The Saints Go Marching Up The Football League!

PREFACE

This was my first save game on FM 07 and I didn't expect it to last so long or to make such a huge impact (especially on my leisure time)!

I wanted to start near the bottom of the English football pyramid and work my way up with a local club and yet I expected to be relegated on my first attempt, due to my usual incompetence with previous CM&FM games. Indeed, I even named an early save version of this game 'the conference p45 tour', such was my expectation of abject failure and mediocrity.

Having just moved to a village just outside St. Albans, I decided that St. Albans City (the Saints) would be my Football Manager 'guinea-pig' club!

This is my first FM story and I wanted to write it as the journal of a football manager.

I am writing it retrospectively, so I apologise for any inconsistencies or incongruity, plus the inevitable bad grammar and spelling!

In addition, I apologise for the brevity of the early season reviews as they have been written retrospectively, but stick with the story because I think it gets a lot better the further you go with it.

I hope the read is a pleasurable one! Cheers…

PREFACE

This was my first save game on FM 07 and I didn't expect it to last so long or to make such a huge impact (especially on my leisure time)!

I wanted to start near the bottom of the English football pyramid and work my way up with a local club and yet I expected to be relegated on my first attempt, due to my usual incompetence with previous CM&FM games. Indeed, I even named an early save version of this game 'the conference p45 tour', such was my expectation of abject failure and mediocrity.

Having just moved to a village just outside St. Albans, I decided that St. Albans City (the Saints) would be my Football Manager 'guinea-pig' club!

This is my first FM story and I wanted to write it as the journal of a football manager.

I am writing it retrospectively, so I apologise for any inconsistencies or incongruity, plus the inevitable bad grammar and spelling!

In addition, I apologise for the brevity of the early season reviews as they have been written retrospectively, but stick with the story because I think it gets a lot better the further you go with it.

I hope the read is a pleasurable one! Cheers…

CHAPTER 1 - MY NEW LOCAL CLUB

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> On 7 May 2005, St Albans City beat Histon 2-0 in the Conference South Play Off Final at Stevenage's Broadhall Way ground. Goals from Lee Clarke and Paul Hakim meant that St. Albans were promoted to the Conference National for the first time in their history.

Following the team's promotion, manager Colin Lippiatt resigned as manager, feeling that he had taken the club as far as he could and that it was time to hand the reins over to a new manager who would take them into a new era. With rumours of a new stadium being announced in the press, it appeared that the St. Albans City chairman John Gibson was taking the team's promotion seriously and wanted to build a club capable of consolidating and establishing itself in the nationwide conference.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This was the first snippet of information I had read about St. Albans City FC. I had moved to the area a few weeks previously and made a point of finding out about my new local club. The St. Albans Advertiser were also running a story about the chairman John Gibson's search for a new manager, announcing that he wanted to bring someone 'young, ambitious and hungry' to manage the club.

Feeling that I easily matched the criteria, being 29 years old and hungry for some managerial experience, I forwarded a speculative CV filled to the brim with details of my coaching work, admittedly undertaken at a much lower level in the football pyramid. To my surprise, a week later, I received a phone call from John Gibson requesting that I visit the club at the earliest opportunity. The rest is history and so the dream began…

Upon first seeing the hallowed turf of Clarence Park I was sure that this was the place for me to build a managerial career. Situated in an attractive setting, with a park on one side and a cricket ground on the other, and with old trees looming large on the horizon, the ground has a very old-fashioned and traditional appeal. Clarence Park is made up of largely open terracing with one wooden stand, having been originally built in 1922, which adds a rather quaint and charming feel to the stadium.

On the very first day of my appointment, Bobby Blake, the clubs loyal grounds man, told me that up until the late 90's the ground was famous for having a large oak tree that sat in the middle of the Clarence Park Terrace (the away end). It was not unknown for visiting goalkeepers to get the odd acorn thrown in their direction! Regrettably the oak tree became diseased and was swiftly removed by the management.

I had undertaken a great deal of research about St Albans City Football Club before deciding the take charge, some of which is detailed below:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Name: St. Albans City

Established: 1908

Team Nickname: Saints, City

Ground Name: Clarence Park with 6,000 Capacity

Facilities: Adequate training facilities & basic youth facilities

Home Kit Colours: Yellow & Blue

Away Kit Colours: Blue & Yellow

Best Competition History: Runners -up Conference South in 2006

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In addition, I had done my research about the city itself and its potential for football:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> St. Albans itself is a beautiful, historic city with roman ruins and museums juxtaposed with suburban housing provided for the inevitable overflow from London. With a population of 130,000, the city has undoubted potential in terms of its base of footballing support. Yet, the locals mostly defer to nearby north London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, or nearby local side Luton Town.

Hardly a hotbed of football talent, Hertfordshire has Watford as its major representative, with Stevenage Boro our main rivals in the Conference this season - rivals only in locality though, as they are clearly ready to do battle at the opposite end of the table!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

With John Gibson, the City chairman, rumoured to want to move the club into a bigger ground, I am hopeful that I am working with the right man and that the club is going places. He seems rather quiet on the matter, however, with no discussions regarding the future having taken place prior to my appointment.

The brief for this first season in charge is to avoid relegation. The major thing that worried me after my first 'tour' of the club was the ground's open terraces, as I feared that it might be difficult to generate a good atmosphere. I felt the club needed that 'twelfth man' element, especially with City being favourites to be relegated from the Conference.

CHAPTER 2 - Season 2006/2007 CONFERENCE

Pre-season:

The fans were cautiously optimistic about my appointment. I read the sacfc.co.uk forums intensely during the pre-season, only to see that the majority of fans were claiming that my appointment was a mistake by a chairman lacking in ambition! Cheers guys! A small minority seemed to be supporting my appointment, if only to be different to the rest!

With this statement of confidence firmly rooted at the back of my mind, I began preparations for the new season. I didn't want to change too much at once and felt that the best way forward would be to strengthen the squad with a few minor signings. I brought in 6 new players, including a couple of hard and experienced centre-backs, a versatile fullback and a young attacking midfielder. The quality of these signings was doubtful, but I was looking to make up the numbers and hoped that they may come good.

The undoubted star of the team was captain Lee Clarke, who had scored for fun under the previous manager. I would be relying on him a great deal this season.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 22nd place

Chairman and fans: Stay clear of relegation

Manager: Expecting to be sacked after not winning a single game

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 15th P46 W16 D11 L19 F75 A73 Pts59

Average Attendance: 1571

Player of the season: Lee Clarke

Top Goalscorer: Lee Clarke 25

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Saints faithful only had to wait three games for their undoubted highlight of the season, a 5-2 drubbing of a poor Cambridge City side! Yet, mediocrity followed that, with the side dropping points all over the place. We were beaten at home by local rivals Stevenage Boro but achieved a 1-1 draw at Broadhall Way with the Saints fans in full voice singing 'we pay your benefits' and 'is your daughter on the pill?' to the home fans! Terrific stuff!

We never really looked like getting relegated, with Lee Clarke's fantastic goalscoring escapades surely the sole reason we stayed in the division, as he finished the season with 25 league goals.

CHAPTER 3- Season 2007/2008 CONFERENCE

Pre-season: Last season the side managed to achieve a safe position in the league and it appeared that the chairman, John Gibson, simply wanted more of the same. I felt that it was surely time to try and consolidate and establish the side in the top flight of non-league football - perhaps aim for mid-table. After some serious conversations, John Gibson reluctantly gave me 18k to spend, at the cost of a reduced wage budget. I went out in the market and spent quickly on John Dawson for 14k from Hitchin Town FC. John was a big, powerful centre-forward who was extremely strong in the air- exactly what we needed at this level. I strengthened the squad with 6 other players, one of who was a young centre-back called Rhys Powell for 4k.

It was time to improve on last season and so a tactical revamp was in order. The side would play long ball football, hitting balls to John Dawson early in the hope that Lee Clarke could run off him and put the ball in the back of the net.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 22nd place

Chairman and fans: Stay clear of relegation

Manager: Expecting the side to play gritty long ball football and to stay up

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 11th P46 W19 D9 L18 F60 A49 Pts66

Average Attendance: 1853

Player of the season: Lee Clarke

Top Goalscorer: Lee Clarke 21

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This season saw us strengthen our position and we finished with 7 more points than last season, but something was seriously wrong with the home form. Away from Clarence Park we caused some serious upsets, with our long ball tactic to John Dawson. Yet, at home, the tactic just wasn't paying off and we dropped silly points all over the place. We lost 1-0 away to arch-rivals Stevenage and then managed to beat them 1-0 at home, but the goals just weren't flowing at Clarence Park. Staying in the division was good enough for me, but it was really a nothing season and in that respect it had been disappointing.

CHAPTER 4- Season 2008/2009 CONFERENCE

Pre-season: Time to get rid of some dead wood, with 7 members of the squad axed, mostly on free transfers, and only 1k recouped. As a result there wasn't much to spend, so I concentrated my efforts on free transfers and loans. Lee Collins was a notable free transfer, a young fullback with lots of promise at this level.

I went back to basics with the squad and worked hard on some new tactical ideas. We stuck with the long ball, defensive, counter-attacking tactic and focused on using John Dawson as our target man. At home, we kept the same tactic rather than going out and attacking sides like last season.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 21st place

Chairman and fans: Stay clear of relegation

Manager: This side could achieve something if the home form picks up

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 1st P46 W23 D15 L8 F80 A48 Pts84

Average Attendance: 2387

Player of the season: John Dawson

Top Goalscorer: John Dawson 18 (not to mention 16 assists too!)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

What can be said about this season, except for that it was completely unexpected and had an emotional roller-coaster finish. With Stevenage having been promoted to the football league the season before, there was no local derby, but the side didn't seem to need any motivation to play football.

Their form during the first half of the season led the local papers to dub the side 'the little Brazil', which I am sure had more to do with the fact that the side were playing in yellow and blue, and winning football matches, rather than the style of play, which was gritty, ugly stuff. The side played direct football up to John Dawson, who won headers and scored goals. He was easily our star player of the season.

I expected that John Gibson would be ecstatic that the club had achieved the unthinkable and won its first ever trophy, yet he seemed to worry more about the wage bill, which was increased dramatically by a great deal of player contract promotion clauses.

The first trophy in St. Albans City history was an emotional moment for the long-suffering fans, although the celebrations were restricted to Clarence Park, with the fans gathering to pay their tributes to the playing squad. On Saints march to the football league!

Still no sign of that new stadium and I was beginning to believe the fans on sacfc.co.uk forum when they said that John Gibson had no ambition.

CHAPTER 5- Season 2009/2010 LEAGUE TWO

Pre-season: With the squad looking extremely thin with questionable quality for a football league club, I called a meeting with John Gibson who refused to allocate any funds to me. However, a number of clubs were circling like vultures around my young centre-back Rhys Powell, who I unloaded to Huddersfield for a stonking (if such a word exists) 190k! With these funds secured as my transfer kitty for the season, I released a shocking 24 players(!), mostly deadwood and youngsters and began to rebuild the squad from it's foundations.

Notably signings included a cocky centre-forward of the name Darryl Duffy, another cocky and pacey forward named Darryl Knights and an all-round versatile and young midfielder from Doncaster named Paul Hill. Rob Marshall, a centre-back from Cambridge United, was a record signing for 50k! He was going to have a big future at the club, that was for sure. I brought no less than 20 players to Clarence Park with my new revolving door transfer policy and foolishly spent the whole of my 190k. But I intended to cement the sides place in the football league, no matter what John Gibson thought. Nobody was going to hold me back. And so we began a season with almost a new squad, with only a small spine of the older players, such as Lee Collins, Lee Clarke and John Dawson still strutting their stuff at Clarence Park.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 23rd place

Chairman and fans: Stay clear of relegation

Manager: Long-ball football is great and should keep us in the league!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 5st P46 W23 D5 L18 F72 A58 Pts74

Average Attendance: 3046

Player of the season: John Dawson (17 assists!)

Top Goalscorer: Darryl Knights 20

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson (elected to legend status after this outstanding season)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

An amazing season, which included a few traded blows with Stevenage (a 2-0 loss at Broadhall Way and 2-0 win back at Clarence Park). Saints were ready from the off thanks to a fantastic pre-season and a great start which saw the side pick up points fairly quickly. League Two didn't seem much of a step up to City, with John Dawson in particular terrorising professional defences!

Come the end of the season, Saints had secured a play-off spot and were drawn to play Rotherham. The first leg was away from home saw the Saints emerge as victors with a 2-1 win. Following that, City had an easy second leg at home and cruised to a 1-0 win. Through to the play-off final to play Hereford - yet the side didn't have the mental strength to win that game and eventually succumbed to a 3-2 loss, Hereford's goal coming, tragically and devastatingly for Saints, during the 90th minute.

I praised the lads and told them that next season could be their season. If I could just keep the squad together, yet John Gibson is breathing down my neck about the wage budget, which I have exceed dreadfully due to my 20 new signings!

CHAPTER 6- Season 2010/2011 LEAGUE TWO

Pre-season: The media seem to have us down as one-season wonders, but I feel that we can really challenge this season. Especially seeing as the team have really gelled and John Dawson is such a big deal for any defence to cope with!

During the summer, I let 11 players go, mostly on free transfers. This was really the legacy from our conference days of players who wouldn't make the grade. Darryl Knights, last season's top scorer, was sold for 26k to balance the books (having been signed on a free the previous season). His stay at Clarence Park has been short but sweet. I brought in 11 players on frees, mostly youngsters to add depth to the first team squad. I didn't feel I would have to change much. One big pre-season moment was the loan signing of a young West Ham centre-back Freddie Owen, who would eventually go on to have an exciting future at Clarence Park, but that's a story for later.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 15th place

Chairman and fans: Safe mid-table

Manager: Play-offs again please!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season Review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 1st P46 W25 D12 L9 F78 A49 Pts87

Average Attendance: 6384

Player of the season: You guessed it, City legend, John Dawson

Top Goalscorer: Darryl Duffy (Dawson's new partner in crime) 25

City Legends: Lee Clarke and John Dawson

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Darryl Duffy replaced Darryl Knights as Dawson's partner up front and scored 25 goals in the process as Saints scored a fantastic 78 goals on their way to winning the second trophy in our history. West Ham young centre-back Freddie Owen really kept things tight at the back - I would love to get him on loan again next season, as I feel he has undoubted quality at this level and could make the step up to League One.

Once again, the local media dubbed us the 'Little Brazil' as we had our best season ever! I must confess that my head was beginning to get a little big at this stage, with two promotions (and two trophies) in five seasons, my ego was starting to take over.

John Gibson, the chairman, arranged a full celebration, including a bus tour of St. Albans City centre, with thousands of fans singing 'oh when the saints, (oh when the saints) go marching in (go marching in), oh when the saints go marching in, I want to be in league one, oh when the saints go marching in!' In short, a fantastic atmosphere. And finally, St. Albans City centre had some people wearing the yellow and blue of their local club. Genuine pride in their local team had finally made the people of St. Albans sit up and take notice. It was exciting times ahead for the club and on to League One we go!

CHAPTER 7- Season 2011/2012 LEAGUE ONE

Pre-season: The same old story for Saints pre-season - we are everyone's favourites to go down. With the core of the squad meeting the required standard of the division, in my opinion, I didn't see too much reason to make dramatic changes. With that in mind, I attempted to ease the wage bill with some free transfers - regrettably comprising of a great number of players I had signed in my transfer binge of two seasons ago - they just hadn't made the grade. In came a number of young players, ones for the future, including a young defender named Will Talbot. A young pacey striker named Frazier Campbell was signed on a free transfer, having been released by Blackburn Rovers. He looked like a great prospect. Freddie Owen liked his time at Clarence Park so much, he was back again on loan. And a young lad called Mitchell Bryant signed on a season long loan from Chelsea - he was probably the most talented youngster the Saints faithful had ever seen at Clarence Park. Physically he had bags of pace, lots of strength and great ability in the air. His technique and first-touch were certainly the best I had ever seen. It was clear I would be building a team and tactic around Mitchell Bryant for our best chance of success.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 24th place

Chairman and fans: Fight against relegation

Manager: Just give the ball to Mitchell and see what he can do!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 2nd P46 W25 D11 L10 F81 A35 Pts86

Average Attendance: 6543

Player of the season: Mitchell Bryant

Top Goalscorer: Mitchell Bryant 32

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant (elected for winning us promotion by himself!)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

How can you sum up a season like this? Literally my best ever in football management. Mitchell Bryant was a dream to have in the team - as a target man, he could run onto the ball, have it played into feet, or win it in the air. His finishing was fantastic and he broke the record for goals scored in a season. Freddie Owen and Rob Marshall formed an excellent partnership at the back and kept clean sheets everywhere they went. The side just wouldn't concede goals and refused to have any mercy on their opposition, locating Mitchell Bryant who poached goals and created for those around him. Fantastic stuff. I even got Saints playing a short passing attacking game at home, centring around Mitchell, and it was a fantastic success. Only Ipswich Town were better than us, finishing above us in 1st. On to the Championship we go as if in some kind of dream! The Saints go marching on!

CHAPTER 8 - Season 2012/2013 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre-season: To me, this season looked very bleak. Mitchell Bryant had decided that he wouldn't be coming back to Clarence Park and we clearly wouldn't be good enough for the Championship without him. In short, I didn't think we had a hope in hell of even staying in the division. I saw the gap between the Championship and League One as being huge, evidenced by clubs like Yeovil Town and Doncaster, who have done what we have done, i.e. come up from the Conference to this level and then yo-yo'ed between the Championship and League One.

Yet due to my ego I went ahead and made a four-year plan with great optimism to get the club into the premier league. The name old big 'ead could easily be attributed to me after my recent endeavours. However, crippling debt along with various other issues surrounding the club had me worried.

To clarify, the club is in severe debts and I have no transfer fees and a wage limit that is less than I was allowed in League Two! Barely anyone with any kind of quality will sign for Saints so I am left with picking up young players with local reputations that I don't think will be capable of mixing it with the big boys of the league. The training facilities and youth academy is poor in comparison to other sides at this level and it cannot be upgraded due to the financial problems. Saints have never had a decent youth product come through the academy.

Sweeping changes were made in the summer, with 50 (!) players sold or released, recouping a fantastic £2.6m, most of which should have helped ease our debts. However, I needed to spend to keep us in the division and spent £2.2m of this income to try to strengthen the squad. Notable signings included youngster Jim Pirie for 20k from Falkirk and Freddie Owen (previously on loan with the club over the last two seasons) signed up for a club record fee of 950k. I felt that with the signing of Freddie Owen, we might have a chance of staying up. I expected him to build up a great partnership with Rob Marshall in the centre of defence. In addition, Carlos Lopez, a young Spanish striker is signed for £275k - he was to play a bit part in the season.

The main problem I could foresee is that the squad was very young - they were clearly a squad for the future. You don't win anything with kids apparently.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 24th place

Chairman and fans: Fight against relegation

Manager: No hope in hell

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 21st P46 W14 D8 L24 F43 A68 Pts50

Average Attendance: 8893

Player of the season: Freddie Owen (our new centre-back)

Top Goalscorer: Frazier Campbell with a pathetic 8 goals

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This season provided the most challenging and frustrating yet thrilling experience I have had as a football manager so far.

