Our new vice captain is...

After two rounds of voting and a very close finish, polls are closed
and we have a new vice captain. He is....

Mark Williams.

It was indeed a close vote. Only 1 vote separated all three
candidates - Mark, Stu and Bala. Bala didn't help his cause by voting
for Stu! All 3 are clearly leaders among us and will be a massive
help on the field every week.

Congratulations to Mark. Mark, together with Andy and me, will pick
the team for each match.

Minutes of 2008 Annual General Meeting

Date: 26 October 2008

Venue: the SOCIAL, Bangsar

Present: Mark Williams, Paul Williams, Ian Quirk, Tom Sarginson, Anthony H, Mark Howland, Bunmi Sodiya + 3 young ladies!!!

(Note: Mark Jones, Terry Harris, Andy Johnston, Stu Cavens and Adam Scott were not present but did send me their views by email (several pages of emails in some instances!). I add their comments to the extensive notes I took last night.)

Agenda:

1)  Review of 2007/2008 season
2) Review of club finances
3)  Goals for 2008/2009 season
4)  Approach for 2008/2009 season
5) Confirmation of roles for 2008/2009 season

1) Review of 2007 / 2008 season

Enjoyed the football.  We were competitive but should have done better.  Social scene was better than previous season but after match drinks were rarely well attended.  Despite a big squad, we often struggled to get a strong squad to every fixture.  Only other issue was discipline (one major incident) which improved markedly in the second half of the season.

2) Review of club finances

Our esteemed Treasurer was absent from meeting with apologies so no detailed review took place.  My understanding is that our finances are healthy.  We've received sponsorship of RM9000 (RM4000 from the Social - thanks Mei, RM4000 from Roemex - thanks Kenny Woods, and RM1000 from Stu Cavens - thanks Stu).  We've spent some of this on new kits and league fees but will have some money left over to contribute to the costs a club tour.  

The treasurer has set fees for the coming season as follows:

RM200 Players registration fee

RM20 Match fee

3) Goals for 2008/2009 season

Win the lot!  Noting that to do so, we'll need to rely on the depth of our squad and should ensure that all subs get a fair crack of the whip.  We should all expect to spend some time on the side of the pitch at times this season.  

4) Approach for 2008 / 2009 season

Squad selection:

We agreed that we need to select the squad based on performances on the pitch.  There was some discussion about selecting players that are only rarely available.  Even though such a player might be a better player than a regular player, he mightn't contribute as well as a regular due to his unfamiliarity with the way we play.  This is noted and will be considered when we pick teams.  The selection criteria for the coming season are:

PRIMARY: Performances to date

SECONDARY: Clubmanship (in no particular order):

i) regularly available for matches

ii) reliability: shows up when selected and shows up on time

iii) attendance at training

iv) attends after match drinks and social events

The selection committee will pick a squad of 15 (when necessary).  The selection committee will be : Manager, Captain and Vice Captain

Substitutes:

Keeping a strong squad will be essential to doing well this season.  As such we need to keep all players motivated.  All subs should get a good run out if selected for a match.  As such, all players should expect to spend some time on the subs bench during matches.  

Mid-week friendly fixture:

We've been offered a mid-week friendly at the Club Aman league (thanks Shaun Sweeney of Expat Lions).  Games are friendlies which take place weekly on either a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  We've agreed to take this slot.  In selecting this team, priority for selection and game time will go to:

1) So-called 'fringe' players who are not getting a lot of game time on the weekend

2) Alice Smith School teachers who want to play regular football but are not in our weekend squad 

Those players that play regularly in the weekend team will make up the numbers in this team.  

Training:

Positive comments on the new format.  But attendance has been very poor which has led to frequent cancellation.  Some people asked that we put the time earlier, i.e. back to 6:45PM.   The matter of changing nights was discussed, e.g. a Wednesday but the people at the meeting did not say that this was an issue.  So we'll stick with Thursday and try to get the time earlier.  

Discipline:

Maintaining good discipline is very important to us for a number reasons.  As such, any player not acting in a disciplined manner can be expect the shepherd's crook to come out and be taken off for a cool-down,  E.g. if you're having a go at the ref, getting involved in some argy bargy with opponents or slating your teammates expect to be taken off to cool down.

Tour: 

All seven people at the AGM confirmed their attendance on the tour!  Some discussion took place on the relative merits of Bangkok and Jakarta.  It was mentioned that Bangkok might be "too seedy".  This was met with derision from one member suggesting that the words "too" and "seedy" simply cannot be used together in this manner.     The club will pay for at least a part of the costs of the tour. Tour Organiser is Stu Cavens.  All requests on location and other matters to Stu.  

