Afore Season Four

And so, to season four, due to start on the 1st. Some pretty brutal squad changing after the disappointing end to last season has left a new look River Medway Riot. New look not least in the sense of our funky new Lotto strips, again sponsored by Debenhams.




The big news on the transfer front was the targetting of Fernando Cavenaghi, of Kid Chameleon. Following Etien Velikonja's disappointing form towards the end of the season, Cavenaghi was being targetted as the perfect big-name signing to take some of the pressure off of young Anthony Modeste's shoulders. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be- Cavenaghi's wage demands proved too far beyond the established RMR structure, and the Argentinian international moved to Great Scot instead.

Velikonja's release, coupled with the transfer of Diego Silva to Screaming Vikings for £100k, left us a little thin on the ground in terms of striking options. 18-year-old Simone Dell'Agnello returned from a disappointing loan spell at CWA rivals Gary Town FC, but the wheels were put in motion to bring in some more established players to challenge Modeste, Dumisani Ngwenya and Kaimar Saag for the available first-team spots.

Panamanian striker Luis Tejada had been sitting on the bench at Sierra Olson's Loverdunk Lemurs side for a few season, and in a squad with Nicolas Anelka and Enrique Sola, didn't look like breaking into the first XI anytime soon. Some very fast-moving back-and-forth negotiations between myself and the charming Miss Olson resulted in a deal acceptable to both parties, worth £350,000, but which saw Riot youngsters Denis Huber, Florian Pizzinat and Edilson Mendes form the spine of the Lemurs' new youth side.

Also joining was man-mountain Bogdan Milic, whose contract at Chryssalid FC expired. At 6'5 and over 14 stone, Milic had again found his opportuities limited at his present club, and was delighted to get both a pay rise and the opportunity to relaunch his career. Since coming in, he's established a powerful partnership with Anthony Modeste, and looks like he could prove to be a valuable asset.

Riot's other big story was the acquisition of 22-year-old AMRC Giles Barnes, a man who had averaged over a 7.00 rating for pretty much his entire career to date, including over 250 games for previous club G700 F.C. His RMR career has got off to an even finer start, scoring 8 goals in 14 friendly fixtures, and picking up two man of the match awards. Although Barnes was transfer listed with a £1.1m fee, G700 manager Nick "The Greek" accepted a straight swap deal for hotly-tipped RMR youth product Marco Criscuolo.

Other transfer activity saw the strengthening of the defence to fit a new look formation, with the three-man defence ditched for four at the back to try and establish some consistency in form. While Riot scored the second-highest number of goals in the CWA Premiership last season, they were also second in the league for goals conceded.

As it stands, it seems River Medway Riot will line up the first game of the season as follows, in a 4-1-3-2 formation:


Anthony Modeste ... Bogdan Milic
Jozef Michalik ... Giles Barnes ... Roberto Tacchi
Arouca
Reto Ziegler ... Michele Canini ... Severo Meza ... David Romminger
Jason Brown


The flexibility of the formation and starting line up, particularly with Tacchi, Romminger and Barnes, allow for easy modification to both a more attacking 3-5-2 and a more defensive 5-3-2. Ziegler and Romminger have occasionally been employed as wingbacks in preseason, while Meza can become the fifth man in defence as a sweeper, if necessary.

At present, Riot are competing in a Greek competition, the "Big Cup", which features predominantly newer teams, but which is hosted by XFA Premier League runners-up Aspra Chomata F.C. The Riot invitation came as part of a transfer deal which saw Lucas Correa move to Chomata, and given their experience compared with the fresh-faced opposition, it is unsurprising RMR sit top of the table, unbeaten, having won 7 from 8.

Finally, a word on two other friendly games, both with scores which make the mind boggle. Having experimented with a ten-striker formation, in the hopes of catching their opponents offside, Riot took a sound beating at the hands of Northampton Hurricanes. Brazilian superstar Kaka set a new GW record in the process, scoring ten of the goals in a 17-4 victory for the Hurricanes- Fernando Torres also bagged six, with Damien Le Tallec rounding off the rout. The shoe was on the other foot, however, when Riot agreed to be the opposition in Francesco Toldo's Testimonial Game for Carnoustie Celtic. Despite giving up over 100 places to Celtic, Riot ran out 9-3 winners in a remarkably open game, with new faces Milic, Barnes and Tejada joined on the scoresheet by Modeste, Arouca, Gislason and Ngwenya.

Last but not least, voting is currently in process for the official River Medway Riot Away Strip Babe for season four. Campaigning from respected FC Highlanders boss Federico Rizzi has seen a surge in popularity for a return of Season 3's beautiful Alison Angel, but sources from inside the polling station suggest the Olsen Twins, Stacy Keibler and Myleene Klass are all in the running to fill Angel's dainty boots.

Tales from the River Medway.

And so the season is well underway, although due to being so AI-heavy, the CWA does have a tendancy to lag behind other federations a little in terms of games played.

Transfers

First off, a little update with the ins and outs as the close-season ended:

Out

Released: Sota Hirayama, Charles, Takanori Ueda, Sebastian Vaca, Jacek Wroblewski

Contract not renewed: Robert Marciniak, James Nevin

Sold: Ricardo Verduguez (72k), Freek Sabajo (8k), Kasper Hamalainen (30k), Lukasz Burkhardt (50k), Andros Townsend (250k)

Also, a number of players have gone out on loan to other sides.