Over the last six years, Saints have had great success; consolidating in the conference fairly easily and making short work of a league two full of deadwood and even shorter work of league one. My ego reflected this success, but the Championship was to provide me with my biggest challenge yet.

At the beginning of the season, I knew that the side was well below the standard in terms of the Championship and so made sweeping changes to the whole squad in order to prepare for the new season. As a result, I was still tinkering with the line-up and bringing in new signings up until the end of august. The first 10 games of the season were a mess and saw me at rock bottom of the championship. However, the side seemed to start to gell and pick up points - a rather incredible unbeaten run followed and took us up as high as 12th place.

In the January transfer window I decided that captain and fullback Lee Collins was clearly not up to the standard of championship football and we needed the money from his transfer, with several clubs after him. I sniff out a good deal and show the lad the door for 150k to Sheff Wed. Still the results come, yet, disaster was just around the corner. Three of my centre-backs were injured, along with two of my fullbacks, which left me with a makeshift backline of youngsters. With that, City seemed to fall apart. The strikers couldn't score goals, the defenders couldn't defend to save their lives. In short, Saints found themselves back down in 22nd place with three games left. I swore loudly at the team, fined several of them for bad performance and went to bed a very angry manager that evening, I can tell you.

But it came to me as if in a dream. I saw the error of my tactical ways and so I was up first thing the following morning and back on the training pitch with my squad.

In short, I remembered what our success has been based on up until now - that is, a counter-attacking tactic, with direct passing and a solid target man with excellent jumping and headers. My defenders would all hoof it up to him and he would hold up the ball or flick it on to my faster striker. It ain't pretty - but this is football on a budget.

Somewhere along the line, we've lost our way. We don't have a decent target man. So it was time to bring back St Albans City legend John Dawson, who was currently lamenting his fate in the reserves.

'John,' I said to the big lad, 'with your jumping of 18, heading of 19 and strength of 17, I want you to bruise every defender who comes near you and win headers for our poofy ex-premiership fast striker Frazier Campbell'. I thought it was a big ask, as John's stats were not up to the standard elsewhere, but anyway...

So, to the last three games of the season, and next up was Ipswich (one place above me) at home in a must win game. My Saints team hadn't won in 14 games - the media said it was impossible. Tactically, all was left unchanged, except I set Dawson as the target man and ask the side to play it to his head - no point in them playing it to him any other way as he's too slow and crap for that. The side battled and scored first - Dawson involved in the build up and my Arsenal loanee attacking midfielder putting the ball in the back of the net. But late on Ipswich grabbed an equaliser to dent our hopes of staying up. 1-1.

Two games to go, two points from safety. Still all to play for. More of the same next game at home to Brum please lads. So Birmingham, stuck in the lower half of the table with Ruud Gullit in charge (!) come to Clarence Park. I stick with the same side and beg them to find a win. And win they do, although they make hard work of it, but once again it's Dawson involved in the build up and our crappy and self-indulgent ex-premiership striker Frazier Campbell runs on to it and puts it in the back of the net (only his 8th goal of the season). Saints hold on to the lead. 1-0 win.

And yet, the team above us win to ensure that we are still two points from safety. We have to win the last game away at Millwall.

Gullit is praising me in the press. My keeper is rallying the troops and trying to get a reaction. We're ready for the final day. Same side, same tactic. I tell the lads to do it for the fans.

A quiet first half with nothing to report and I fear the worst. Dawson was involved in a few moves, but overall he looks like he is outclassed at this level. At halftime, in the dressing room all is dismal. I'm seriously thinking about another season in league one. I contemplate leaving the club, we're in serious debt and I've no idea what will happen in the summer. I praise the lads and they get back out there. I ensure, as always, that Dawson is up against the oppositions weakest centre-back.

Middle of the half, still nothing. I sub on my young Spanish striker to support Dawson. I bought this Spanish lad mainly because of his name, Carlos Lopez - he sound like he has to be class. He's 20 with bags of flair and looks like he'll be a star one day. And would you believe it, 75th minute, Dawson up for a header, flicks it on, Lopez through, GOAL!!! I'm jumping around the bathroom (don't ask why).. ahem... I mean pitch! 1-0. And the lads hold on! And even better than that, the team above me lose! I stay up by one point on the last day of the season!!! And it's pure poetry, as the legend that is Dawson sets up the youngster who wishes to emulate him for the goal. The past and the future of the club keeping us up!

The priority after this season is to build for another season in the championship and to expect a relegation battle. The priority for the summer is to sign a target man! I don't want Saints to be involved in another relegation battle.

CHAPTER 9- Season 2013/2014 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre-season: In the summer, I had a clear out and sold a couple of youngsters including my young and talented centre-back Will Talbot for 500k. I say that I sold him, but in fact, the chairman stepped in and said the offer was too good to refuse.

The club is now in very severe debt exacerbated by the chairman's desire to move to a new stadium in two years time - the result is, no transfer fees and a wage limit of only 50k!

I'm seriously struggling to take the club forward and after selling another 12 players to try and bring some funds in, I can only bring in a few free transfers. I do, however, spend a little on a new target man called Ryan Taylor for £350k. I hope that he will link up with my pacey striker, Frazier Campbell and perform the role that John Dawson did so well in the lower leagues. Another notable signing is Ben Davies, an ex-Arsenal winger, on a free transfer. He's an England U19 international and I'm excited about him. The squad still looks too young and lacks composure and concentration. I hope that they will keep us up this season and develop into a solid unit.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 24th place

Chairman and fans: Fight against relegation

Manager: Lower half of the table, but please not another relegation fight

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 21st P46 W13 D13 L20 F76 A83 Pts52

Average Attendance: 9941

Player of the season: Frazier Campbell

Top Goalscorer: Frazier Campbell 25 goals

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Another season gone, the major highlight being a league cup run to the semi-finals that broke the previous club record by about four rounds! The semis brought multi-millionaires Chelsea up against my penniless Saints side and we were well and truly outclassed. Still it was a good cup run!

There were few other positives from this season though, with the Championship as tough as it was last year. I will try and pick out a few more good points, just to keep this journal from descending into despondency too early.

My new target man signing Ryan Taylor, who replaced the legendary towering John Dawson (the 18k signing from Hitchin Town), bedded in really well and broke the club record for assists in a season, gaining the highest average rating.

Ben Davies, an ex-Arsenal youth signed on a free transfer, broke through to the first team squad at the age of 19 and played a blinder in the second half of the season.

My young Scottish right-back, Jim Pirie (now 20yrs), has improved incredibly and has undoubted Premiership potential.

Yet the league season ended just as the last one did, with a desperate limp over the finish line. A 21st place finish, admittedly achieved with a game to spare, yet with only 2 more points than last season.

There were one or two good runs of form during the season, which led me to believe that the team were capable of a mid-table finish. The main problem seems to be with the squad depth, of which there is absolutely none. So as soon as one or two first-teamers are out, especially the centre-backs or the wide players, I’m playing players out of position, or using players who are of doubtful league one ability!

My worst run of form came when I was missing two MLs, two CBs and my top scoring pacey striker for a large period in the second half of the season. With no backup on the left wing and with questionable backup for my central defenders, I struggled against everyone. It was difficult to pick up the form again even when they returned, with morale at an all time low.

What depressed me most was that Ipswich, who I was promoted from league one with two seasons ago, finished 2nd and made it to the top flight. QPR, the other team who came up with me, finished two or three places above me.

St Albans City offered me a new contract, yet with no transfer kitty and a wage limit that would look more realistic for a league two club! I have, of course, accepted the contract and at least another season of misery. My biggest worry is that about three first-team players in the squad are 34 or 35 and must go this season – yet, despite there lack of stamina (and ability in fact) they were vital backup for the first team squad. I am already short in almost every department and I am wondering where the next player is going to come from, especially seeing as I am hugely restricted in what I can offer players wage-wise.

John Dawson, who has been with us since it began and scored at every level, is also looking to pack his bags and move on, as his contract is due to run out. It’ll be a sad day for me, as he has served the club well and he even bagged a few goals in the league cup run this season (as my main target man was cup-tied). His contribution in the conference and league two was incredible, assists and goals, and he will be sorely missed if we can’t tie him down to a new contract as a backup player.

A few premiership clubs are circling like vultures over three of my star players, Rob Marshall, the aforementioned Scottish right-back Jim Pirie and an all-round creative midfielder called Paul Hill who has been at the club for a few years. If I could get £3 or £4m for one or two of them, then that would certainly go some way to solving the debt-problems and I might even get a little to spend. Yet, I would struggle to replace them and that’s my main worry.

I am really hoping that something can be done about the training facilities and the youth academy, because quite frankly they are absolute rubbish at the moment and I think are another thing that is holding me back.

I never realised how much money dominates the game at the higher levels. In the championship, there is a huge and visible gap between the rich and the poor – I only have to look at my end of season table to see that.

The poor form of the team over this season and last has led me to question my tactics set, which was so successful in my conference, league two and league one campaigns. However, I believe it is more lightly the poor quality of my first team that is causing the problem!

The new stadium arrives next summer, so I’m hoping that one more season of struggle will reap us the rewards of a packed stadium next season and therefore bring in the cash! I will be sad to leave Clarence Park however.

CHAPTER 10- Season 2014/2015 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre-season: Once again, I began the season with a great deal of doubt and anxiety. With no money to spent pre-season and those debts looming large, I sold 9 players, recouping £1.3m. The chairman sold one two of them on my behalf and we had a slight disagreement. But at the end of the day, I knew the financial situation. I was down to the bare bones and expecting little.

The chairman gave me a few pennies back from the money I had brought into the club with the player sales and I went out and spent 250k on one or two players, including Tony Fox, a young centre-back who is good in the air, and Jason Parker a young and talented looking goalkeeper. Another important signing was that of Chris Joseph on a free transfer. He looked like a real talent - an ex-Bolton youth product, with excellent technique and flair, plus good teamwork and workrate. In short, he was going to be perfect for that role of playing just behind the front two.

Somehow, with the sale of all those players, and in the process putting £1.3m in the bank, I managed to lower the wage bill to around the right level. I also arranged friendlies against Celtic and Rangers (beat Celtic somehow and drew 3-3 in a cracker of a match versus Rangers) and that brought the money in!

Ah, and the good news, legend John Dawson did resign for the club for another few seasons, as my sentimentality got the better of me!

Before the season began I reworked all of the training schedules and redesigned my tactical strategy, starting again from scratch. I didn't expect it to bed in too quickly, so I worried about a slow start.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 24th place

Chairman and fans: Fight against relegation

Manager: Lower half of the table, but please not another relegation fight

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 3rd P46 W20 D13 L13 F76 A46 Pts73

Average Attendance: 10080

Player of the season: Frazier Campbell

Top Goalscorer: Frazier Campbell 29 goals

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant, Frazier Campbell (scored the goals that kept us up two seasons in a row and is top scorer for yet another season this year), Freddie Owen (elected because he has been at the club for 6 years and was made captain this season)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Somehow City were back in the red come the start of the season. I have my suspicions that the chairman is secretly gambling away the clubs funds and spending thousands on high class hookers. Where is the money going to? The new stadium can't come quick enough, I'll tell you that for sure!

What with the debt problems and the chairman accepting transfer offers all over the place, I didn't have high hopes and this was exacerbated by my best target man (the captain) Ryan Taylor declaring that he had personal problems. He would miss the start of the season with a leave of absence. To make it even worse, nearly everyone in the squad is p*ssed off and wants to leave, except good old faithful John Dawson, who is playing well above his level, and who I should have sold long ago - I am far too sentimental to be a good football manager!

However, despite all of the club problems, i.e. debt, players being sold by the chairman, a young squad with the only additions in the form of some risky free transfers, a new training and tactical set... we were winning football matches!

What's more is, I won my very first manager of the month award at this level!

I really think the training sets have picked a few players up and got them working hard. Plus, my new tactical philosophy seems to be keeping the team playing well as a unit, keeping it tight at the back and really battling for results.

Another season gone and an incredible improvement! After two consecutive 21st place finishes, Saints achieved the unthinkable this season and made 3rd place!

The basis of my success would seem to be the complete overhaul in training and tactics, plus one or two free transfer signings, one of which was simply outstanding sitting behind my two strikers (Chris Joseph) and is worth £2m now – my most expensive player ever!

The saga of the season was Ryan Taylor, my star target man and captain, who spent the whole season travelling up to Rotherham and back due to his personal problems and never managed to shake them off. John Dawson, absolute City legend, stepped up and did fairly well, considering he has no technical ability whatsoever and is so out of his depth at this level. My other striker Frazier Campbell, who really kept us up for two seasons in a row, made up the other half of the strike partnership and hit just under 30 goals for the season. At the back, the youngsters had bloomed, with Jim Pirie in particular being chased by several Premiership clubs and Rob Marshall and Freddie Owen looking fantastic.

Our home form was the real reason for our league position in our last season at Clarence Park. We will really miss our home. I'm holding back the tears...

The away form really let us down towards the end of the season. We finished some way off 2nd place and never looked like getting automatic promotion as a result the away form, so I think that the away tactics need an overhaul for next season.

So you must all be wondering if Saints are now playing Premiership football after such a successful season and after managing to qualify for the play-offs?

Well, the playoffs started away to Birmingham, where the lads defended for their lives and came away with a 0-0 draw to take back to Clarence Park. A week later, in the second leg, Brum came at us and had a really good go. It was 2-2 with minutes left and then Frazier Campbell went on a mazy run and smashed one into the back of the net. 3-2! Thank you very much! Saints through to the final to play Cardiff.

I was seriously worried about Cardiff. The lads were tired plus we had lost to Cardiff in the last game of the season away from home. Taylor was still up in Rotherham, so Dawson took on the target man role. Taylor is also my captain, so the armband was passed onto a very proud Freddie Owen (my best central defender, who has been at the club for 6 years now). He led the team out at Wembley.

But Saints never really got going and the fairytale ending never came, with Dawson looking very poor and Campbell missing the few chances we had. Cardiff scored in the second half and took the 1-0 win. I was devastated.

What’s more is, after the game Frazier Campbell (top scorer for 3 seasons in a row, and lead scorer this season with 29 goals) said he wanted a new challenge. He swiftly went and packed his bags for Swansea – the b******! I couldn’t believe it and even tried to talk him round with a new contract.

The whole squad then seemed to want to follow him out, with most of my talented youngsters desiring to play their football elsewhere. I stayed tough, told them they were going nowhere and also had to refuse a few transfer requests.

To be honest, after the play-off final loss and Frazier Campbell suddenly decided he was off, I was ready to leave the Saints and say goodbye to Clarence Park. Yet, I knew this season we would be getting a new stadium and I felt that finally, with a bit of money, we might be able to seriously challenge for the premier league.

CHAPTER 11 - Season 2015/2016 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre-season: Everyone was hoping that this season might be the one that led us to the dizzy heights of the premier league.

I spent this summer bringing in some free transfers and trying to add depth to the squad. Lots of dead wood was also shipped out. Our reputation has increased to ‘national’, which I found quite exciting, except it makes no difference – we can’t afford the wages of anyone decent!

My main concern has been recruiting a striker to take the number 9 shirt over after Campbell left. I managed it with the acquisition of Alan Hill, a young centre-forward with great skill and pace, probably the best player the club have had. I have kept the core of last season’s squad.

Some exciting signings include, Andy Plumley, an ex-Arsenal youth, on a free transfer, Paolo Terminiello, an ex-Liverpool and Italy U21 international on a free and an aging Scott Parker to act as a sub to shore up the midfield plus add depth.

On the players out front, the biggest news was that Darryl Duffy, a previous top scorer, decided he was leaving and then retired. Saints wish to thank Duffy for his services, especially in the league two promotion campaign.

The good news is that the club have finally managed to get back into the black, thanks to some of the pre-season friendlies, against the likes of Liverpool and Ajax!

However, the bad news is that the bl**dy tight-arse chairman John Gibson has REDUCED the wage bill limit even further than last season and given me f*** all to spend! This despite the fact that we are several million in the black at last!

It’s hard work this football management lark.

Ah, and don't let me forget that we moved into the new St. Albans Stadium during this summer.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 6th place

Chairman and fans: Good league position

Manager: Play-offs at the very least

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Final league pos: 4th P46 W20 D14 L12 F54 A43 Pts74

Average Attendance: 17232

Player of the season: Chris Joseph

Top Goalscorer: Chris Joseph, the first non-striker to win the award, with 12 goals

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant, Frazier Campbell, Freddie Owen, Rob Marshall (elected through long service to the club, having been here for 7 years), Jim Pirie (the fullback is the best player that the club have ever had).

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The new season started miserably, with three games lost and only two won very narrowly at the new St. Albans Stadium. Alan Hill, in particular, has been a shower of sh*te and has managed to get himself injured too! Great judgement from the manager - what a signing!

I decided to let the new lads bed in and try to work on the away form.

Ryan Taylor (captain and target man) has gone back up to Rotherham again with his personal problems... John Dawson stepped up and scored three in three games straight away, so I was tempted to tell the b****** to stay in Rotherham forever!

The season can really be summed up by telling you all about the saga of my strikers. After losing last seasons top goalscorer and club favourite Frazier Campbell to Swansea in the summer, I signed Alan Hill, a promising ex-Sunderland striker, on a free transfer. Backup for him was a young lad called Andy Plumley (England U19 international) also signed during pre-season on a free.

Alan Hill spent most of the season picking up injuries that put him out for 2 to 4 weeks at a time and disrupted his rhythm. Plumley turned out to be absolute crap, with low composure causing him to sky every shot over the bar. After discovering the amount of chances that Plumley was missing, I turned to my last resort, James Sinclair, who was rotting in the reserves. He was just as rubbish, but seemed to form a half decent partnership with my revolving door frontline.

As you all know, I like my Saints team to play with a big target man. Ryan Taylor usually leads the line, as well as acting as captain for the side, but once again his personal problems ruined his season and I sent him up to Rotherham only for him to come back and get injured again. What a waste. I had to rely on City legend John Dawson, who almost single-handedly won us the conference and league two.

Just to give you an idea of how crap the strikers were this season, here are the top scorers for St. Albans city in season 15/16:

- Alan Hill (young exciting talent) 34 games played, 12 goals scored

- Chris Joseph (attacking midfielder and star player) 36 games played, 12 goals scored

- James Sinclair (reserve team striker) 18 games, 6 goals

- Andy Plumley (youngster with no composure) 18 plus 14 subs, 6 goals

- John Dawson (Target man and aging City legend) 27 plus 13 subs, 5 goals

Our injuries were atrocious this season, especially when it really mattered, but more about that later.

As I have already alluded to, the start of the season was awful. Saints couldn’t score goals at the new St. Albans stadium and couldn’t manage much on the road. We were down in 14th place about halfway through the season. My tight-arsed and generally idiotic chairman started warning me and at one point, for the first time in my career, he said he was dissatisfied with me! I thought I was going to get the boot.