Proposal from the 3 young ladies present:

The 3 young ladies present proposed the following:

1) Our shorts are far too long and should be much shorter

2) Jerseys should be much tighter

3) Club colours should be changed to bright pink.

Those of you that played in the skin tight fuchsia ensemble that we wore last season will recall that the above 3 points closely describe last season's kit!  I told the girls that they are a year too late and suggest that they seek solace in reviewing the pictures from last season.

 

5) Confirmation of roles of 2008 / 2009 season

Three changes here:

Club Captain:  Ian Quirk - after 3 seasons wearing the armband  - is standing down as Club Captain.  The club has progressed immensely under his captaincy, as evidenced by our recent win in the Expat Cup.   We can all thank Ian for his leadership as a captain and contributions as a player.  We expect the latter to continue with abundance in the coming season.  Andy Johnston was nominated as Club Captain and this was accepted.

Match reporter:  Mark Williams has agreed to take on this high profile job and attempt to delight us with his literary brilliance.  So far his cryptic ramblings have proven only to be a effective remedy for insomnia.  We can only hope he improves.  zzzzzzzz.....

Vice-captain:  Due to his impending departure from KL (although the word on the street has it that this may not happen until mid-2009!) Terry Harris will stand down as Vice Captain.  As Club Captain was the manager's choice, I'd like Vice Captain to be the player's choice and will organise a vote for a new VC.  

All other roles remain as per last season (sorry Ad, I tried to find someone to take the kit but to no avail.  As you've done a fantastic job in ensuring our kit smells as fresh as springtime but mainly because you're the only player that parks his car no more 5 paces from a laundry the consensus was that you should continue your wonderful work in this role.)

The roles for the coming season are hence:

Manager: Organise player availability; deal with league matters; pick team - Anthony

Captain: Lead the team on the field, pick team - Andy

Vice-captain: Lead the team on the field, pick team - TBD

Match reporter 1: Write match report on blog - Mark Williams

Match reporter 2: Complete league match report form (players, cards, scorers) and fax/email into league - Mark Jones

Treasurer: Collect subs; pay league; issue refunds to others who incur expenses. Mark Jones

Equipment: Buy new kits and bring kit, balls etc to match each week - Adam

Drinks: Bring drinks to matches each week - Mark Jones

Pitches Ensure home pitch availability and readiness - Ian Quirk

Tour manager: Organise a tour Stu

Social sec: Organize and encourage high attendance at regular social activities - Stu

Fixture sec: Organize friendlies when we don't have a competitive match - Andy

League liaison: Do a role on the SSLKL Committee - Stu and Andy

The forenamed form a committee and will be consulted to collectively take major decisions on behalf of all players at the club.

Asterix Reds V Mancis 1-1 (Friendly)

After finally kicking off at twenty to three in the morning, the charismatic Mancis boys found themselves one down to an early Peter Pan goal. The first twenty minutes saw the Reds firmly in control but Mancis, being a good, organised side, maintained their discipline and structure and got a deserved equaliser on the half hour spot. A good shot and one that even Anthony's practiced ninja move in goal could not stop. 1-1 at the break and after some shuffling of the pack the Reds had a good second half with Gary, Paul and Tom going close. The Mancis boys shut shop in the last 15 minutes, so much so that even the mild mannered janitors that are the two Williams boys found themselves throwing their toys. (We are not related by the way) 1-1 at the end and good performances from a number of the boys. It is a shame that Shaun Sweeney will not be one of the boys this year as he is a great player and a good lad. Man of the Match for me goes to Steve White at the back who commanded the back line like Rommel in Libya.
It was all back to the Social for the AGM and we were all lucky to get a seat at this well attended annual event that I have penciled into my diary for next year. After we finally got rid of the numbers of people turned away at the door, some minor issues were discussed and the more important matters of drinking and watching Liverpool beat Chelsea were then attended to.

KLSSL 7-a-side Tournament (Quarter Finalists)

The term rhymes with 'clucking bell'. What could have been and what should have been. Out in the Quarter Finals on pens.
The day started slowly. After our warm up which reminded all of an audition for dancers at Club Rectum, we eeked out a 0-0 draw with the mighty Socceroos. After Tom's miss in the dying seconds, it was rumoured that Mr. Kipling was trying to get hold of him. We played much better football after that and went on to record four straight wins on the bounce. 3-1 versus the colossal UK Rovers, 1-0 versus the immense Wolves, 1-0 versus the vast Fusion and then 1-0 against the stupendous MMFC with Paul Williams' corker being the goal of the tournament for the Asterix boys.
However, it was down to the QF and we faced the much improved Red Star, a team we had a great battle with in the 11-a-side game 3 weeks ago and are definitely a force to be reckoned with this coming year. Although, it would be fair to say we had the better of the game, you have to take your chances in this version of the game and this we did not do, so it was down to penalties. After locked at 5-5 on penalties with confident pens being slotted home by Georgie B, Mr Kipling, Anthony, MC Johnson and Scotty, up stepped the unconfident Williams. However, he hit a beauty into the top left hand corner only for the keeper to make an unbelievable save that Mr Fantastic would have been proud of, to literally fingertip it round the post.
Well, player of the tournament in my mind was Paul Williams who took his chances brilliantly. Until next week and the Mancis.

