis, M MCY £0.5m
MID Bale, G RMA Free MID Redmond, N NOR £0.5m
MID Rosicky, T ARS Free MID Harris, R YEW £1.0m
MID Ramirez, G SOT £0.5m MID Townsend, A TOT £0.5m
STR Walters, J STO £0.5m STR Aluko, S HUL £0.5m

Second transfer window

Out In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Paid
DEF Baker, N AVL Free DEF Flanagan, J LIV £0.5m
MID Harris, R YEW Free MID Holtby, L FUL £0.5m
MID Townsend, A TOT £1.5m MID Brady, R HUL £1.0m
MID Kim CAR Free MID Ireland, S STO £0.5m
MID Redmond, N NOR £0.5m STR Delph, F AVL £0.5m
STR Anelka, N WBA Free STR Adebayor, E TOT £14m
STR Aluko, S HUL Free STR Traore, L EVE £0.5m
Share Button

Headless Chickens 2013/14

John N profile pic
Mr Average: The Headless Chickens manager

Manager: John N (Yorkshire)

Since: 2011

Last season: 16th

Trophy cabinet: empty (best finish – 11th in 2011/12)

Sympathies: Liverpool

Darts music: Everyday Normal Guy – Jon Lajoie

Outlook (on 24 August 2013): Detractors would say he’s never won any silverware, not even a Manager of the Month award. Apologists would argue he’s never been relegated or even got a Turkey of the Month award. Everyone would agree the Kenna career of the Headless Chickens manager has been one of absolute mediocrity, and the stats back this up.

In his third attempt to win, well, anything, the Chickens boss picked up one of the bargains of the auction in Yaya Touré for half a million. Fortunate, since the rest of the midfield look unable to score points at this level – Schneiderlin plays in the holding role, Gardner plays in defence and Sigurdsson rarely plays at all.

Further uncertainty hangs over the front pair. Will Michu continue to enjoy the rich vein of form that saw him score 19 goals last season? Will Craig Bellamy take a five iron to his team mates?

At the back things look more solid, and not just because they have an extra right back in Gardner. Cole, Baines, McAuley and Bassong are likely to start almost every game this season. The Szczesny circus act looks set to continue.

Perhaps where the Chickens manager needs to be most careful is the transfer window. Last October he jettisoned a performing Theo Walcott in favour of Raheem Sterling. Walcott ended the season as one of the top midfielders with 179 points. Sterling scored a below-par 68.

He may as well have used Bellamy’s golf clubs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PsnxDQvQpw&w=420&h=315]

Szczesny, W ARS £7m
Baines, L EVE £17m
McAuley, G WBA £6.5m
Bassong, S NOR £6.5m
Cole, A CHE £11m
Gardner, C SUN £6.5m
Sigurdsson, G TOT £5.5m
Schneiderlin, M SOT £4.5m
Toure, Y MCY £0.5m
Michu SWA £27m
Mitroglou, K FUL £12.5m
£104.5m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Starting budget: £11m, remaining budget: £3m, net loss: £8m

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Value
STR Bellamy, C CAR Free STR Cisse, P NEW £8m

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Out       In      
Pos Player Team Sold Pos Player Team Value
STR Cisse, P NEW Free STR Mitroglou, K FUL £12.5m
Share Button

This is Sparta…Prague 2013/14

Rich
Forrest: The This is Sparta…Prague manager

Manager: Rich (Coventry)

Twitter name: @Richevatt

Since: Debut

Sympathies: Coventry City/Manchester United

Darts music: Grange Hill theme

Outlook (on 23 August 2013): Like Sideshow Bob in a car park full of rakes, the This is Sparta…Prague manager walked into every trap going in his debut auction. Snared by the Titus Bramble ruling not once but twice, it’s lucky his midfield has Jesus on it’s side, although it could be argued that Josef Fritzl shows promise in the holding role and Jeremy Forrest has proven ability to snatch one in the early stages. Aaron Lennon will clearly be the passenger.

While it’s yet to be seen whether the Suarez gamble pays off, Danny Welbeck has kicked off the campaign in sparkling form. The back five look capable and, apart from the aging Riise, were all handed starts in their first game.

Whether by folly or design, the Sparta manager was the thriftiest at last weekend’s auction, and takes a commanding war chest into the first transfer window in October, where he will begin the task of rebuilding his team to escape relegation.

Unfortunately for the rangy guitarist, his transfer kitty won’t be enough to take out a superinjunction disassociating himself from one of the nation’s most high-profile paedophiles for the rest of his Kenna career.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE7gAEsI0XY&w=420&h=315]

(B) denotes forfeit player awarded under the Titus Bramble ruling.

Westwood, K SUN £3m
Luiz, D CHE £15m
Figueroa, M HUL £4.5m
O’Brien, J WHM £3.5m
Riise, J FUL £0.5m
Fritzl, J (B)   £16.5m
Lennon, A TOT £14m
Navas, J MCY £10m
Forrest, J (B)   £8.5m
Welbeck, D MUN £2.5m
Suarez, L LIV £0.5m
£78.5m

First transfer window – 5 October 2013

Did not attend. League membership under review.

Second transfer window – 7 February 2014

Did not attend. Final written warning.

Share Button