The thing is, expectations at St. Albans City had gone up. A 3rd placed finish the season before left the media thinking we could achieve 6th place and the chairman demanding a top half of the table finish. But the chairman didn’t give me any money to spend and lowered the wage bill further, so I had only a paltry £50k wage budget for a championship promotion campaign! The fans never lost faith in me and were always happy with my performance. They were filling the new St. Albans Stadium to the brim and singing 'Oh when the Saints, go marching in' every game. A really good atmosphere can be generated at the St. Albans Stadium, so I was hoping that the home form could get us through the season with that 'extra man' behind us.

Anyway, I certainly discovered that the squad has plenty of dead wood and not enough depth to sustain good form when hit with an injury crisis. At Christmas, I called a player meeting (good feature this one, only just spotted it)

and asked captain Ryan Taylor to chair it (in between trips to Rotherham!)

It seemed to clear the air and then the highlight of the season arrived. January came and a short but sweet FA cup run, beating the likes of Arsenal and Bolton, then getting knocked out to Liverpool after a replay, really helped pick the team up. For starters, my chairman said that although he had doubts about me, he was beginning to have faith again (after the result against Arsenal).

The team then went on an outstanding unbeaten run, which took City up from 14th place to 4th, but very slowly, so we arrived there with three games to go and unbelievably still had a chance to automatically qualify.

Three games to go, 4 points to make up on QPR in 2nd place, yet I have an injury list as long as can be. At one point I ended up with two reserve wingers, two reserve fullbacks and two reserve strikers in the starting XI. They weren’t good enough and capitulated to Southampton away from home to lose 3-2 with two games to go. We were out of the race for automatic promotion.

In the end, we ended up in 4th place, which was a fantastic achievement considering the nightmare first half of the season and the injuries. Saints finished with one more point than last season, although a vastly inferior goal difference, having scored 20 fewer goals!

A playoff tie against Hull City awaited us, with Saints still missing 4 first team regulars. Damn these injuries! And the backups just aren't good enough, but somehow we went to Hull, missed a penalty, scored a goal, conceded a dodgy equaliser late on and came home happy(ish) with a 1-1 draw.

I was hopeful for the home leg. What’s more is I really felt that we were playing the best side in Hull City and that we could beat whoever got to the final from the other game.

Kick off at St. Albans stadium, everyone just keep their head, score City an early goal and the premiership dream might just be ours. 22 minutes gone, my central defender Rob Marshall of 7 years gets himself sent off! Just after the break Hull score first, but James Sinclair equalises for City – it’s passionate, gritty stuff. But Hull have too much for City and score to goals in extra time to see us knocked out.

Another season goes by and it’s another crushing play-off defeat. I don’t feel as angry and fed up as last season, because we barely looked like even qualifying for the playoffs for most of the season.

Ah, almost forgot to mention the most depressing game of the season, my 500th in charge of the club was a pathetic performance and a 2-0 loss to Bristol!

I really want the chairman to put his money where his mouth is now and do something about the training facilities and the youth academy, because quite frankly they are absolute rubbish at the moment and I think are a major thing that is holding us back.

The most bizarre moment of the season goes to former Saints striker Frazier Campbell and his Swansea team though, who missed out on the playoffs by 3 points, but instead won the FA Cup with Campbell scoring a goal in the final against Manchester United. That lad is good, I’m telling you. I suppose at least someone connected with the club in some way, all be it in the past, was successful! And he got the trophy that he kept complaining to me that he would never win at Saints! I want him back – he has St. Albans City in his favourite clubs, could I tempt him, I wonder?

Excellent story keep it up, really enjoying reading it

CHAPTER 12 - TEN YEARS IN CHARGE

A lot has changed at the club during my ten years in charge, so I thought I would just have a quick summary before beginning the 2016/2017 season.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Name: St. Albans City

Established: 1908

Team Nickname: Saints, City (and the 'Little Brazil!)

Ground Name: Clarence Park replaced by St. Albans Stadium with a 17000ish capacity

Facilities: Adequate training facilities & Adequate youth facilities

Home Kit Colours: Yellow & Blue

Away Kit Colours: Blue & Yellow

Competition History includes two league trophies, see below for breakdown:

Third-placed in the Championship 2015

Runners-up League One 2012

Winners League Two 2011

Winners Conference 2009

Runners -up Conference South in 2006

City Legends:

Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant, Frazier Campbell, Freddie Owen, Rob Marshall, Jim Pirie.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Cup Summary:

We are a useless cup side, apart from one good run in the league cup to the semi finals! In the FA Cup, we've never made it past the 6th round.

Play-offs:

I couldn't possibly complete this summary without a quick mention of our form in the play-offs, which are my favourite games ever. We have never won the play-offs at any level and have now had two defeats in the final and three failed play-off campaigns in total. Ah, I love the play-offs!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

League summary:

06/07 15th conference

07/08 11th conference

08/09 1st conference

09/10 5th league two (lost play-off final)

10/11 1st league two

11/12 2nd league one

12/13 21st championship

13/14 21st championship

14/15 3rd championship (lost play-off final)

15/16 4th championship (lost play-off semi-final)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's been a fantastic adventure so far, but we've been stuck in the Championship for four years and are struggling to find our way out of this tough division. Next season we've got to push for automatic promotion - will it be the season Saints finally make it to the Premier League?!

You are a god Crouchaldinho.

The saga continues...

CHAPTER 13 - Season 2015/2016 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre-season: During the summer, my mind was occupied by one thought: should I continue my managerial career with St. Albans City? Could I face one more season of being so close to making the top flight, only to be denied by the play-offs? I spent my holiday in Italy, drinking Chianti and Nastro Azzurro in the sun, and contemplated beginning a new chapter of my managerial career in Italy's lower leagues.

I had often watched Italian football, especially during its heyday in the nineties, and desired to ply my trade there. I used to watch the managers on the touchline smoking cigars and cigarettes, dressed in their long coats, faces red from Chianti. I watched them in awe as they furiously gestured at their players looking more like philosophers than football managers and playing chess-like tactical games with their opponents. All of the players' names sounded amazing - for instance, Roberto Baggio sounded like a player who was going to be good. That was what football management was about! Yet, I had spent 10 years playing long ball football that Wimbledon would be proud of, with players who are called non-exotic names like John Dawson. Still, I guess it is poetic in its own way… isn't it?

Despite all of this, my emotional attachment to St. Albans City FC was too great. I longed to lead the club to the big time. I desired, so much, that first season in the top flight, with the whole nation looking on at the plucky underdogs playing in yellow and blue. This was the dream.

I felt that St. Albans as a city deserved a Premier League club - there is no doubt about it. The city has a larger population than Hertfordshire's other major club, Watford, for starters. Plus, it's a much nicer city, with beautiful parks and roman ruins and, apparently, the most pubs per square metre in Britain - this last fact alone was a great selling point for potential players interested in signing for the Saints!

The city is full of great pubs, which I made frequent use of and I could often be found drowning my sorrows after another play-off defeat at the Ye Olde Fighting Cocks pub, which is said to be the oldest pub in Britain. I had to face facts - I had fallen in love with the city and its charms. Furthermore, the yellow and blue of City was running through my blood now. Ten years at this football club, dragging them up the divisions. Ten years of the Saints fans, who were full of the spirit of a perennial underdog and were our twelfth man on match days. Our new stadium said everything about our ambitions and I wanted this season to be a memorable one for our fans. I decided that one major job would be to make the St. Albans stadium into the kind of fortress that Clarence Park once was. Last season's home form was under-whelming and nearly cost me my job. This season, I wanted the side to go all out for the title, not just for the play-off spot, and I wanted the lads to do it in style. What's more is, I was going to try to fulfil my destiny as an Italian-style manager, just like the ones I had so admired during my youth. Smoking cigarettes on the touchline was out due to the smoking ban, but I could wear a long coat and drink Chianti as good as anyone I knew. What's more is, I would sign one or two players with good names and I would practise my philosophical expressions and chess-like strategies.

One thing I didn't want to bring with me from Italy was the defensive side of things - I wanted to create a side who entertained! Since I have been at the club, we have been the underdogs, we have been plucky little St. Albans. This season, I wanted the 'little Brazil' nickname to stick and not just because we play in yellow and blue. My idea was to work on our tactics and ensure that the side played entertaining football. I wanted the team to play short passing, attacking football, with lots of width and creativity. I wanted to win and win with style and for the first time in our history I felt that we might have a first eleven who could do that. In particular, players like Alan Hill and Chris Joseph would be given free roles and a license to be as creative as they wanted. This was my idea. And to attain this goal I knew that I would need to add some more talent to the squad. So began the revolution at St. Albans stadium.

As far as I was concerned, it was time to sort the men from the boys - and there seemed to be a lot of boys at the club who were unable to reach the standard expected. I donned my Anne Robinson disguise and went around telling the playing staff 'you are the weakest link, goodbye'.

I lost reserve striker James Sinclair on a free transfer after he refused to renew his contact and it was the same story with want-away striker and all-round enigma Ryan Taylor, who decided he wanted to ply his trade north of the boarder at Dundee United.

In addition to those two, I wielded my axe viciously at anyone who looked mediocre, basically at the whole squad! I free transferred a shocking 29 players, mostly youth players who were never going to make it at this level. No more Mr Nice Guy - this season was going to be the most challenging we'd ever had and we needed a very decent playing squad.

The chairman, John Gibson, had once again decided to offer me f*** all in terms of transfer fees - how does this guy expect me to win promotion without any decent funds? However, he did agree to get those awful training and youth facilities looked into. I accepted this olive branch, along with a 70k wage budget (20k more than the last four years)!

Now I just needed to bring some good players in, some players with good sounding names. My vision of treating the fans to some attacking and exciting football this season was going to be somewhat problematic without new signings due to the sheer ineptitude of last season's attack. I set my sights on scoring 20 more goals than last season and worked hard in the transfer market looking for strikers and attacking midfielders.

Joe Cole, the aging ex-Chelsea playmaker, was soon winging (whinging?) his way over to St. Albans on a free - one of the most exciting signings we've ever made and definitely the player with the biggest reputation to have pulled on the yellow and blue jersey of St. Albans City. Joe is now 34, but could clearly still play in the premier league in my opinion. His stamina and the general physical side of his game is still looking fairly decent and I think he might even play for at least two more seasons before hanging up his boots.

Other attacking players followed him through the door including target man Jonathan Pringle and attacking midfielder Adam McGurk. Both have Premier League experience, coming on frees from West Ham and Villa respectively. Both are unlikely to make the first-eleven week in, week out, but will add some much needed depth to the squad.

I am still looking to fill the boots of Frazier Campbell, so another very important signing was a striker named Carlos Rodriguez, again on a free, formerly of Yeovil. Clearly, Rodriguez has the best name ever (as good as Roberto Baggio) so I have done something right here. Although having said that, he has never been particularly prolific, netting just 5 goals for Yeovil two seasons ago when they were relegated from the championship. His record in league one last season was 18 goals in 45. Let me be clear about this signing - it’s a risky one. I needed some pace up front and I hoped, at the age of 22, that there was plenty more to come from him. Plus, he has got a great name. Carlos Rodriguez receives the number 9 shirt previously held by Frazier Campbell and will partner Alan Hill in attack.

Other signings include full back Ryan Lynch (who will walk straight into the starting 11), young Scottish defensive midfielder Chris Kelly and ex-Ajax youth goalkeeper Martin Tol.

With 13 players joining the squad in total, I hope that the balance will not be upset too much and that the new lads will settle in well.

In terms of the actual first team, I feel that defensively we are sound, but intend to move Jim Pirie to centre-back, as he is clearly our best defender. A young Italian called Terminiello, signed last season, will debut at right-back. In midfield, everything stays the same and up-front, the inclusion of Rodriguez should inject some much needed pace into the attack.

I am feeling very pressurised this season. Normally City are expected to do badly and then we overachieve, but this season we're everyone's favourites. It's a position I am not used to.

For the first time in my managerial career I start to feel rather like my hero, Rafael Benitez. I am celebrating having plenty of depth in my first-team squad and being the outside favourites for a title that we will probably not win. Indeed, I even consider growing a dodgy goatee and giving interviews like Benitez.

'Yes for sure, we have a lot of possibilities, for sure, this is my idea to play football, for sure, and in the first half we score a goal for sure, but sometimes if you concede a goal it is a bad idea for sure…' etc etc repeat ad nauseam…

In fact, this season, for the first season ever, I may actually rotate the squad a little bit! Exciting times at St. Albans City - attacking football, a European-style rotation policy and a wannabe-Italian (or Spanish?) English manager with a goatee! Plus we've even got a few Johnny Foreigners in the squad! We’re definitely all set for the premier league and should really qualify on this basis alone.

So, anyway, moving on… I always undertake a pre-season draft list of my anticipated first team, so I thought I would post it on this journal. This is how I saw us lining-up.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

* - indicates new signing

& - indicates long-serving player

GK *Martin Tol (Young Dutch keeper)

DR Paolo Terminiello (Young Italian fullback)

DL *Ryan Lynch (Young English fullback)

DC &Jim Pirie (Very talented versatile Scottish defender- vice-captain)

DC &Rob Marshall (Long serving centre-back)

DMC &Kevin Thomson (Young Scottish midfielder)

AMR &Ben Davies (Mid-twenties talented English winger)

AML Jonathan Hayes (Late twenties English winger)

AMC Chris Joseph (England U21 player & talented forward- captain)

FS *Carlos Rodriguez (Pacey Spanish striker, 22 yo with lots to prove)

TM Alan Hill (Young and talented striker, 21 yo)

Best of the rest:

GK Jason Parker (young but solid backup)

DC &Tony Fox (young and strong centre-back backup)

DC &Freddie Owen (long-serving defender and backup)

AMR &Paul Hill (long-serving all-round midfielder and backup)

AMC *Joe Cole (Ex-Chelsea, supersub, 34 yo!)

AMC *Adam McGurk (new flamboyant signing)

FS *Jonathan Pringle (solid all-round striker and good backup)

TM Noel Hunt (Veteran strong target man , 33 yo)

TM &John Dawson (Longest serving St. Albans City player, absolute legend, now 32 y o, been at the club for 10 years, scored at every level and will surely get on for a cup game or something this season!)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That is the squad that I anticipate will be involved in this historic season. You will notice that youth is a common theme, but there is plenty of experience waiting in the wings too. I have just got to hope that the new signings bed in well.

So, this was my 11th season in charge, with the most pressure I had experienced in my career, as the Saints fans demanded promotion and the media tipped City for the title and at least a 4th place finish.

I had wielded my axe and made serious changes to the squad and I had worked extremely hard in the transfer window to bring in new signings who could make the difference. In particular, the major failing of last season was the lack of goals and so the pressure would fall on the shoulders of last season's signing Alan Hill and new signing Carlos Rodriguez to hit the back of the net on a regular basis. Noel Hunt, a veteran who has been at the club for a few years, along with new signing Jonathan Pringle were also under pressure to produce.

The fans wanted the title. They're a fairly cultured bunch of supporters, the 'Saints ultras', as I like to call them. Now, with representatives from Holland, Italy and Spain lining up in yellow and blue, the Saints ultras were obviously getting a bit cocky. They expected the side to challenge for the league title and wanted the side to get promoted at the very least.

I had, once again had a tactical rethink and decided that St. Albans City would be the 'little Brazil' of the Championship. The team would play short passing football, seeking to get the ball out wide to Ben Davies and Jonathan Hayes, who would be given a creative license and encouraged to beat their men and get to the by-line. Chris Joseph would be given ultimate creative freedom and allowed to wonder in a free role and to terrorise defences. My Italian influences and Benitez-inspired revolution were in place. I wanted the side to win the league and win it with style.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 4th place

Chairman and fans: Good league position / fans want promotion!

Manager: It's do or die this season - I just hope my Italian / Benitez style revolution won't completely unsettle a squad who managed top 4 for two seasons in a row!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season Review:

I have put the season summary at the end of the narrative this time, hopefully to build the suspense.

Despite growing my own facial hair based on Rafael Benitez's attractive goatee and drinking lots of Chianti like my Italian managerial heroes, I felt very nervous about this season. At the start of the season, I had the feeling I would either win and win and win and then bring the title home, or get sacked halfway through the season after a lethargic and embarrassing campaign and with all of my new signings failing to make an impact! The latter wouldn't exactly make for a great story.

Things started pretty well actually despite the fact that I was still trying to make additions to the squad and that I was still tweaking my tactics right up until the end of August.

Before the transfer window was up, last season's signing and general flop of the year, Andy Plumley, was shipped out to Sunderland for 750k (all profit, as he was signed on a free). I hope that my latest attempt to replace the legendary Frazier Campbell (who, by the way, I did try and tempt back to St. Albans, but could not afford the transfer fee) would fair a great deal better than him. Indeed, Rodriguez scored in his first game for the club against Mansfield, in a 3-1 win. I hoped there would be more like that to come from him! The team, having outclassed and outplayed Mansfield, then went out and lost 3-2 to Colchester at home in a deeply embarrassing display. I remained calm, thought about how disjointed the pre-season had been and hoped for better things to come once the side had settled into a rhythm.

My Rafa Benitez beard had not gone unnoticed in the changing room and the playing staff had also noticed my Chianti-induced rosy cheeks. I felt that the lads were giving me more respect. Lacklustre draws followed, yet clean sheets were always a great bonus. Perhaps Catenaccio would get us promoted? Let's face it; I don't really care how I get us promoted to be honest. The playing nicely bit is just a sham and a farce. If I could get us in the premier league by winning every game 1-0, I would!

A 3-1 away defeat to Barnsley brought me back down to earth and also reminded me how far away we were from the premier league. This was followed by a 3-1 home defeat to promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday. Back-to-back 3-1 defeats for a side looking to getting promoted is awful and so I locked the side in the changing room and did my best Alex Ferguson hair-drier impression. Those in particularly deep trouble were goalkeeper Martin Tol, winger Ben Davies, striker Carlos Rodriguez and, well actually, the whole damn team. My post-match team talk went something like this (look away now if you are easily offended):

'You f****** think you've f****** arrived, but you're a shower of *****! You think you're going to get promoted? You stupid ***** can't defend to save your f****** lives. You didn't even turn up today! Martin, what the hell were you doing coming out and gifting them a goal? Carlos, have you played football before? You have to put the ball in the back of the f****** net, not sky it over the bar. You lot are absolute s**** - why am I wasting my time with you losers?' etc etc etc…

It was back to the drawing board. I felt that we weren't playing that badly but I was sure a tactical rethink was in order. Maybe we needed a strategy that would bring something completely fresh to the side. I needed to study the squad and find its strengths, and redesign our tactics. I knew that completely changing everything was probably the wrong way to go about it, but to be honest, keeping everything the same wasn't going to work either! We were looking rubbish! I feared for my job.