Asterix Reds 3 - 2 KL Vikings (Expat Cup)

CHAMPIONS!!! A 3-2 win over Vikings earns us a 100% record in the
pre-season Expat Cup and saw us pick up our first piece of silverware
for the season (officially, there's no trophy, but we won so I'm
going to buy us one!). We were below par in the first half and came
in at half time a goal down. An early goal in the second half from
Andy Johnston got us level and two goals in the last 10 minutes -
one from Paul Williams and another from Andy Johnston - gave us a two
goal cushion. We shipped a soft goal at the end to make the final
score 3-2 but were worthy winners.

The Vikings scored almost directly from the kick off. A ball down
the centre avoided our defenders and their striker got a decisive
touch to give the Vikings a very early lead. We didn't play well in
the first half: we looked off the pace of the game and our passing
was dreadful. We gave the ball away cheaply far too often and only
rarely put a few good moves together. Nonetheless, we did create a
couple of good chances. A free header at the back post from Bunmi
was hit so hard into the ground, it bounced up eight feet off the
floor and eventually settled in the 'keepers hands. Andy and Adam
conspired with an air shot and a miss over the bar from six yards in
the other clear chance we created. So we came in at half time at 0-1.

A good chat at half time helped us start the second half in the way
we wanted to continue. From the kick off, we passed the ball around
well in the midfield and at the back. Moved it up the right flank
and put a good ball into the box. Nothing came of it but it was our
most fluid moment of the match thus far and I think help us settle
down a bit. We continued to pass the ball better and got our
breakthrough from Andy Johnston after about 10 minutes of the second
half. Andy collected the ball outside the box and drove forward at
the defender. He faked to shoot with his left, brought it back onto
his right and buried a right foot drive past the 'keepers right hand
and into the back of the net. From this point on there really looked
like there was going to be one winner.

We had more of the ball than the Vikings but didn't get our goal.
The Vikings were always a threat on the break but fortunately our
defenders and 'keeper combined well to keep our back door shut. And
eight minutes from the end, we got the second goal our possession
deserved. We won the ball in midfield and released Adam who carried
the ball into the box. Adam went down under a heavy challenge and
the ball broke wide. A pass inside gave Bunmi the opportunity to
test the 'keeper from distance. His shot was parried into the path
of Paul Williams who steadied himself and unleashed a right foot
drive. As is Paul's tendency when shooting, his shot went straight
at the 'keeper who appeared to have stopped it. But the linesman and
referee ruled that the ball had crossed the line and we took a
deserved 2-1 lead.

If there was some controversy surrounding the first goal, there could
be none about our third and Andy's second. Andy picked up the ball
just outside the box on the left. He ran into the box, evaded a few
challenges from defenders before getting himself the half a yard of
space he needed to fashion a right foot curler which found it's way
just inside the far right post. It was goal of the day and saw us
take a 3-1 lead with just a couple of minutes left.

We let Vikings get one back with what was almost the last kick of the
game and 3-2 is how it ended. Man of the match : Andy Johnston.

This wasn't our best performance. In fact, it was probably our worst
in the four game Expat Cup tournament. Nonetheless, we stuck to our
task and turned around what would have been a very disappointing
defeat into what is a very satisfying victory. All good teams know
how to win ugly and this was us today.

For the record, our results in the Expat Cup were as follows:
Asterix Reds 5 - 0 Expat Lions
Asterix Reds 3 - 0 BM
Asterix Reds 5 - 3 Red Star
Asterix Reds 3 - 2 Vikings

I'm not happy that we've shipped five goals in the last two games and
we need to tighten our defence for the regular season. What is
pleasing is our performance in front of goal. 16 goals in 4 games is
a great return. Credit to the strikers and midfielders for making
our chances pay.

This is just a pre-season tournament and nothing to get too excited
about. Nonetheless, we've won it comfortably and we should celebrate
that. Of the top four teams in last years league table, three played
in this and we beat them all. Let's celebrate this success and take
this winning habit into the regular season which starts on the 1
November.