In

Signings: Jason Brown (75k), Severo Meza (850k), Wellington Viana (11k), Ivan Carvalho Barbosa (9k)

Youth Wage Auctions: Lucien Thijssen, Nikola Simov, Ivica Balajic, Momar Seck, Mikhail Morgunov, Carlos Garcia, Julien Larbi, Tom Scargill, Walter Monteverde, Jan Abraham, Augustus Uzoma

So, for now, most of those are just meaningless names- youngsters waiting for their chance to shine. Some will succeed, others will fail. But all will get a shot at proving themselves. The two exceptions:

Jason Brown - Awesome former Gillingham goalkeeper who I've been tailing pretty much since day one in the GW. Ze Fuehrers had been transfer-listing him for some time out of my price range with no takers, so when his contract came up for renewal, it was simply a question of winning the wage auction and nabbing him on the cheap. Since then, has established himself ahead of Samir Ujkani as the first choice keeper.

Severo Meza - With the introduction of stadiums, a lot of teams were looking to cut costs and wage bills, and in a dead transfer market, there were some real bargains going. While I'd gone about balancing the books by releasing a lot of low earners, others were forced to offer pretty much their entire squad up for sale. One such manager was Seb Finck, of R Standard Liege, who'd won the first-ever Daria Morgendorffer Knockout Cup. Mexican Severo Meza had been the anchor of his defence, a 23-year-old who'd played over 250 games for the Belgian side. However, in these turbulent times, a record-breaking offer of the player's market value of 850k was too good to turn down, and since then, Meza has become as central to the team as Arouca or Anthony Modeste. With such an attacking formation, it's important to have a quality defence, and Meza has so far proven to be worth every penny.

Season So Far

But enough about signings- the season is underway, and at the time of writing, Riot sit comfortably in 10th, 11 games played (W3, D3, L5). Arouca, Paulinho Dias, Anthony Modeste, Lucas Correa and Saulo are all performing above a 7.0 average, with Modeste ranked 4th on the top scorers charts, having scored 7 goals in 11 games. So, things are looking pretty good. Results tell an incredibly inconsistent story- a 7-2 victory over 2nd-placed Team Trampled On was followed by a run of six without a win, including an ugly 3-6 defeat to Inter HollyValance. The side have been scoring a lot of goals, but they've been conceding them as well- one clean sheet in 11 speaks volumes, but likewise, there's only been one match in which we haven't scored.

In the first round of the Casual League Cup, River Medway Riot overturned a 2-1 defeat in the first leg with a scintillating 7-2 victory over Hamilton 1967. Etien Velikonja bagged a hat-trick, with Criscuolo, Saag and Modeste also getting on the scoresheet. The second round saw them drawn against Tim Smith's Langmere Athletic, where they are currently looking to overturn another first leg defeat, having gone down 3-1 at home.

Riot were less successful in the FA Cup, finding themselves put out 6-5 on aggregate by The Young Ones, having thrown away a 4-2 lead from the first leg.

Finally, on the youth front, both the Casual Youth League and Casual Youth Cup are well underway. Riot sit 5th out of 8 in the league, with 16-year-old striker Diego Silva Nascimento lighting up the home games and looking to be a hot prospect for the future. Lee Wilmot, a £10,000 signing from Luncarty Saints, struck twice against Gary Town FC in a 3-0 Quarter Final win, booking Riot a place in the Semi-Finals despite Davor Pejovic's red card.

Other news

In other news, the first stage of work at Preach Clubrooms is nearly finished- the Berengere Marcos Stand, Crisp End and Brook End have each had their capacities increased, while the Begona Rocca Stand was torn down and replaced with a two-tier stand filled with Pieghevole seating. The work has cost around £2m, and will give a capacity of a little over 20k once completed. There has been talk of raising funds to further develop the Brook End into a two-tiered stand with provision for corporate boxes, but this will depend on the financial situation of the club.

The Rumour Mill

Last but not least, time to look at what the future holds for the Riot. With Brazilian centre-back Lucas Galdino finding himself transfer-listed in order to raise funds for the club, it seems a cheaper alternative is being sought out. A number of names have been linked with the club, including none other than John Terry, transfer listed for £1m, but whose wages seem set to be a stumbling block. A possible move for P.F.C. Levski Sofia's Yasuyuki Konno is said to have been mooted at one point, with youngster Jose rumoured to be moving in the other direction as part of a deal, but word is that negotiations have stalled. Other names recently linked with Riot include centre-backs Gregor Balazic (DonZ FC) and Mohammed Nosrati (Afc.Asha) and midfielder Bacary Mendes (Mart's World XI). Riot scouts have also been seen at Deepdale Elite's training ground, although it is unclear who is being watched.

Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Bonan is also said to be on his way out, frustrated at being reduced to third-choice behind Brown and Ujkani, while young Dutch striker Stefan Wijngaarde and Guatemalan midfielder Julio Alvarez have been told their contracts will not be renewed.

And lastly...

Since somebody in the chat asked what "Gold Shoes From Chockers" was all about, a quick explanation- Chockers is a shoe shop along Chatham High Street. It was immortalised in the song "Welcome To The Medway Towns", an homage to the ladyfolk of Medway which can be downloaded HERE. Lyrics have been lovingly transcribed HERE.