After finishing a bottle of Chianti and a few glasses of Scotch single malt (yes, being St. Albans City manager is turning me to drink!) it became clear that it was time to make some dramatic changes to my footballing philosophy. I've always been a big fan of the English game - direct football, long ball out to a tricky winger who beats his man to get to the by-line, or up to a big target man in the box who wins the ball and flicks it on to other players. Saints have made this their trademark for the last ten years. However, in this division, my wide players are more workman-like than tricky and most of my creative attacking talent resides in the middle of the park, with the likes of Chris Joseph, Joe Cole and Adam McGurk. With this in mind, I changed our long-serving 4-4-2 diamond to my own formation, a 4-1-2-2-1 with two attacking midfielders supporting a lone striker. Our lads would play with width to open up the space to play a short-passing game through the middle of the park. The wide players would get forward in support of attacks, but their priority would be to close down the opposition and open up the space in the centre of the park where the play would be focused. The two attacking midfielders, who would be given ultimate creativity, would exploit this space and would operate in a free role. I was well out of my comfort zone, but I felt that we needed to take a risk to get back in with a chance of promotion. I hoped that this new tactical strategy would get us playing the attractive football that I craved, and more importantly, start winning us games.

The new strategy meant a place in the side for Adam McGurk, our flamboyant new attacking midfielder, who up until now had been warming the bench. He would partner Chris Joseph. It also meant that the lone striker position would be fiercely contested by Alan Hill, Carlos Rodriguez and Jonathan Pringle - a rotation policy would give them all a chance and keep them fairly satisfied.

The new tactical ideas did not begin well, with a 2-0 home defeat to Plymouth (always our bogey side) resulting in more tweaks to the system and more hairdryer action in the changing room. A 0-0 draw with recently relegated Everton, currently topping the league, made me a happier manager. Then we became unbeatable. If Northern Ireland were nicknamed 'Northern Ireland Nil' due to their calamitous run a few years back, then St. Albans City would have become 'St. Albans City Two' in the lead up to Christmas. Saints became every punters home banker, winning five games in a row 2-0 and then going unbeaten until January, beating the previous club record and going a staggering 17 games unbeaten. In the process, I won the October and December manager of the month award and headed into the new year a very happy manager indeed.

It wasn't just the results; it was the football. One touch passing in the middle of the pitch, great movement and Chris Joseph playing like some kind of Brazilian genius. In particular, a 1-0 win over Derby County at home saw the side score the best goal I had ever seen. Sublime one touch passing - McGurk to Hill to Davies - who then picked out Joseph and he struck the ball from outside the box into the top corner. Arsenal and Argentina have got nothing on St. Albans City FC.

December had seen us rise into 3rd place with title challenging form, yet Everton and Barnsley, the two sides above us, just kept winning every week.

January brought bad news with it, as Rob Marshall left the club for West Ham on a free transfer despite persistent contract offers from Saints. He had served the club well and I was so very sad to see him go.

Meanwhile, I had regained my old big 'ead status - indeed, Cloughie himself would look down on me with pride. I expected to win every game, so when second-placed Barnsley came to St. Albans Stadium at the end of January, I sent the lads out to attack. I saw it as a wonderful chance to close the gap between us and the automatic promotion spots. We dominated the game, but failed to convert our chances and conceded a fluky goal. It ended 1-0 to them and I was absolutely devastated. Normally, I tend to play a more balanced formation against the big sides and I felt that we might have got something out of the game if we had kept things tighter at the back. With a 17 match unbeaten run ended, this defeat really hurt, not least because we dominated from start to finish and should have taken our chances. I can't help feeling that I should have been more cautious or balanced in my approach, but I guess I just have to face up to the fact that sometimes games like this happen. It left us 5 points away from automatic promotion with 16 games left and a side low on morale. We needed to get back to winning ways quickly.

At the end of the January transfer window, I tried to add some more steel to the midfield with the signing of a young Mexican defensive midfielder called Fernando Estrada. It cost us 450k to bring him to these shores from Spain and so I spent the cash that I had recouped from the Plumley deal during August. I planned to introduce him slowly. Of course, what actually happened is that I chucked him straight in the squad and he got injured in his second game with the Saints! What a manager I am! In addition to this, just before the window closed, Saints snapped up Carlos Tevez, now 33 yo, after his former club had released him on a free. He will perhaps bring some experience to our young attack, however physically his best days are well behind him. Still, I hope he might teach the younger players a thing or two and maybe make a few appearances as a sub. In addition, Jermaine Pennant (33 yo) was also signed up on a free after being released by Spurs. I am always tempted by a big name and City are starting to look like an old people's home, what with Scott Parker plying his trade here last season, and now Joe Cole, Carlos Tevez and Jermaine Pennant wearing yellow and blue. I didn't know if they would get a game, but they were asking for next to nothing in wages and were only given one-season contracts.

After the transfer window, the side went on a three-match barren run, unable to find a win. Some harsh words followed, plus a few tactical tweaks. Chris Joseph had been making some ridiculous contract demands, which the club were unable to fulfil, and he had been very unhappy - it was clearly having an effect on his performances. I dropped Chris Joseph and Carlos Rodriguez (who had also been poor) and brought in Joe Cole and Alan Hill, who paid their dues and scored 6 goals between them in an amazing 7-1 victory at St. Albans stadium against a woeful Watford side. However, what followed this game was a 2-0 home defeat to Doncaster, which left me wondering how the side could go from winning 7-1 to losing so pathetically to a poor side.

Our poor performances had opened up a ten-point gap between us and the top two. I felt that we had blown the chance of automatic promotion. Securing a play-off berth seemed the only realistic ambition we could aim for. I also wanted us to beat our previous points record in this division.

Looking back over the games where the points had been lost, it quickly became apparent to me that we had been found out. A few sides had been lining up to counter our tactics, playing a shape in order to reduce the effects of our creative Brazilian-like midfield. In short, some of the more canny managers had worked out how to play against us. It was clear that a few sides had managed one or two lucky results against us recently. What's more is that we have been having a lot of chances off target, which seems to indicate that either our key attacking players are under too much pressure, i.e. being tightly marked, or we're running out of attacking ideas and shooting from distance. With 12 games to go, it was back to the drawing board to come up with some new tactical ideas to bring out the best of the side for the final run in. I decided that the 41221 formation really suited us and I didn't want to do away with that. Yet, we had been too one-dimensional. I asked the lads to mix the game up and get the ball down the flanks as well as playing through the middle. Ben Davies, my most creative winger, was given more creative freedom. The two attacking midfielders would still be given a license to roam and create, but there would be other options for the team. A few solid victories followed.

In the FA cup, we had been making good progress and managed to make the sixth round for the second season in a row, which saw us drawn against Chelsea at home in the middle of March. This was sandwiched between three of the most important away games of the season in the Championship, in the shape of promotion hopefuls Cardiff, Sheffield United and unbeatable table-toppers Everton (who had only lost 3 out of 34 games so far this season). This was going to be the most important month of the season - make or break for the side's promotion hopes. My strategy for these games would be to defend, defend, defend and hope to get something on the break. First up, Cardiff and a brave 0-0 draw. Then Sheffield United, who we restricted to shots from distance, only for Alan Hill to score on the break in the 80th minute and win us the game 1-0! So far so good!

For Chelsea at home, which would see Joe Cole play against his former side, I would play something more balanced and have a go at them. It was a poor first half, so at half time I brought on Alan Hill, hoping he might make a difference. It only took him 5 minutes to score a goal and shock Chelsea! After that, 40 minutes of backs-to-the-wall defending saw us get our most famous win ever, 1-0 over billionaires Chelsea! This season was starting to look up! Through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup to face Manchester City!

Last but not least out of this potential nightmare run, was Everton at Goodison. This was a must win game - it looked impossible for us to get automatic promotion, but a loss against the Toffees would put us out of it for sure. I sent the lads out defensively and told them to do it for the fans, but they had conceded within 15 minutes. However, two goals from Paul Hill and Alan Hill (I don't think that they are related) either side of half time had me dancing around the technical area (my sofa). Everton pushed everyone forward, but another goal in the 90th minute by Alan Hill made it 3-1 and game over! Unbelievable! We were only the forth side to beat Everton this season. Old big 'ead was back and I was sure that it was my tactical tweaks that were making the difference. We were back!

When I say 'we were back' we were actually still 8 points behind Barnsley and Everton with 7 games to go. We did, however, have a game in hand. I went back to the more attacking version of my 41221.

An Alan Hill hat-trick against Leeds United at home, in a thrilling 3-2 win, saw us close that gap to 6 points, with us still having a game in hand. We had played our way back into the race for automatic promotion! We began to dream again.

Alan Hill was on fire again with a brace in a 2-1 win over promotion hopefuls Reading - I did not want to have to play them again in the play-offs. This was our game in hand and now the gap was down to 3 points. Also, the recent run of form won me the manager of the month award for March, my third manager award of the season.

April started with a Joe Cole hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Fulham at St. Albans stadium. Cole followed this up by single-handedly winning us our home game against West Brom. I have never been a massive fan of the showboating whinger in real life and I hadn't expected him to have such an impact this season! Meanwhile, Barnsley only managed a draw to leave us 2 points points behind them. It was going to be an exciting run in!

Joe Cole was the only member of the over 30s club to be playing regular football and had more than shown he was worth the chance I had given him this season. Meanwhile, Pennant was warming the bench and Tevez had scored 4 goals in 3 games for the reserves. With Rodriguez out with a cold, Tevez would get a place on the bench for the next few games and could become the first Argentinean to play for City.

In the middle of April, Kevin Nolan (34 yo) joined my Premiership old boys network, after being released on a free by his former club. Once again, seduced by a big name(?), I offered him a contract until the end of the season. With 3 games to go in the league and an FA cup semi-final, I had a feeling these big names would offer experience and a winning mentality when the squad most needed it.

Three games left and next up we had the unwelcome distraction of an FA Cup semi-final against Premiership side Manchester City. I decided to play this one cautiously and so I couldn't believe it when we came in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to a goal from Joe Cole. I was dreaming of an FA Cup final, how sweet that would be - the first of the clubs history. However, the second half was a different matter and we conceded twice to send us crashing out. Tears were shed by the players and I must say that I was absolutely gutted. I could have cried - the side had matched Manchester City in every respect and even outplayed them for spells. I had to remind myself (and the team) that we had a more important mission for this season. I would prefer getting a promotion to playing in a cup final - that much was sure. But I couldn't help but think of how we had missed out on the biggest day the club have ever had. And I couldn't help but feel that this cup defeat didn't bode well for our last three games in the league. There have been a few moments this season that have really hurt, such as the 1-0 defeat to Barnsley and the 2-0 defeat to Doncaster, both at home. It seemed to me that fairytale endings just don't happen to St. Albans City anymore.

So, here is the run-down to the end of the season - the last three games.

First of all, the bad news was that Joe Cole, who had been amazing recently and had scored something like 6 goals in 3 games, was injured and definitely out for the remaining three games. Barnsley, in 2nd place, had played another game and drawn it, meaning that we had a game in hand with two points to make up. Our game in hand was against Sheffield Wednesday away from home. I played a fairly bold attacking tactic and was dancing in jubilation around the technical area when Fernando Estrada scored a wonder goal from well outside the box. I had brought him in to sure up the defence as a defensive midfielder, and I certainly hadn't expected goals like that from him. My jubilation was short lived, as we failed to hold onto our lead, and despite creating plenty of chances, drew 1-1.

With two games to go we were one point away from Barnsley. Next up, another away game, this time against Bristol City - I did not like playing Bristol City, as they were often a bogey side for us. Indeed, my 500th game in charge of City was this fixture last season and we had lost 2-0.

I dreaded this game, but knew we had to at least draw to keep any chance of automatic promotion. So, of course, Bristol City scored in the first half, in a game that we were dominating. Only one thing was worse than that, which was that Alan Hill had been injured. So, for the second half, I brought on two from the old boy network, Tevez and Pennant. The latter provided a pin-point cross for Adam McGurk who got us back into the game, but it was all to no avail, as Bristol City went straight back up the other end and scored to make it 2-1 and seal up the three points. My side had once again collapsed under the pressure. The only relief for us was that Barnsley drew, but that was also a dreadful thing, because it made me think of what could have been. We could have gone into the last game a point ahead, rather than being two points behind.

Everton had already got the Championship title in the bag so Barnsley were the only team in our sights. The last game brought Millwall to St. Albans stadium, meanwhile Barnsley played host to Leeds United.

Now for the maths part: Saints had to beat Millwall regardless of anything and would only be promoted if Barnsley did NOT win. Our superior goal difference meant that if Barnsley drew and we won, we would go up.

We have a good record against Millwall (although I wish I wasn't writing that in this journal in case it curses us! I have been writing this as I play, so even I don't know how the story of this season ends). Barnsley, on the other hand, have a fairly mediocre record against Leeds. In addition, they have drawn their last three games. I was hoping that the combination of these things was a good sign.

And so, it all comes down to the last game of the season. Saints have been in this kind of situation before, only in a relegation battle during our first season in the Championship. We needed results to go our way that day, plus we needed a win, and we managed to be successful on that occasion. I wanted things to go our way on this occasion too. We had been unsuccessful in three play-off campaigns and I wanted automatic promotion more than anything.

Chris Joseph was going to be key for us in this last game, with Joe Cole injured. He had played a blinder in the first half of the season, but the greedy ******* had demanded a new contract that the club couldn't afford and had gone into a complete sulk afterwards. His form had taken a nosedive over the second half of the season. With two games to go until the showdown with Millwall, I took the bold move of criticising him in the press in the hope that it might get a reaction out of him and bring him out of his practically comatose state. He seemed to accept the criticism, so we would see if he upped his game for us on Saturday.

Jim Pirie rallied the troops and I told the press we would beat Millwall. On match day, I told the lads that whatever happened would be for the best. We would win this and if results went our way elsewhere then we would go up. Otherwise, we could go and win the play-offs! I told the side they could win today and send themselves into the Premier League.

So they went out and conceded a penalty in the first 20 minutes. After that, the team looked like they couldn't have scored a goal in five football matches, nevermind one. They were absolutely crap. A 1-0 loss to f****** Millwall - it didn't actually matter, because Barnsley won anyway. But we were going to the play-offs yet again. I could have cried. This team is the biggest bunch of big-game bottlers I have ever had the misfortune to manage. What was worse was that our points total would have won us promotion in every other season in the last 11 years. How can you not get automatic promotion with 89 points? It is an outrage - we should be promoted on a concessionary basis. We were clearly too good for this crummy division. 89 points and third place - it's a joke!

So, it was going to be my third play-off semi-final in a row - much as I hated the idea.

I decided to prepare differently for this one. I was going to treat it like a tournament. I planned to pick a squad of players to get a team spirit together and I was going to rework the tactics too. We were going to be prepared for it this time and we were going to give it our best shot.

I named 23 players in my 'play-off squad'. Jonathan Hayes was ruled out with a broken leg, Paul Hill ruled out with a fractured arm and Joe Cole was doubtful, but would probably play some part.

This was the list:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Goalkeepers - Martin Tol, Jason Parker, Graham Sheridan

Defenders - Paolo Terminiello, Jim Pirie, Ryan Lynch, Fraser Gallagher (reserve fullback), Tony Fox, Freddie Owen, Linus Hakansson (new Swedish youngster), Alan Castle

Midfield - Fernando Estrada, Kevin Thomson, Ben Davies, Jermaine Pennant, Peter Sweeney, Philip McNeil (youngster), Chris Joseph, Joe Cole, Adam McGurk,

Strikers - Alan Hill, Carlos Rodriguez, Jonathan Pringle

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We were drawn against Derby County in the semi-finals. Having finished 17 points clear of them, I was feeling very resentful at having to play them for a place in the final.

On match day, I made a big decision to drop our top scorer Alan Hill for Carlos Rodriguez. I felt that the Derby defence lacked pace and that Carlos may fare better running on to through balls. Our trip to Pride Park was a lovely one, with us dominating the occasion. Unfortunately, there was bad news too, as Paolo Terminiello was injured. In a comical moment, not so funny to the City fans and myself, I accidentally subbed-on Jermaine Pennant to play right-back. It happened when I pointed at him instead of Kevin Thomson - I can't work out why nobody intervened and told me what I had done! I corrected the mistake with another substitution and we outplayed Derby, somehow only managing to win 1-0 with Jim Pirie providing the winner with a deflected free-kick. I hoped the second leg at St. Albans stadium would be as enjoyable. I would play a more cautious formation than normal in the second leg and would try to use the pace of Rodriguez again.

The second leg, played out in front of a packed St. Albans stadium, was a tense affair. But Derby County never really threaten my Saints side as we breezed past them, creating chance after chance that we failed to convert. The game ended 0-0! We were through to our second final in three years and we would face West Brom - a team we had beaten home and away this season and a side who finished 16 points below us. I felt that this was the best chance we had ever been presented with. And Joe Cole looked like he would be fit for the final! One game away from potentially joining the elite and playing in the top flight of English football.

For the final against West Brom, I favoured Carlos Rodriguez over Alan Hill again for his pace. I felt that he could really put the opposition defence under some pressure.

Saints got off to the worse start possible, as West Brom's James Brown scored a goal in the 1st minute. Seeing Brown as a dangerous player, I had briefed my players to tightly mark him and go in hard on him plus send him onto his wrong foot. Tony Fox obviously misunderstood me and thought that I had said 'pass the ball to James Brown'. Fox had dallied on the ball and ended up giving it away for the goal. However, I was smiling sooner rather than later as Rodriguez repaid my faith in him by scoring a cracker to put us back in the game. At half time, there was no difference between the two sides really and so I asked the lads for more of the same. In the 57th minute, West Brom were awarded a throw-in deep in our half and the City defenders stood like statues and watched as Ben Turner received the ball and smashed it into the Saints net. I felt the thud as it hit the back of the net in my throat and in my heart. I can honestly say that I felt like crying (both the real me and the virtual me in this story). The big game bottlers had done it again. I brought on Alan Hill and Chris Joseph, both of whom were sulking over new contracts and had been dropped due to their poor form. Both failed to make an impact as my team of big-game bottlers failed miserably. Rodriguez even had the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside. The referee and linesman were clearly rooting for West Brom. Yet another decision went against us in the 88th minute as we conceded a controversial penalty. West Brom scored it to send them up to the Premier League and to force St. Albans City to play their football in the Championship for yet another season.

After the game, I contested the decision about the penalty, saying that it was a 'shocking decision that had ruined the game'. The FA remained silent about my outburst - they always do that when they know that you were right and that the decision was a bad one.

Devastated isn't even the word I would use to describe how miserable I am. Why the hell can't we win these playoff games? Yet another playoff final lost. We had outplayed the opposition once again, with 55% of the possession, a passing rate of 75%, 15 shots with 7 on target. Rodriguez quickly became my scapegoat, having had 7 shots and only 3 on target. My search for the new Frazier Campbell had obviously failed. My side were bottlers - they just couldn't do it on the big occasion. They had accumulated enough points to be promoted in any other season, but they just couldn't keep up with the top two. And then, in the play-offs, against a side who we'd beaten twice previously during this season, not to mention a side who had finished 16 points below us, we bottled it. You could blame the injuries to Paolo Terminiello, Paul Hill and Jonathan Hayes - certainly we were very week on the left of midfield. You could blame Rodriguez for failing to convert his chances. I was ready to blame anyone.

(You know the handy tips that come up when the game is processing? Well they quite wonderfully told me that 'to resign as manager of your current team, click on manager and resign' just after I had lost yet another playoff final. Ah, so tempting…)

This season had seen everything, from complete ineptitude to excellent attacking football. New nationalities were turning out for the Saints and ex-Premiership stars had agreed to play their football at St. Albans stadium. The manager had adopted a new formation and tactic and had got Saints playing the sort of football that every fan wants their club to play. The side had got into the semis of the FA Cup and beaten Chelsea along the way. And City had managed to accumulate 89 points - a club record - looking back over the last eleven years, there has never been a side with that many points who has not finished in the top two and been promoted. 89 points is more than enough for a title win normally! What an unbelievable season - what unbelievably bad luck we have had.

With the fans and the chairman still delighted with me, it was going to be a long summer of deliberation and reflection. One thing was sure - St. Albans City FC would be playing Championship football again next season.

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Final league pos: 3rd P46 W27 D8 L11 F76 A43 Pts89

Play-offs: Runners-up (3-1 defeat to West Brom in the final)

FA Cup: Semi-final (2-1 defeat to Manchester City)

League Cup: 2nd Round (beaten 2-1 on penalties by Luton)

Average Attendance: 17158

Player of the season: Take your pick from Joe Cole, Alan Hill, Tony Fox and Jim Pirie

Signing of the season: Easily Joe Cole on a free

Top goalscorers: Alan Hill 23, Carlos Rodriguez 15, Joe Cole 10

Most Assists: Adam McGurk 12

Most MoM awards: Jim Pirie 8

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant, Frazier Campbell, Freddie Owen, Rob Marshall, Jim Pirie (nobody new elected because I am mad with them all, the big bunch of bottling bottlers).

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

fcukin hell!!! that promotion WILL come eventually, and you should be well ready for the Prem when it does. How unlucky can you get! hows the money situation lookin now?

You can do it C! Don't give up. Your new players will have gelled by next season and I'm sure you can win promotion.

Great story, it has encouraged me to start a game as Darlington, bit nervous, as i havent been down lower than the Champ before!!

The promotion will come soon!!

CHAPTER 14 - Season 2017/2018 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre-season:

Let's put the last few seasons into context: Two third placed finishes in the Championship, two semi-finals of a domestic cup, two play-off finals - all achieved in the last four years. Not bad for a little club from Hertfordshire!

Another summer had gone, another new season was approaching and yet another Championship promotion campaign was in our sights. And there was to be more axe wielding from the gaffer, who was now looking more like a homeless alcoholic than a football manager.

Jermaine Pennant, Carlos Tevez and Kevin Nolan - all signed on one-season contracts last year- were all released, having not done enough to convince me that they were worth another chance. Quite frankly, they looked well past their prime. Veteran striker, Noel Hunt (35 yo) was another that would have to go.

Reserve centre-back Mikkel Bischoff (35yo) was going to retire in the summer, having served the club well for 4 years providing vital cover for the first-team. Peter Sweeney and Lewis Hart both had contracts due to expire and I was going to show them the door. They had increasingly become surplus to requirements, however, losing Sweeney would leave me short on the left-side of midfield. This was an area that would need strengthening for sure. My other worry was that we lacked a decent big target man.

As usual, all of last year's youth intakes were a waste of space, so I bit the bullet and released them all on free transfers. I hope none of them come back to haunt me, although it seems unlikely as I have never had a decent youth product yet! Hopefully that will change, as the chairman has promised to improve the youth facilities.

Meanwhile, I had my scouts out evaluating the cream of European talent in the European U21 Championships. Not that it would do us any good, as Mr John Gibson, chairman of St. Albans City FC, had decided that he would give me f*** all once again! £375k was all he could manage, which would buy me precisely nothing worthwhile in the transfer market these days. I would be scouring the market for free transfers once again. Not that I felt the side needed much improvement, but the left of midfield and a target man were clear requirements.

Then came the news from the board that they expected me to win us promotion from the Championship this season. Cheers for your solid support in the transfer market Mr Chairman - no pressure in your objective for the season either! It really was going to be 'do or die' this season. Promotion or I would lose my job. With this in mind, I went soft and offered Peter Sweeney a contract after all as a backup player. I feared that I would not find anyone to play on the left-hand side of midfield.

Alan Hill and Chris Joseph were still playing silly beggars over a new contract, despite both having 2 years left on their current deals. I could not afford their wage demands, which were 20k per week (when all I could afford is 8k)! I don't know what to do - they are both unhappy. I really hope it doesn't have an influence on their performances.

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One of the biggest shocks of pre-season for me arrives in July, halfway through a St. Albans City pre-season tour of Italy. I am asked to become the next manager of Turkey after Fatih Terim decides to leave his post. First of all, I wonder why on earth they have picked me? I guess my record over the last three seasons in the Championship is fairly good and I suppose I have now achieved 'National' status. I have got my side to a League Cup Semi-final and an FA Cup semi-final, achieving some high profile upsets along the way. I believe that the Turkish FA have taken note of this and want me to apply my skills to their national side. However, I am still a little bit shocked. I mean, I have lost the play-offs every single time of asking, so I wonder just what the Turkish FA are expecting of me? Do they want me to go to the World Cup and f*** it up on an international stage? I won't let this negative train of thought put me off - they have obviously seen my talents and want me to lead them to glory. Plus, I think of Steve McClaren getting the England job, despite achieving f*** all with Middlesborough. At least I have got St. Albans City playing attractive football over the last season. And so I accept the job!

I quickly learn that I am not the first English manager of Turkey. Jimmy McGormick, also formerly of York City, seems to have had a decent stint with Turkey during the 1950s.

The Turkish fans are very cautious about my appointment - wouldn't you be if I had just been put in charge of your team? I mean I'm clearly clueless when it comes to knockout tournaments!

They're bound to be a bit annoyed about my appointment as I suppose most of them haven't heard of me. They might be even more irritated at the fact that I am going to be keeping my St. Albans City job and flying out to Istanbul for the international games. They probably aren't that thrilled that I will be dividing my time between club football and international football. Plus, I don't speak a word of Turkish, so I need to learn some fairly quick!

I go out and buy a phrasebook and learn the following vital phrases:

Pleased to meet you Memnun oldum

Red wine Kirmizi sarap

I'm drunk SarhoÅŸ oldum

Don't do that! Yapma!

May it come easily Kolay gelsin

I wasn't sure that many of these phrases had any relevance to footballing matters, bar the last two, which I intended to use quite regularly in my team talks.

I am told that the Turkish are very passionate and knowledgeable about their football and that millions tune in to watch their national side (nicknamed Ay-Yıldızlılar, which means Crescent-Stars in English). I am briefed to expect an incredible atmosphere on match days.

Turkish fans are particularly proud to have players with good technical skills and like their teams to play attractive technique-based football. I clearly have some big footsteps to follow in, as the previous manager got them to third-place in the world cup in 2002 and also astonishingly led them to the final of Euro 2008. He has left in the middle of a world cup qualifying campaign, which sees Turkey topping their group by a point, but with a lot of hard work still to do including a tricky game away to France for me to kick-off with.

I know, as an Englishman, I will have to win the fans over. The hope of a nation of 71 million people will be resting firmly on my shoulders. I will go from having 17,000 fans at St. Albans stadium to 32,000 fans watching me in Istanbul. Scary stuff!

I briefly look over the Turkey squad, searching for any decent signings for Saints, but find nothing. I imagine a Turkish revolution at Saints, but realise that I can't afford to sign any of the Turkish squad, plus realise that the work permit situation would become a serious problem. So for now, I will forget about Turkey - they will operate as a kind of sub-plot in my St. Albans City narrative. It is clear where my loyalties lie, but I won't let the Turkish FA know that!

Note: I don't intend to go into too much detail about my fledgling international career, as I don't want to spoil the focus on St. Albans City. However, I will interject will occasional news, results and post-match gossip.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Anyway back to St. Albans City's tour of Italy, which went incredibly well. I was sticking to last season's 4-1-2-2-1 formation due to our lack of a decent target man, plus our embarrassment of riches in midfield. During this Italian tour, City beat Juventus 3-1, Brescia 4-0, and Fiorentina 2-0 - all in their own backyard, before surrendering pathetically to Roma and losing 3-0 in front of 20,000 at the Stadio Olimpico. Despite this, it had been a very good pre-season tour.

Meanwhile, I had managed to make one or two pre-season signings. Enrico Muratore, a 21-year-old Italian striker, joined the Yellow and Blues on a free transfer from Brescia, after I completed the deal during our pre-season tour. He was one for the future - a great potential talent. Ashley Parkes, released by Chelsea on a free transfer, was also snapped up. He is an England U19 international striker with plenty of pace. I figure that between the two of them, Muratore and Parkes will push Rodriguez all the way this season. I am pleased to have plenty of competition for places up front. However, I was still desperate for a target man and a left-sided midfielder.

My prayers were answered when I found Dean Ashton (34) and Jose Antonio Reyes (33) on free transfers. Both are in the twilight of their careers, yet both look like they could do well this season. Ashton still looked powerful enough to operate as a decent target man. Reyes, I felt, could fit into the left-side of midfield in a very attacking role. Following them into the St. Albans City pensioners club were powerful striker Kevin Doyle (33), attacking midfielder Thomas Kahlenberg (34) and centre-back Gary Caldwell (35). This trio would add depth to the first team squad. I know that I am turning into the Big Sam (in his Bolton days) of the Championship, but you can't blame me! I've got no transfer funds and a young squad. Indeed, these five signings raise the average squad age by two years, from 23 to 25!

These five ex-premiership golden oldies are given one-year contracts. If just one of these signings turns out to be as good as Joe Cole was for us last season, then it'll be a result! Obviously, my main concern would be over their pace and physical abilities, but I hoped that their intelligence and technical abilities would put them one step ahead of any of their younger and fitter contemporaries.

All in all, it's 17 players out, 12 players in and with cash to spare in the wage budget! I have brought in a few youngsters who will push for a first-team place and have also added a great deal of experience. My biggest concern about the squad was their ability to win the big games, following frequent episodes of bottling last season. Old heads like Ashton and Reyes, I hope, will add composure and a winning mentality. I think I have a very good chance of promotion with this squad. The core is the same as last season and the side have developed a very strong understanding. It's been a strong pre-season and I think I have made all of the transfers we'll need now. I'm hoping that our early stability will stand us in good stead for the season to come.

Once again, I want the side playing attacking football this season. Due to our competition for places up front, and the fact that we now have a target man, I decide to revert back to my favourite 4-4-2 diamond. This formation has probably most famously been used in the past by Argentina. In Argentinean football, the key player is thought to be the offensive midfielder, who sits behind the front two, known as the enganche and this player is given lots of freedom and creativity. I clearly have a great deal of attacking midfield talent to fight for the right to be City's enganche, with Joe Cole, Chris Joseph and Adam McGurk to name a few. In addition, the defensive midfield role is key, and I feel that a couple of my youngsters, in the shape of German Thomas Moritz and Mexican Fernando Estrada, will compete to 'sweep-up' in front of the back four and distribute the ball efficiently once retrieved. I intended to keep a creative attacking football element to St. Albans City, with Alan Hill being given a very creative role up front and a license to roam as he pleases.

What is exciting for me this season is that the squad seems to have a lot of competition for places. With so much squad depth, there is no reason why we should not go for the title!

My pre-season squad draft looks like this:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

* - indicates new signing

& - indicates long-serving player

GK Martin Tol (21 yo Dutch keeper)

DR Paolo Terminiello (21 yo Italian fullback)

DL Ryan Lynch (30 yo English fullback)

DC &Jim Pirie (24 yo talented & versatile Scottish defender)

DC &Tony Fox (22 yo powerful English centre-back)

DMC Fernando Estrada (21 yo Mexican defensive midfielder)

AMR &Ben Davies (23 yo talented English winger)

AML *Jose Antonio Reyes (33 yo Spanish ex-Arsenal winger or forward)

AMC Joe Cole (34 yo English ex-Chelsea playmaker)

FS Alan Hill (22 yo English striker, FS or TM, very talented)

TM *Dean Ashton (34 yo, English TM)

Best of the rest:

GK Jason Parker (21 yo English solid backup)

DR &Kevin Thomson (25 yo Scottish fullback or defensive midfielder)

DL *Nicolas Thomas (21 yo French fullback)

DC &Freddie Owen (26 yo English long-serving defender)

DC *Gary Caldwell (35 yo, Scottish veteran defender)

DMC Thomas Moritz (19 yo German defensive midfielder)

AMR &Paul Hill (25 yo English long-serving all-round midfielder and backup)

AMC Chris Joseph (22 yo English flamboyant playmaker)

AMC Adam McGurk (28 yo N. Ireland exciting attacking midfielder)

AMC *Thomas Kahlenburg (34 yo Danish versatile midfielder backup AMC/L/R)

FS *Enrico Muratore (21 yo Italian with lots of pace)

FS *Ashley Parkes (19 yo English fast striker)

FS Carlos Rodriguez (22 yo Spanish versatile attacker)

TM Kevin Doyle (33 yo Irish powerful target man)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

A 25-man squad with far more depth in it than last season and with more experience too. I am concerned that the older players might not have the stamina to play 90 mins, so will be prejudiced towards filling the bench with younger squad players.

Dean Ashton would get the captains armband due to his experience and influence on his team-mates. Jim Pirie would act as vice-captain, as he did last season.

No place in the squad for 33 yo City legend John Dawson. He has one year left on his contract and unfortunately will be playing solely for the reserves this season. I will have to let him go at the end of the season.

In addition to the squad above, I have a handful of young talents, signed up mostly on free transfers over the last two seasons. I will be loaning them out to lower league clubs this season, in order that they might get some more experience. These youngsters deserve a mention, as they may be big names in the future - my scouts tell me that they could all make the grade in the Premier League.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

GK Pereira 18yo Brazilian

GK Michele Grilli 21yo Italian

DC Lee Walker, 19yo Welsh

DC Linus Hakansson 21yo Swedish

DMC Steve Hill 17yo English

MC Gavin Wilson 19yo Scottish

MC Antoine Guillard 21yo French

MC Hughes Gomez 21yo French

AML Billy Dennis 18yo N. Irish

FS Ryan Teggert 19yo N. Irish

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

They are my magical ten youths and will be playing at a local club near you!

I seriously feel very positive about the direction the club is going in. I have quite a big squad now, which is full of excellent talent. The team is still very young, with a handful of golden oldies on short-term deals adding some experience. I think that because of the youth, both in the first team and the youngsters waiting in the wings, that the club is looking very stable. It's going to be another long hard season, so we will see where we end up this time. I feel quietly confidence that the side can go all out for the league title, although I feel equally confident that we could f*** up another play-off campaign. Only time will tell!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 4th place

Chairman and fans: Fans and board demand promotion!

Manager: 1st or 2nd but definitely no play-offs or I'll definitely resign this time!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season review:

Our first game of the season is a cushy home tie against Southend, yet Saints make very hard work of it and are very much flattered by a 2-0 win. Dean Ashton grabs his first for the club and Joe Cole shows that he will be a force to be reckoned with again this season by scoring the second. We follow this up with an away game at Doncaster in which we lose 1-0, missing chance after chance. More worryingly, an injury to last season's top scorer Alan Hill (possibly the most injury prone player in the world) sees us without our first choice strike partnership for the rest of the month. I ask former Brescia striker Enrico Muratore to make the step up and he duly delivers, scoring three great goals in victories against Crewe, Sheff Wed and Mansfield. Not only is he scoring goals but they are beautiful goals too. Do you remember how nearly every goal that Roberto Baggio scored involved rounding the keeper and tapping into an empty net? Well, Muratore seems to have the same knack for one-on-ones and has thrilled the Saints fans so far.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

At the beginning of September, I take charge of my first game with Turkey. It is a tricky away tie against France who are ranked 5th in the world. I have picked a rather conservative squad, with few changes from the last manager's selection. I notice that Turkey are lacking in decent natural wide players, thus I choose to play a narrow and defensive 4-1-3-2 formation. I have a feeling France will be too strong for us and so it proves, as we lose 2-1 despite a very spirited display. France go top of the group by two points, with three games left. It seems likely that this result will cost us automatic qualification and may result in our having to play in the play-offs. Already things are not going too swimmingly in my international career!

Fortunately, this game was part of a 'double-bill' of qualifiers, which meant that I would get the chance to put things right in 4 days time against Norway in Istanbul. I am a big believer in creating a system to match the players you have at your disposal and I feel I didn't do that well enough in my first game in charge. I think the narrow 4-1-3-2 experiment didn't exactly do us many favours - I didn't get the right balance.

Despite the lack of wide players, there are a number of attacking players who can also play as attacking wingers, plus we have a very good target man. Therefore, I decided to try creating an attacking 4-5-1 layered formation, which switches to a 4-3-3 when attacking.

So, for the visit of Norway, I played 4-3-3 for the first time in my career. Expecting Turkey to overwhelm their opposition, I was disappointed when they put on the most boring display of football ever. However, we got a 2-0 result somehow, which actually left me feeling a bit guilty, as Norway had clearly been the better side. More tactical tweaking is clearly necessary but for now it was job done.

I flew back into Luton Airport and resumed club management, putting Turkey to one-side for now.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Saints faced an early potential promotion deciding game, in the shape of recently relegated Aston Villa at Villa Park. Early first-half goals from Muratore and Ashton have me smiling, yet we concede two goals late in the game to draw 2-2. I worry about our inability to hold on to our lead and wonder if this was due to a lack of stamina or confidence. I regret not giving the boys more of a pat on the back at half time and I also regret that we didn't use some dirty time-wasting tactics late on in the game. Still, I feel that a draw is a decent result and I am especially happy with the way that Enrico Muratore is playing. I feel that we haven't quite got out of the starting blocks yet. It seems to me that we could still step up a gear or two. Yet this start is the best that we have had for the last few years.

Major rivals Swansea were next up. They had taken Frazier Campbell off my hands and were up there every season challenging us. This season would clearly be no different and the opposition manager was playing mind games in the media in the build up to our clash at St. Albans stadium. I decided upon a cautious tactic and was pleased to see the lads triumph 1-0 in a tight game.

A solid draw against Wolves and a good win against Leeds, both on the road, continued our upward momentum. Yet, following this, newly-promoted Bournemouth came to St. Albans stadium, made us work hard and scored a last minute goal to take a 2-1 victory against the run of play.

Defeat at home had looked a possibility all season, with us gifting our visitors far too many chances. Nobody else seemed to have had the staying power to get into the game, but plucky Bournemouth had played well on the counter. I came to the conclusion that my very attacking tactics at home had us commit too many men forward during attacks. I would tighten things up in the next home game and concentrate on keeping a solid defensive unit together. Three points dropped was not the end of the world, as long as we could turn it around quickly. A defeat to Bournemouth was embarrassing though and I felt we had some work on to get back on track.

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Turkey was calling me again for two world cup qualifiers against Armenia and FYR Macedonia, both away from home. I knew that it would be tough to catch up with France in first place but at the same time I knew that we had pretty much guaranteed our qualification for the play-offs.

Boldly, I sent the side out to play a cautious layered 4-3-3-type formation. The side would line up in a 4-1-2-2-1 similar to my St. Albans City experiment of last season, except with two attacking wingers and a tight compact midfield unit sitting behind them. A thrilling 3-2 draw against Armenia followed - their goals came from a defensive error and a set piece, thus I felt that the tactics had done their job. However, the side was clearly low on confidence.

After this game, Turkey were surprisingly top out of all of the second-placed teams. With the top second-placed team qualifying automatically, it seemed that we might be lucky and avoid the play-offs. We had to beat a decent FYR Macedonia side, who were 3rd in the group and certainly stronger than Armenia. Turkey made very hard work of FYR Macedonia as well, in another amazing 3-2 victory. It had been a very even game, however we had looked fairly solid despite another defensive error and set piece conceded. Unbelievably, after 4 games in charge, 3 wins and 1 loss, 6 goals scored yet 6 conceded, I had managed to get Turkey to the World Cup as the best second-placed team in the European qualifiers! Turkey would be going to Uruguay, who were hosting the 2018 tournament in the summer!

We had qualified, but it had been far from convincing, having conceded 6 goals in 4 games during my stint in charge. Understandably, the Turkish supporters were still cautious about my appointment. They were hoping for better things in the World Cup and so was I.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Following the home defeat to Bournemouth, I made a managerial decision to be more cautious in our tactical approach to games. I wanted the side to play good football, but not at the risk of conceding goals. This season, I had decided to value clean-sheets over goals scored. I went to work on tweaking our tactics, ensuring that we were defensively solid and set-up in way that would be difficult for teams to break down. A difficult trio of games was approaching, with Norwich and Derby away, then Fulham at home. Saints, under more defensive instructions, drew these three games 0-0, 1-1 and 1-1. However, I felt that we had played well enough to win two of the games and so I wasn't worried about a loss of form.

A solid 1-0 victory at home to promotion rivals Hull, and then more of the same away to Southampton, put us straight back into the race for automatic promotion. Boring, boring City? I couldn't care less if we won every game 1-0. I was happy with the boring tag and I asked my players for more clean sheets. 0-0 against Sheffield United followed. It was official; we were George Graham's Arsenal or Gerard Houllier's Liverpool. We bored everyone to tears!

A 2-1 away defeat to surprise-package Leyton Orient brought me right back down to earth. Yet I felt that we had created enough chances to win the game and had been really unlucky. I wondered if I was turning into Gerard Houllier in his last season at Liverpool, in complete denial, quoting endless statistics about shots-on-target to the press.

One of the most important games of the season followed against promotion rivals Reading. They had been making decent progress in the league and had an excellent side with some really decent individual talent. I sent the lads out to play a balanced and slightly cautious tactic and so was devastated when the side conceded in the first five minutes. At 1-0 down, I doubted our ability to make a come back and thought that Reading would park the bus. There had been a few afternoons like this last season, where the side had gone down early and failed miserably to come back and spurned chance after chance. Yet this side has more character and more experience and when Dean Ashton equalised on the half-an-hour mark, I always felt that we would go on to win the game. Goals from Enrico Muratore and Jim Pirie late on won us the three-points at St. Albans Stadium and we celebrated the victory by moving up into second place in the division. Now, I don't want to sound even more like Monsieur Houllier, but I felt the side had turned a corner. Last season and the season before, having gone 1-0 down, I would have been very anxious about the side's chances of getting back into the game. This season, I felt that the player's had the grit, the determination and the fight. They had forged an extremely strong understanding and they wanted this promotion as much as the Saints supporters, and as much as I did. This game, in particular, made me believe that the side could do it. There was a long way to go yet though.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

I was called away once again by Turkey, this time for two friendly games with Turkey, the first away to Northern Ireland and the second at home to Georgia. I will make short work of describing these games. Against N.Ireland I decided to experiment tactically at the cost of a poor performance and a 1-0 defeat. Still, isn't that what friendly games are for? At home to Georgia, I returned to my 4-3-3 layered formation, choosing to make it a little more attacking and I was rewarded with a wonderful performance as Turkey coasted to a fantastic 7-1 victory in Istanbul.

The Turkey supporters don't know quite what to make of me yet. My six games in charge had been a mixture of mediocrity with occasional brilliance shining through. Very occasional brilliance. They wanted performances like the ones against Norway and Georgia, but they feared that they would get performances like the ones against France and Northern Ireland. I would have to get the side playing well at the World Cup. I awaited the draw for the group stages with incredible anticipation.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Saints picked up some form, with a four-game unbeaten run, highlights including a 4-1 thrashing of QPR at home and a 3-1 victory away to Cardiff. These results led us comfortably into December, with our league position fluctuating between 1st and 3rd. Aston Villa and Bristol City were proving to be worthy adversaries in the fight for promotion.

Meanwhile, we had been making good progress in the league cup, where I had been rotating players like mad and yet we were still rolling sides over and getting through the rounds. A quarter final away to Premiership side Sunderland, however, brought an unlucky 2-1 defeat. Saints have always been crap in the cups, mostly due to the fact that I couldn't give a toss about them. The league has always been utmost in our objectives for the season and I rarely put the kind of tactical planning into the cup-ties as I do into our league games.

I was feeling immensely confident of my side's abilities. I had begun to abandon my previous defensive leanings and had encouraged a more creative attacking style. Muratore was a godsend upfront and had forced last season's top scorer Alan Hill to spend a great deal of time on the bench. Hill was still throwing a wobbly over a new contract and as a result was not getting many minutes on the pitch. Carlos Rodriguez, my scapegoat for last season's failed play-off campaign, was also sulking due to the fact that I had overlooked him in favour of Muratore. Even youngster Ashley Parkes has got the odd game in front of him! I would be trying to find Rodriguez a new home in the transfer window.

Dean Ashton had been chipping in with the goals, yet I had noticed a massive decline in his physical game. With him playing a target man role, his physical attributes needed to be good, and I felt his performances were tailing off. Another old-timer, Kevin Doyle, stepped up and showed that he could still do the business despite his age. So it was Doyle and Muratore as the first-choice strike partnership. Height and speed, strength and flair. They gave every opponent a massive headache and we continued our excellent progress, with highlights including 3-0 at home to Doncaster and 3-1 away to Crewe, with a Muratore brace and a goal from Doyle in each match.

January was looking like a tough month, with games against Aston Villa, Swansea and Wolves to look forward too. First up was a slightly less challenging tie away to Mansfield - or at least this was what we thought. A humiliating 3-1 defeat halted any complacency in my mind. I had got it so, so, so wrong. Sending out the side to attack, when I should have been a little more cautious against a hard-working team who were playing well at home.

Despite this setback, I felt confident going into the Villa game. We had drawn with them at Villa Park earlier in the season and I felt we could take all three points at home. And both sides served up an absolute thriller at St. Albans Stadium.

I decided to ask the side to use Enrico Muratore's pace, as Villa looked like they were a little slow at the back. They had real physical presence and I felt that Doyle was not going to win many headers. Muratore, our Italian genius, scored a peach of a goal on three minutes to send us 1-0 up. But, as always, disaster was just around the corner for the Saints. Six minutes later, Ryan Lynch upended Daniel Sturridge in the penalty area and Villa scored from the resultant penalty kick. The rest of the first-half was an end-to-end game and at half-time I felt that we had slightly edged it so far. It was a real tactical battle - Villa were using their physical presence at the back to reduce the impact of Muratore, who was getting kicked and fouled. He was also up against a towering full-back, who was also fairly quick. In short, it seemed to me that Enrico Muratore was getting marked out of the game. This called for a different approach and I spent the entire second-half trying out new ideas, asking Muratore to work in different areas of the field, in order to cause confusion in the Villa defence. It was working - Villa conceded a penalty when Muratore was tripped by his Villa marker and our old-head Kalenberg put the ball in the bag of the net. Yet Villa replied instantly to make it 2-2 with 25 minutes to go.

Muratore, however, had his own take on the game and decided it wasn't over yet. Somehow he meandered through the Villa defence, went one-on-one with the keeper and hit the ball into the back of the net! Our Italian genius had done it again - another wonderful brace and we had the victory over our main rivals for promotion. It ended 3-2 - what a game!

There are days where you get it right as a football manager, like I did against Villa, and days where you get it wrong, like I did away at Mansfield. Regrettably, the next game against Swansea fell into the latter camp too. Swansea had taken the legendary Frazier Campbell from me and won the FA Cup two seasons ago in the most improbable cup run ever. The Swans were always up for promotion every season, and like us they always managed to miss out and underachieve. I felt that they had become our major rivals in the division and my record against them was pretty good. What was even better was that Frazier Campbell had always played awfully whenever he was up against his old club. This was possibly because I always instructed my centre-backs to go in hard on him and give him a good kicking. I know it's not in the spirit of the game, but getting one over on any player who used to be your star before he abandoned you for a rival club always feels good.

Swansea were having a bad season by their standards and were loitering around midtable. This encouraged me to send Saints out with an attacking tactic to get up their noses and cause them problems. As I said before, Frazier had always played badly against us and had never hit the back of the net when playing his old club, but that changed as he put the Swans 1-0 up early in the first half. Throughout the game, I felt we matched them but they always looked dangerous. A stunning strike from Joe Cole was not enough as Swansea took the game to us and scored late on to win it 2-1. It was the narrowest of victories. However, I felt that it was down to my tactical choices. Had we played more defensively, I felt we would have come away with a draw or possibly even edged it. Sometimes you get it wrong and I had learnt my lesson again.

My disappointment at coming away without the points in this tough game showed how much I had come to expect of my players. They were an amazing bunch at this level, with real quality and strength in depth. I had been rotating the strikers, to keep Doyle, Ashton, Muratore, Parkes and Alan Hill match fit and happy. The same was true of my midfield options, with Joe Cole, Joseph, McGurk and Kahlenberg all being rotated in order to keep things fresh. At the back, I kept things more consistent, with Jim Pirie proving himself to be a class act and attracting the attention of the likes of Liverpool and Celtic. I felt I was going to have a hard time keeping hold of him in the next few years.

Anchorman Fernando Estrada was being rotated with Thomas Moritz and both were performing excellently in our 'midfield sweeper' role. Regrettably though, Arsenal came calling for youngster Moritz in the January transfer window. John Gibson, our ever-supportive chairman, interfered and accepted a £4million bid for him behind my back. I was furious with him as our finances were looking very healthy and Moritz was starting to look like a real prospect. We didn't need the money and I couldn't understand his decision. I resisted the desire to go and spend some of the incoming cash - if Saints managed to get promoted we would need to spend some money wisely next season.

Saints quickly got over the disappointment of losing to Swansea and of losing Thomas Moritz and managed to comfortably beat Wolves 3-0 at St. Albans Stadium. With this victory, we went top and opened up an 8-point gap between us and 3rd place. We were starting to dream!

A sincere word must be said here about three members of the side who had been quietly going about their business and performing exceptionally, yet not getting the headlines that Enrico Muratore had been enjoying. The first of these players is Jim Pirie, who had begun his St. Albans City career as a young right-back and now matured into a graceful and wonderful centre-back. His progress could be compared to that of Jamie Carragher, who played across the back four for Liverpool, but never really had the opportunity to shine until he was given the chance to play in the thick of things at centre-back. Pirie had been outstanding for us again this season. Another unsung hero was Paul Hill, who had stepped up to first-team duties due to an injury to Ben Davies. Paul was another Mr Versatile, a player not blessed with amazing technique, but a rather workmanlike and enthusiastic midfielder. He had been regularly performing well for Saints, working hard on the flanks and never forgetting his defensive duties. The last player who deserves a great deal of praise is Fernando Estrada, who was operating in the 'midfield sweeper' role and was doing a marvellous job of winning the ball and setting attacks in motion. All hail the unsung heroes of St. Albans City FC.

Meanwhile, Adam McGurk was giving me some serious headaches in terms of team selection. His recent performances as our enganche were fantastic. I was resting Joe Cole more often, as his stamina was questionable, and Chris Joseph was often being played up front, with Kahlenberg on the left of midfield. This was keeping them all happy, but it was hard work! I loved having the selection headache though. It had been missing from the vast majority of my St. Albans career!

Yet, despite this squad depth, a minor injury crisis had reared its ugly head. I was without my two first-choice centre-backs, captain Jim Pirie being one of them, and two of my right-sided midfielders. We faced a difficult selection of games without some of our best players and I hoped we would be able to keep the momentum going.

We had been making quiet progress in the FA Cup and had made it to the fifth round, where we were drawn to play Premiership side West Ham at Upton Park. This fixture put us up against one of our old St. Albans City legends, centre-back Rob Marshall, who had left for greener pastures after seven years of long service in yellow and blue. I had nothing but respect for the lad, who had given his all to St. Albans City and had helped us up the tables as he blossomed from a diffident youngster to a confident and imposing centre-back. Regrettably for Rob, he was at fault for the only goal of the game, as he went up for a header with Doyle, missed it and that allowed Alan Hill to waltz past the keeper and put the ball into the back of the net. 1-0 and despite feeling sorry for Marshall, who was clearly at fault, I jumped for joy as we had managed another wonderful cup victory against the odds. Despite the fact that I couldn't give an arse about the cups, we had managed a few decent upsets over the last four years, with Bolton, Arsenal, Chelsea and now West Ham on the list. I hoped for a nice draw in the next round.

Next up, Saints had two tough away games against Bournemouth and Fulham. Both of these sides were in play-off berths and pushing for promotion. Yet City won them at a canter, with a 3-0 victory at Bournemouth followed up by a 4-1 thrashing of Fulham. To score 7 goals in two away games is outstanding and Muratore had scored a brace in both, which was becoming his trademark. This outstanding form had opened an amazing 11-point gap between us and 3rd place. Automatic promotion was in our hands and quite frankly we would have to mess up dreadfully to lose it now!

My potential games of the season so far could include the win at home to Villa, or the fine cup victory over West Ham. However, it would more likely include either one of the next two games, at home to Derby County and Norwich.

Derby County at St. Albans Stadium was one of those games where we struggled from the off and created nothing at all for the majority of the game. The chances we did have went begging. The first-half, quite frankly, was the most lacklustre affair I had seen at home all season. There had been many occasions last season where we had failed miserably to break down the opposition, and worse still had conceded on the break. Against Derby, I opted for a half-time b*llocking, which seemed to make no difference in the second half. I then decided, rather boldly, to make three substitutions all at once, bringing on the attacking talent of Chris Joseph, Adam McGurk and hardworking midfielder Paul Hill. The side amazing upped the game and the attacking talent clearly made a difference. Yet it was defensive midfielder, Fernando Estrada, who did the business and scored a cracking goal to make it 1-0 to us and win us the game. It was an awful performance. I am told that you have to play badly and win in order to win titles. We did that against Derby and it was a proud moment for me to see the side fighting hard for results.

Norwich at St. Albans Stadium adhered to the same formula - a poor under-whelming first-half display, but worse still, we conceded a goal. At half time with us 1-0 down, I decided to try and get the players going. I asked them for passion and I asked them to prove a point and I picked out individuals such as Alan Hill who could make a difference. Alan Hill responded immediately with a fiery second-half display and scored a goal early in the second half. Gary Caldwell put us 2-1 up with a header on 75mins. Second-half substitute Adam McGurk put the game surely beyond doubt when he hit the back of the net on 86mins. Yet Norwich keep fighting and worry us with a goal on 90mins. However, we stay in control to win the game 3-2. What a game! What a great comeback by the Saints! Job well done. And more importantly, Saints are now 13 points clear of 3rd place with 10 games to go. We are approaching the business end of the season and we could not wish to be in a better position.

This run of form in February wins me my first manager of the month award this season.

The run of games from March until May is going to be tough and we face a number of tricky fixtures. First up, it was Hull away from home. They had been yo-yoing between the Premier League and the Championship over the last few seasons and as a result their side was packed with the sort of talent you would expect from an ex-Premiership club. I played down our run of form in the press. The game itself was a real chess-like tactical battle, player-for-player. It ended in a 2-2 draw and with serious concerns about an injury to Enrico Muratore. It looked as though he was going to be out for the rest of the season. In addition to this, I was worried about our defensive capabilities when we were playing without captain Jim Pirie (who was still injured). We looked leaky at the back. I suspected that we would have serious problems against Premiership opposition without Pirie.

Next up we had a narrow FA cup win over fellow Championship side Leeds United, winning 1-0 at St. Albans Stadium. We went through to our second consecutive FA Cup semi-final and we were drawn against Chelsea - a side we had beaten in the 6th round of the cup last season. I wasn't expecting a repeat performance - as far as I was concerned it was mission impossible. A real test of character for the team.

So it was back the league and a rather sobering result against Sheffield United away from home, as we lost 1-0. The alarm bells were going, as we had 11 shots with only 3 on target and dominated the game, unable to put the ball in the back of the net. We were missing Muratore already.

Due to the poor league performances over the last few games, I send the side out to play cautiously at home to Millwall. I also decided to give 19 year old Ashley Parkes a go at filling Muratore's boots. A dire 0-0 draw followed. We were limping towards the finishing line.

In the next game, a 0-0 draw against Southampton at home makes it 4 games without and win, and 3 games without a goal. We were very fortunate that the sides around us, like Bristol City and Aston Villa, were similarly faltering. We can't rely on that though. We needed a goalscorer desperately and I lamented the loss of Enrico Muratore more than ever.

I gave youngster Parkes another go against QPR away and he rewarded my faith as he scored his first ever senior league goal in a narrow 1-0 win. At last, we had stopped the rot! Bristol and Villa, in 2nd and 3rd respectively, play each other and draw.

5 games to go. Automatic promotion is so very close now.

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My fledgling international career is starting to progress well. Turkey had two big friendly games before the World Cup. First, the crescent-stars beat Columbia narrowly at home, before travelling out to Brazil and getting a great 1-0 win against the odds. What a juxtaposition for a manager, from winning 1-0 at Loftus Road, to playing at a huge stadium in South America and beating the infamous Brazil! I am very proud of that result indeed, however I was devastated to lose my best striker - he would definitely be missing the World Cup finals.

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Before the international break we had a tough run of games. Next was an away tie against Reading, which suggests that things are not about to get any easier. A hard-working performance earns us a 0-0 draw. Still we are lacking goals.

We knew that a win in our next could send us up, such was the gap between us and Villa in 3rd place. The game was against Leyton Orient at home and I felt that we would cruise this one. Yet we wobbled again and drew 0-0. Bristol City and Villa gain on us and suddenly they are back in it.

It gets worse. A 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace shows us to be missing Jim Pirie and Enrico Muratore massively. We were awful, miserable, dismal, lacklustre, dreadful. We are not even limping towards the finishing line now, more crawling pathetically. Could we throw it away at this late stage? Could we throw it away after leading the table for so long?

Lucky for us, Swansea came to the rescue and got a result again Bristol City to keep us on top of the table by 1 point. It is too close to call with two games to go in the league. The next Championship game sees us play Bristol City away from home in a title decider.

First of all, we have the distraction of our FA Cup semi-final against billionaires Chelsea at Wembley. We have been here before, last season, where we were defeated by Manchester City. I would have fancied our chances this season, against Chelsea, if it were not for the loss of Muratore. Enrico was back in training, but not fit enough to even make the bench. With him in the team, anything can happen. Without him, we couldn't even score goals.

The Saints fans were desperate for us to get to our first cup final. Our supporters, a sea of yellow and blue, out-sung the Chelsea followers, but it was a shame that their team were not superior on the pitch. One look at the Chelsea midfield scared me to death - millions of pounds worth of talent and so much creativity. We would play fair, but be very hard and physical. Despite that, they cruised to a 2-0 score-line by half-time. They were just too good and this was a real wake-up call. Even if we did make the Premiership, it was going to be very hard to stay there with teams like Chelsea.

Unbelievably, after a few tactical tweaks and a team-talk and a half in the interval, our lads turn it around. Alan Hill does the business and following that a bizarre Chelsea own goal makes it 2-2. Our trip to Wembley has suddenly become a much more enjoyable experience. We hold out for the 90mins and it goes to extra time. But Chelsea have far too much for us and some major errors eventually give them a 3-2 lead. They go on to win and send us out of the cup. I am deflated, depressed and devastated. To turn the game around, to comeback against Chelsea when 2-0 down, that is special. You have the feeling that luck is on your side. But to concede like we did in extra time is soul destroying. It is just like Saints - always the way with our football club. So near yet so very far away. The team playing in blue had some incredible talent at their disposal and we did well to go so close. After the game, our left-back Ryan Lynch and centre-back Freddie Owen take responsibility for their defensive mistakes in the press.

After that game, which left us high and dry, we had to take on Bristol City away from home in our penultimate Championship game. This game would decide the title. It doesn't get much bigger than this. Premiership football is at stake. I decide to throw caution to the win and I starting with a very attacking tactic. Win it and we win the title. Lose and we probably hand it to Bristol City, bar a miracle in the last games on the season. It was also possible that we would not get automatic promotion if we dropped all 3 points today. Villa were still hot on our tails.

When Alan Hill strikes early on for Saints, I am jumping around like a maniac. Could this be it? Could this be the moment I have been waiting for. Six years in the Championship, twelve years at Saints - I have waited for the moment when we make the top flight of English football. But no - Bristol City equalise thanks to a mistake from Jim Pirie, in his first game back after injury. The game is exciting stuff, with both sides going for the win. It ends in a draw - probably a fair result, although we created more chances.

After the game, I learn that 3rd place Villa only draw and therefore we are up! Automatic promotion for Saints! Premier league football next season. Pinch me! We were going to be strutting our stuff in the most overrated, over-hyped league in the world! Fans all over the world would be watching St. Albans City next season, perhaps some of them adopting us as their favoured club! I tried to imagine Asian football fans wearing St. Albans City shirts and scarves! Young lads would be playing in the streets of England, pretending to be Enrico Muratore with jumpers for goal posts etc!

My board say that are pleased the moment has finally arrived. That's a bit of an understatement! The fans love me! They were going to be partying hard on the streets of St. Albans this evening! I imagined the pubs full to the brim with punters in yellow and blue. The normally fairly reserved streets of the city full of ecstatic football fans!

Back to the football though. Celebrations were on hold. We had one more game, which brought us up against Cardiff at home. We needed a result to win the title. I wanted the titled badly, especially seeing as we had led the league for so long this season.

Enrico Muratore was back and he was set to enjoy the party atmosphere at St. Albans Stadium. He bagged the first from a freekick, set up the second for Paul Hill and scores the third. The third goal in particular is as good as anything I have seen him do this season. He wins the ball, turns, beats two players and belts it past the keeper. Saints end up winning 5-0, with Muratore taking the Man of the Match award. The party atmosphere goes on late into the night. The title was ours in the most perfect end to the season I could have imagined. For a while, when the games weren't going our way, it looked like it was going to be another season of tragedy. But this is more than I could have wished for. What a way to finish the season. Saints fans going mad, the team going mad. Next year, Enrico Muratore would be terrorising Premiership defences. I couldn't quite believe it.

We win the Championship after 6 seasons of trying. The supporters are in awe of my managerial ability! I win manager of the year! My reputation turns to continental. Muratore wins goal of the season. Amid all of the celebration, John Dawson, City legend, announces he will now retire. I salute you John Dawson - without you City would not be where they are now. That is the one sentimental sad moment in the happiest day of my football managing life.

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Final league pos: 1st P46 W24 D14 L8 F76 A36 Pts86

FA Cup: Semi-final 3-2 aet defeat to Chelsea

League Cup: Quarter-final 2-1 away defeat to Sunderland

Average Attendance: 16776

Player of the season: Enrico Muratore by a mile! Estrada and Pirie are superb for us too!

Signing of the season: Enrico Muratore on a free from Serie B side Brescia

Top goalscorers: Enrico Muratore 26

Most Assists: Enrico Muratore 11

Most MoM awards: Jim Pirie 6

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant, Frazier Campbell, Freddie Owen, Rob Marshall, Jim Pirie, Enrico Muratore (What a season! The most skilful player we've had playing in yellow and blue).

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Now for a concise and very brief account of my World Cup campaign with Turkey.

Prior to the tournament, I felt that I would leave my international post once the competition was over. I had inherited a squad with plenty of talent in midfield, but one that really lacked decent strikers and depth in attacking positions.

The supporters and the FA wanted a good campaign and targeted the knockout stages, with anything else a bonus. The supporters were still cautious about my managerial abilities. Turkey had been drawn in a tough group with Japan, France and Ghana. I flew out to the World Cup in Uruguay, having only been in post long enough to learn some basic Turkish. I was tempted to revert back to my favourite 4-4-2 diamond which served me so well at club level, yet I kept faith with my 4-3-3 formation which better suited the players at my disposal. We were missing our top scorer, best player and lead striker.

GROUP STAGES

Japan 1 - 1 Turkey

Poor, poor, poor. We were favourites to win. My second-choice striker is young and has low composure. He skied every shot over. Japan scored first and it took a penalty in the last 10 mins to save our blushes.

Turkey 2 - 3 France

What a tough game. I decided to give my third-choice striker a chance. He scored twice as we outplayed France in the first 45 mins. The second half was a different story and France went on to win the game in the last minute of extra-time.

Turkey 5 - 0 Ghana

Well, we improved immensely in this game, although that may have something to do with the standard of the opposition. We needed a win to qualify and the lads did the business.

SECOND ROUND

Belgium 1 - 2 Turkey

Three players injured for us in this tough game, including our top scorer for the tournament and also our captain. We were 2-0 up at half-time and it was a backs-to-the-walls job in the second half. I didn't know the Turkish for this, but the lads got the idea and we went through.

QUARTER FINAL

Switzerland 0 - 0 Turkey (The Swiss win 3-2 on pens)

Anything beyond the second round was a bonus, but I felt we could beat Sweden and get to a semi-final. My mind was whirling with that thought. Anything can happen then. We outplay the Swiss, but we are missing a world class striker and it shows. Unbelievably, the Swiss have three players sent off and only one shot on target all game. We dominate, creating 13 chances, which we fail to score. The blame falls on the shoulders of our young, compsureless striker. Unbelievably bad luck.

SUMMARY

Even more unbelievable, the Swiss go on to win the cup in the most unlikely way, winning the final on penalties again. We are left wondering what might have been.

The Turkish FA say they are pleased with our performance. The fans still aren't sure.

I get offered the Croatian job, but turn it down. I decide to stay with Turkey after all. There are a couple of decent looking youngsters coming through the ranks and I feel that I owe the Turkish FA for their faith in me. The fans haven't taken to me yet, so I am determined to turn that around. The European Championship qualifiers await.

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What a season it had been for me at club level. Saints playing lovely attacking football, and in the end, fighting tooth and nail for a chance in the Premier League. Our Italian genius, Enrico Muratore, had taken us to a high place. The side had gelled together and taken the league by storm.

The dream is reality - Premier league football is ours. Foreign managers, foreign players, millions of pounds, fantasy football, Anfield, Old Trafford, Match of the Day… just to think that Alan Hansen would be commentating on our 'diabolical defending' next season was too much for me! We had made the big time! So many failures and it was all the more sweeter this time. Roll on next season!

Would Saints survive and mix it with the big boys?

Been following this for a while now, congratulations on at last grabbing promotion, and with the title as well.

Worth it now?!

After six seasons, worth it?!

KUTGW

Great stuff! Delighted for you! A continental reputation may help signing players

Good stuff, and good luck for the prem.

Up the Saints!

Well done mate, been following your progress with interest.

Looking forward to hearing about your Premiership exploits.

Excellent thread

Superb thread. Just slogged my way to the end of the 2018 campaign, and what a roller-coaster it was.

Well looking forward to the descriptions of the likes of big nights in the Premiership.

Any details about the database?

I always knew you would make it someday!

good luck next season, where are you hoping for? mid table?

A really good and enjoyable read, keep it up!

Very, very similar to my rise up the leagues, albeit i had a more supportive chairman than you by the sounds of things.

its a brilliant read!

waiting eagerly for the next installment

Great read, cracking job.

Thank you all so much for your kind comments. I have some quick answers for those who asked questions:

GazTheDoood: After such a long period of time struggling in the championship and missing out on promotion, it was a wonderful feeling to finally make it to the promised land of the Premier league!

AndyKane67: I'm playing with England all divisions (as I thought this would be fastest when I started) and I think it must just be the default database setting as I didn't change it - presumably medium? Hope that answers your question.

Arsenal_2111: As you will shortly see, once I have uploaded the narrative of my first season in the Prem, I was concerned about the gap between the Championship and the Premiership and just hoping for survival in my first season!

Thank you once more for all of your kind comments.

Anyway, on with the show...

... the saga continues ...

CHAPTER 15 - Season 2018/2019 PREMIERSHIP

Pre-season:

Last season we started our league campaign with a home game against Southend. This season we will begin our quest to stay in the Premiership by playing against Manchester United, one of the most famous clubs in the world. Yet, I realise that I am in grave danger of romanticising this season before it has began. In reality, I have a feeling that this is going to be the hardest season of my managerial career. I thought the Championship was hard, but the gap between the rich and the poor is even more accentuated in the top flight of English football. This was evidenced by the fact that Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United (Still dominating in this era) spent the summer before this season investing upwards of £15million pounds on individual players. Saints, on the other hand, had a stringent transfer budget of £5million pounds. It was the most John Gibson had ever given me to spend. To be able to spend £5million was 'splashing the cash' as far as I was concerned!

I didn't intend to change very much about the side that had won the Championship title. They had gelled incredibly well as a team. Yet, some of the golden oldies had past their best and their declining physical attributes just wouldn't cut it in the Premier League. St. Albans City OAPs Gary Caldwell, Thomas Kahlenburg, Jose Antonio Reyes and Dean Ashton were released on free transfers. We would miss Kahlenburg particularly, as he had filled in on the left of midfield very nicely last season. I felt that Joe Cole would still cut it for another season, as would Kevin Doyle.

In total it was 18 players out, mostly youngsters who were never going to make it. The only notable transfer was that of Carlos Rodriguez, who I released from his purgatory for £500k to Bradford.

At this point I wondered if my technique of buying golden oldies in order to push for promotion was a mistake. Had we relied too much on these older players, who were past their best, but were still excellent at Championship level? Players like Caldwell, Kahlenburg, Reyes and Ashton had provided a good 'stop-gap' to get us to the top. But now their abilities had declined we looked awfully short on quality to replace them. Our youngsters were still developing and I was a little worried that I hadn't planned for the long-term future of the club sufficiently. Sure, we had real potential, but a number of our youngsters would need two seasons or so to get anywhere near their best. I felt we would have to do some good dealing in the transfer market to bring some quality that could make the grade for us immediately.

The story of our summer transfer dealings was basically a narrative involving rejection, as we failed to get any of our top transfer targets. They all chose bigger clubs and we were left chasing shadows.

A perfect example of this follows: I was desperate to reinforce our defence with some experienced talent, but lost out to Arsenal on a top class Polish centre-back. I had to settle for a younger alternative in 19-year-old Pawel Kaczmarek for £110k. He could be some player in the future, but I was frustrated - we needed someone for now.

Following this, I broke the St. Albans City transfer record (previously 950k for Freddie Owen) with the signing of a 19-year-old half Brazilian, half Spanish centre-back called Marivaldo for £2.3m. I felt he would be a special player in the future and, more importantly, would push for a first team place this season.

Feeling that we were really lacking on the left-hand-side, I went out and signed 20-year-old Danish winger Anders Lingren on a free transfer. Another one for the future, yet he would walk into the team now because we were lacking so badly in that area.

I wanted to spend some money on a British player as I was concerned by the increasing amount of foreign players in the squad. Don't get me wrong - I am no xenophobic, but I believe in trying to keep a British heart to the team. So, I broke our transfer record again and splashed £2.7m on 19-year-old Scottish right-winger Andy McLean from Reading. Once again, Andy was one for the future and although he seemed to have so much potential he was not going to improve the side immediately. With great frustration, I almost decided to call it a day, but I did make one more significant signing, that of an ex-Manchester United player, Jonathan Soriano. He was a 32-year-old Spanish target man, with plenty of experience and quality. He would add some much needed competition up front. We also secured the services of two loan players, Scottish forward Stuart McNamara (from Arsenal) and a young 18-year-old Turkish forward called Ahmet Oktay Kabar (from Barcelona). The latter signing was made as I had an interest in him after looking him over as a future prospect for my national team. I felt he had great potential and I wanted to try and make the deal permanent, yet a £4million price tag was putting me off a bit.

Following these signing, I pretty much closed the doors at St. Albans Stadium and settled with my squad. I did not feel as though I had spent wisely, but we had missed out on most of our first-choice signings.

Shortly after this, Manchester United offered me their vacant manager position at Old Trafford. Somewhat amused, I rejected immediately, but I noted with envy the £55 million pound transfer fund on offer. Phew - I would love to spend a little bit of that money, I can tell you! Doesn't that spell out how much of a struggle it will be this season. St. Albans City FC with a £5.5million transfer fund, playing against sides like Manchester United with ten times as much money! Unbelievable!

My pre-season squad draft looks like this:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

* - indicates new signing

& - indicates long-serving player

GK &Martin Tol (22 yo Dutch keeper)

DR &Paolo Terminiello (22 yo Italian fullback)

DL &Ryan Lynch (31 yo English fullback)

DC &Jim Pirie (25 yo talented Scottish defender CAPTAIN)

DC &Tony Fox (23 yo powerful English centre-back)

DMC &Fernando Estrada (22 yo Mexican defensive midfielder)

AMR &Ben Davies (24 yo talented English winger)

AML *Anders Lingren (20 yo Danish winger)

AMC *Stuart McNamara (19 yo Scottish playmaker on loan from Arse)

FS *Enrico Muratore (22 yo Italian genius and star player)

TM Kevin Doyle (34 yo Irish powerful target man)

Best of the rest:

GK Derek McPherson (22 yo Scottish backup keeper)

GK Jason Parker (22 yo English solid backup)

DR &Kevin Thomson (26 yo Scottish fullback or defensive midfielder)

DL *Nicolas Thomas (22 yo French fullback)

DC &Freddie Owen (27 yo English long-serving defender)

DC Lee Walker (20 yo Welsh defender promoted from our reserves)

DC Marivaldo (19 yo Brazilian defender)

DMC Steve Hill (18 yo Irish youngster promoted from reserves)

AMR &Paul Hill (26 yo English long-serving all-rounder)

AMR Andy McLean (19 yo Scottish winger and record signing)

AML Billy Dennis (20 yo Northern Irish winger promoted from reserves)

AMC *Gary O'Neil (35 yo English Villa veteran, signed on a free as backup)

AMC Chris Joseph (23 yo English flamboyant playmaker)

AMC Joe Cole (35 yo English ex-Chelsea playmaker who is getting on a bit)

AMC Adam McGurk (29 yo N. Ireland exciting attacking midfielder)

FS Alan Hill (22 yo English striker, FS or TM)

FS Ashley Parkes (19 yo English fast striker)

FS Ahmet Oktay Kabar (17 yo Turkish forward on loan from Barcelona)

TM Jonathan Soriano (32 yo Spanish ex-Man Utd target man)

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The squad had got bigger - we were now up to 30 players registered on the books.

I was interested in the breakdown of the different nationalities, which was as follows:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

From the UK (19): 11 English, 5 Scots, 2 Northern Irish, 1 Welsh

From Europe (9): 2 Italian, 2 Irish, 1 Spanish, 1 Dutch, 1 Turkish, 1 Danish, 1 French

From Outside Europe : 1 Brazilian, 1 Mexican

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So we hadn't exactly gone 'all premiership' and signed up loads of foreigners. However, our best starting eleven would probably have 6 non-British players in it. That was food for thought.

Anyway, away from irrelevance and back to football matters. Looking at the squad, I felt that we were probably slightly less strong than last season. I had resorted to promoting a few youngsters into the first team squad, such as Lee Walker, Steve Hill and Billy Dennis. We were that desperate for backup.

Our main weakness was clearly on the left-hand-side. Ryan Lynch, at fullback, wasn't bad in the Championship, but I'm not convinced he will make the step up to the Premiership. Nicolas Thomas, his understudy, is not good enough to play at this level. On the left-side of midfield, Anders Lingren looks talented, but is quite frankly too young and his abilities have not matured enough for him to shine in the top flight. Backup for him is Billy Dennis, who will really struggle if called upon.

I must finish this analysis of the squad at my disposal with some optimism. For starters, Enrico Muratore looked like he would score goals at this level. Pirie looked like a Premiership natural, as did Estrada and McNamara. Also, I had the true feeling that if we could just manage to stay up this season the side would mature and develop, and the youngsters would come good. If we could stay up this season, I felt that we would consolidate and we could establish ourselves as a Premiership side.

Realistically, looking at the sides we would have to compete against this season, we were going to be in big trouble. I felt that we were better than Bristol City and Aston Villa who had been promoted with us. The other two favourite sides to go down were Leicester City and Ipswich Town. I felt that we had about the same quality in our squad as they did. It was going to be a mini-league, with these four teams in it, plus our good selves. Bristol City, Villa, Leicester, Ipswich and St. Albans. Whoever managed 1st and 2nd place in this mini-league would stay up. That was my prediction.

Before the Premiership kicked-off, I decided on a pre-season tour of my adopted nation, Turkey, and was amazed to see Saints have another wonderful pre-season. We beat the likes of Besiktas, Fenerbache and Galatasary 2-0, 4-0 and 5-0 respectively. Regrettably, we lost our last game against Trabzonspor 2-0, but this was mainly down to exhaustion.

Were we ready for Manchester United on the opening day of the season? You bet we were. It was going to be a surreal moment. Yet, I had a bad feeling about our opening game and was worried about making a bad start to our Premiership dream. It could quickly become a nightmare.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

Media prediction: 19th place

Chairman and fans: Fans and board want us to fight bravely

Manager: I think we can finish 4th from bottom - I predict a a long and painful season

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Season Review:

The fixture computer had given us a real challenge to start with - Manchester United at home. What a surreal and wonderful moment. St. Albans Stadium full, a sea of yellow and blue, with a pocket of Manchester United fans singing loudly in the away end. I have never been a fan of United but you have to give their away fans credit.

St. Albans City FC had made the big time. It doesn't get much bigger than kicking off the season against the Red Devils.

I always feel that the first game of the season sets a down a marker and that it is important to make a good start no matter your opposition. Fully aware that Gary Linker and Alan Hansen, among others, would be analysing our performance with the fickleness of a typical football fan, I wanted to make a good impression.

Tactically, I would stick with my beloved 4-4-2 diamond - I had played this formation in four different divisions. On the tactical side of things, there were major changes to the way we would play our football. We were technically poor compared to the Manchester Uniteds, Chelseas, and Arsenals. Yet, for what we lacked technically, we made up for in our workrate and the physical side of our game. This season, my side would play a compact 4-4-2 diamond, sitting fairly deep, soaking up pressure, using the physical side of our game to win the midfield battle. We would attempt to use our pace to hit sides on the break. Defenders would play fairly long passes forward, with attacking players holding up the ball and playing a patient slow tempo game. We would tackle hard, keep men behind the ball, waste time, hold on to the ball, try to soak up pressure - ultimately try to frustrate our opposition. I wanted plucky little St. Albans City to battle hard and raise a few eyebrows.

So, back to the St. Albans Stadium and in the changing room I was keen to lessen the pressure on the players. I told them that there is no pressure and that they should go out and enjoy their football. We kick-off and it's an immediate disaster, as within ten minutes we concede a sloppy goal and United go 1-0 up. In the words of Victor Meldrew, I don't believe it! Yet, 15 minutes later Italian genius Enrico Muratore is tripped in the box and we win a penalty. But I am shocked as youngster and new signing Anders Lindgren steps up to take the penalty. Clearly, I have made a big mistake here - I have forgotten to instruct the players about who I want to take the penalty. I gesture wildly at the players, but they can't hear me. Lingren steps up … and scores! Phew! Despite having the wrong player take the penalty, we had scored it. 1-1. I had been too preoccupied with the start of the season to fully instruct the players regarding set-pieces etc. I would have to sort this out and ensure that everything else was straight after the game.

Manchester United huffed and puffed for the rest of the first half, but they didn't really create anything and at half-time I fancied us to go on to claim our first Premiership point. Yet in the second half we look like a different side (in a good way). I ask my assistant, 'is this St. Albans City playing in yellow and blue?'

We only go and bl**dy win it! First Kevin Doyle and then Enrico Muratore embarrass one of the biggest clubs in the country! Loan signing Stuart McNamara sets up both goals and takes the MoM award. We only went and beat bl**dy United 3-1. And we're only top of the table after one bl**dy game! What a start! The beginning of a new era!

After this game I learn that our stadium expansion is completed and we're now up to 18902 seats. I'm still waiting for the chairman to do something about the training and youth facilities. Adequate facilities just won't cut it at this level.

Aston Villa, who are the side who won the playoffs and got promoted with us last season, lose both of their opening games. Shockingly, so do Manchester United. They prop up the league. Our second game of the season is on Sunday, live on television, away from home against Leicester City. Leicester are one of the sides who I believe make up our mini-league at the foot of the Premiership table this season, along with Villa, Bristol City, Ipswich and us. This game looks like it will be a key indicator of our chances this season. Before the game, I enjoy some mind games with the Leicester City manager, telling him that his team will be relegated, after he targets my side in the press. He started it and I really hope we beat his side now, the cocky b*stard.

One or two of my lads are looking rather cocky too after our display against United. Therefore, I drop two of them and Brazilian youngster Marivaldo is given his debut. We play very defensively and the result is a tribute to our dogged defending as we draw 0-0 in a boring and tedious game. I am very happy to come away with the point though.

Unbelievably, in another Sunday game Bristol City pour more misery on Manchester United by pulling off a draw against them. Bristol City are now undefeated in their first three games. Their manager deserves a medal. They continue to make a mockery of the odds - last season they should never have got promotion, as the quality in their squad was questionable. This season, they have barely signed anyone, and I can't understand it. I feel like calling up their manager for some tips!

We’re not doing too badly ourselves though and a 2-2 draw at home to Blackburn in a thrilling encounter is another good result as far as I am concerned. Lindgren, who I predicted would struggle in the Premiership, is loving life at this level. He opened the scoring, before an injury to Kevin Doyle forced him off the field. New Spanish striker Jonathan Soriano came on and grabbed another goal. However, Blackburn replied with two good goals of their own and in truth they deserved the point - although I felt we might have edged it. In our mini-league, Leicester, Ipswich and Villa are all still without a win. Bristol City and St. Albans City FC, the most unlikely Premiership duo in the history of the league, sit ecstatically in the top half of the table. I sincerely hope Bristol City stay up as I have become rather fond of them now - yet not at the expense of my club obviously.

Going into the international break at the end of August, I was fighting off advances from Manchester United and Chelsea who were both gazing seductively at Jim Pirie. Pirie was called up for his first Scottish senior International cap at the end of August and performed well. Scotland were in the same group as Turkey, so it looked as though my international exploits would bring me up against one of my favourite players of all time in the near future.

_____________________________________________________________________

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

My first European Qualifying game with Turkey was away to Italy. What a game to start a new campaign with! The fixture computer had been hard on me at club and international level!

I wanted to switch the side to 4-4-2, yet still felt that the players suited the 4-3-3, so I stuck with my instincts. However, I dramatically altered the 4-3-3 to be far more defensive, employing a tight man-marking scheme, a deep defensive line and a counter-attacking approach.

Italy 0 - 0 Turkey

I am finally starting to feel that this squad is mine. They are showing the determination and character that I want from all of my sides. This was a solid defensive performance. In truth, Italy could have won by 2 or 3, but some excellent defending really paid off, plus some excellent luck. It was just the kind of start we needed for our qualification campaign.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Back to the Premiership and Saints were still riding high after our opening day victory over Manchester United. Our fourth game of the season would bring us up against another side in the 'relegation candidates' mini-league, Aston Villa, at Villa Park. Villa have had a quite frankly shocking start to the season and are still without a win.

These relegation battle games would really count come the end of the season. Ryan Lynch was out for us, making us look especially weak on the left side, yet I felt immensely confident. I believed that we could win this one and so set the side out to play a balanced and fairly attacking formation. I didn't want to get drawn into a physical battle with Villa, who had plenty of muscle in the middle of the park. I felt that our best chance would be to let out superior creativity and technique shine through by attacking from the off. It was a mistake. The game itself was a game of two halves, to use a ubiquitous footballing cliché. The first half was one in which the St. Albans City manager got it hugely wrong, and Villa went 1-0 up. The second half was one in which the St. Albans City manager deepened the defensive line, made his players battle for the ball, tackled hard and counter-attacked. Lucky for us, Villa didn't finish us off in the first-half, and we equalised through Jonathan Soriano, on as a sub, late on to get a point. Phew! I was really riding my luck. This had been a tough game, mostly due to the fact that I had got it all wrong. Relegation battles are about grit, determination, solid defending and a mistake or an inspired moment. I had nearly ruined it all by trying to play champagne football. Villa had out battled us and nearly got away with all the points. It was a lesson well learnt and luckily we had not had to pay the price of a loss. We had drawn away from home against two of the mini-league sides. Meanwhile, two of the other mini-league sides had played and a triumphant Bristol City had got a point away at Leicester City. Things were looking pretty bad for Leicester already, but by contrast things could not have been better for Bristol City! How were they managing it? More to the point, how were we managing our good form at the start of the season?

In short, our good form didn't continue for long. West Ham came to St. Albans City, scored two first half goals due to a couple of calamitous defensive mistakes, and took the three points. We had been desperately unlucky, matching West Ham and also scoring a goal of our own. I felt we deserved a least a point, but we ended up with a 2-1 defeat - the first defeat of the season.

Next up, Chelsea away. I was beginning to loathe the Premier league in some ways now. There was never an easy game! It doesn't get much harder than going to Stamford Bridge. So, we reverted to our ultra-defensive, tight man-marking frustration tactic and managed to come away with an incredible point after a 0-0 draw. In fact, we almost snatched a goal late on, but we wouldn’t have deserved any more than a point. Meanwhile, Villa, Ipswich and Leicester make up the bottom three, without a win between them all. Bristol City, unbelievably, remain undefeated at this early stage in the season.

Spurs come to St. Albans Stadium and this game saw the return of a St. Albans City legend. Mitchell Bryant played for us as an 18 year old and pretty much won us promotion from league two on his own. In fact, Mitchell still held the record for most goals in a season for City. I was glad to see that Mitchell, now 27, had made the grade at a Premiership club. However, I was even more pleased that our new hero, Enrico Muratore, grabbed the opening goal. Predictably though, Mitchell Bryant replied for Spurs with a wonder goal, running past the Saints defenders like they didn't exist and rounding the keeper. It was another draw. I wondered could you stay in the league by drawing every game?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

My second game with Turkey in the Euro 2020 qualifiers brought Moldova to Istanbul.

Turkey 3 - 0 Moldova

This was a straight-forward, comfortable and solid victory. Moldova didn't even manage a shot. Job done.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

During the international break, some work had been completed on the youth and training facilities, and we were now up to a good standard. We were finally looking more like a Premiership club.

St. Albans City had the lowest average squad age (24 years old) in the Premier league. I felt that we had some wonderful prospects for the future. This is why I felt that although this season would be tough, if we could just manage to stay in the division, our lads would have matured and would be much improved for the campaign next year.

We had not managed a win in 6 games, since our unexpected victory over Manchester United on the first day. Our next opposition was Liverpool at their New Anfield stadium. I have to confess, this is one of the games I had been looking forward to. I was a huge Liverpool fan as a child and still held the club close to my heart. During my early teens I had regularly been to Anfield to support the mighty reds. So, managing my side against Liverpool felt like a dream to me. However, Liverpool were currently top of the league, having won 7 out of 7. The press had the game down as 'mission impossible' for Saints. I quickly forgot my dream of managing City against the Reds and began to panic! To make things worse, we had injuries to six first-teamers and two players were called up for international duty. This had me without several key players and we were down to our fifth-choice centre-back and our third-choice keeper. There was lots of pressure on 19 year olds Kaczmarek and Pereira respectively. We were really scraping the barrel. I felt we might be absolutely hammered at New Anfield. Tactically, we would try to do the job that we did so well at Chelsea.

Shivers ran up and down my spine as 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was sung loud and proud by the opposition supporters before kick-off, but my sentimentality didn't last long as Liverpool scored first and it seemed almost impossible for us to resist their advances on our goal. Yet, somehow, my little Italian genius, 22-year-old Enrico Muratore, scored a beauty on the break and had me dancing around the technical area. Despite this the Liverpool fans were in good humour and I enjoyed their renditions of 'Poor Scouser Tommy' and 'Fields of Anfield Road' having sung them myself as a kid sitting on the Kop. Unofrtunately we were about to give them even more to sing about. I had picked out Anders Lindgren as being a player who was not yet mature enough to play at this level. He had so far surpassed all of my expectations. Today, however, he was showing his immaturity with a poor performance. He picked up a booking early on for a poor challenge and then, worse, conceded a penalty. Unbelievably, youngster Pereira saved the spot-kick, but five minutes later Anders Lindgren had completed a hatrick of poor challenges and was shown a second yellow card. Following this, it was only a matter of time until Liverpool scored a winner. We had held out admirably, but conceded late on to be denied the point. It ended 2-1 and I was gutted. So unlucky, but the immaturity of the side had shown itself in our inability to keep our composure. Pereira, to his credit, walked off with the MoM award, but it was no consolation. The press deemed Liverpool's winning goal to be controversial as well, but to be honest they deserved the win. A narrow defeat like this is upsetting, but Saints will march on.

Newcastle United were coming to St. Albans Stadium next. The Geordies were celebrating a new and successful era, consistently challenging the top four. Indeed, they had even managed to win that long-awaited trophy over the last decade. They were an extremely good side, expected to challenge for the champions league places. Our first-half performance was a real credit to the hard-working ethic we have built here at Saints. Yet, our back-up fullback Nicolas Thomas (another player who I admitted during pre-season wasn't good enough at this level) gets himself sent off. Following this, Pirie all but gift-wraps a goal for Newcastle United with a poor decision to come and challenge for a ball. It is a big mistake indicative of a side who are low on confidence. Newcastle score a second with ease and although Alan Hill grabs one back, we never look like getting back into it and we lose 2-1.

This defeat results in us drifting down towards the relegation zone. However, I am not panicking just yet. I feel that we can match every side that comes to St. Albans Stadium and we will pick up points at home. We clearly need to work on our discipline, but I feel that we can turn this bad form around. However, it gets much worse in our next game as we are knocked out of the league cup very early by Wigan. They were very fortunate and to be quite honest I couldn't give an arse about the cups this season. Staying in the Premier league is the priority and the only thing I care about. I don't care about cups - they are just an unwanted distraction.

Back to the league and for our next game we visit Manchester City and go up against another former St. Albans City player, Ben Kerr. He played for our club briefly at the age of 20 and was a solid left-sided midfielder. If I remember correctly, my chairman sold him behind my back for much less than he was worth. He has blossomed into a very good player.

Before the fixture, I play down our chances of getting anything out of the game, both to the local press and to the players in the changing room. Enrico Muratore goes out and scores within the first 15 mins, only for us to do our usual self-destruct routine. New lad Billy Dennis gets himself sent off and we lose 2-1.

Draws against Bolton and Portsmouth follow, home and away respectively. Against Bolton, we concede first and after a half-time Fergie-style hairdryer impression from me Muratore is our saviour again as he scores in the second-half to make it 1-1. Against Pompey, we take the lead and then do our usual pathetic falling apart in the second half to concede and almost lose the game.

Meanwhile, things aren't exactly harmonious in the changing room. Martin Tol and Fernando Estrada hate each other and have been fighting. Estrada has taken his concerns to the press. I don't know what to do about this mess. In the end, I decide to drop Tol and see if things blow over in the meantime.

Charlton Athletic came to St. Albans Stadium with a long list of injuries and suspensions. We had a few of our own but I really fancied us to do the business against the Addicks.

Leicester and Villa had won the day before. This was a must win game now. Bristol City were now struggling and so were we - both clubs were propping up the table. Ipswich were sitting just above us.

Who else would you put your money on but Enrico Muratore to open up the scoring against Charlton? A good first-half performance meant that we came in 1-0 up at half-time. Typical Saints though, as we conceded an equaliser due to some horrendous defending (if you can even call it defending) at the start of the second-half. However, some lovely play from Enrico Muratore set up Kevin Doyle who scored his 100th league goal to make it 2-1. This was scored with 10 mins left and fearing another episode of self-destruction by the lads in yellow and blue, I asked them to go deep and defensive - backs to the wall. Saints held on to win our first league game in 13 attempts. Enrico Muratore had now scored 7 goals in 12 league starts and I was feeling that he might just keep us up with his ability to grab a goal from nothing.

The win against Charlton couldn't have come at a better time. We were away to fellow relegation battlers Ipswich in the next game and we needed to take some confidence into it. An injury to Estrada put youngster Steve Hill (we seem to have all of the Hills - 3 now in the squad!) in for his first game. He would play in our 'midfield sweeper' role in front of the back four.

It was a very closely fought game and I sent on Soriano in the second half to see if he could make any difference. Indeed he did and he grabbed a goal on 77 mins to send us 1-0 up. The last 10 mins are very tense, but we hold on. Saints have won their second game in a row!

I always feel that if you can get your home form going, the away form will often follow. It's a confidence thing - if you're winning at home, you'll pick up the odd unexpected win on the road too. Yet, when you're struggling at home, you don't have any chance away. This result is a very important win for us. Bristol City, on the other hand, have gone from bad to worse. Their great start seems to have completely fallen by the wayside and they are struggling to pick up a point anywhere right now.

After this game, I am told that Martin Tol and Fernando Estrada seem to have kissed and made up, which is lovely for all concerned. So for our next game against Middlesborough away I give Tol a place on the bench, but continue with McPherson in goal. Freddie Owen is given a rare start, as we are still missing Fox and several other lads are out at the back. Boro' lack pace, so I figured Muratore would murder them. Yet, in a moment that has become typical of our season, Freddie Owen gets himself sent off and ruins the game for us. What an idiot. Eventually, the ref evens things up by sending off a Boro' player too, but it's a poor game and neither side deserve all three points. Having said that, I'll go and contradict myself here - we should have won. Boro' were poor and if we could take our chances and keep eleven men on the pitch, we'd be a decent Premier league outfit.

At the end of November, Bristol City come to St. Albans Stadium having run out of steam. That incredible start has turned into an incredible lack of ability to win. Rather like us, they can't seem to beat sides, but we, at least, are turning losses into draws. Poor old Bristol City are really doing poorly.

Last season the reverse of this fixture was the title decider. This season, this fixture could be a relegation decider when we look back at the end of the season. Bristol City lack pace, so I decide to give Alan Hill a start as our enganche and put McNamara and Muratore up front. That is some frightening pace for anyone to deal with. We are full of confidence for this important game. Yet, as hard as we huff and puff Bristol City's house won't fall down. They sit very deep and are absolutely solid. Saints lack cutting edge and make bad decisions in the final third. We make enough chances to win, but fail to give ourselves anything clear-cut. It is a poor game and Bristol City succeed admirably in frustrating us. They have so often been our bogey side, we just can't seem to get results against them. The month of December would bring trips to play current Champions Arsenal and one of the favourites for the league title in Manchester United. We had missed an excellent chance to get another 3 points here and it was clear that December was going to be a difficult month for us now.

December began with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Gareth Southgate was now in charge at the Emirates and had done extremely well so far - Arsenal were the reigning champions. I have always thought of Southgate as a thoroughly nice guy and this was confirmed to me before the game, as he sent some kind words of support regarding City's difficult relegation battle. Before the game, I noticed that Kevin Doyle isn't really performing anymore. I have noticed a decline in his game since the start of the season. It seems to me that he is past his best now and so I decide to give Jonathan Soriano a start. Already, he has come off the bench this season and scored a couple of goals and I wanted to see what he would do with a place in the starting line-up alongside Muratore. As usual, I tell the team there is no pressure on them before the match. It makes no difference, as we concede very quickly. Yet, somehow, with a keen and spirited display, we defend well and create a few chances of our own. Anders Lingren is the man of the moment, as he gets the by-line, beats his man and cuts inside, then places the ball past a badly positioned Arsenal keeper. The youngster, desperate to prove himself, has scored a cracker and got us back into the game. We hold on for the draw. We really are the draw specialists. I reckon punters are putting us down for draws every week now. This was a wonderful result against the champions.

A home game against Everton follows and this was a very close game, with Everton creating as much as us. Soriano opens the scoring, only for us to let Everton back into the game in the second half. It is a typical Saints performance, except Soriano goes and wins it for us on 88 mins! We really don't deserve all of the points, but I couldn't care less. This important result puts us 6 points clear of 18th place. There are some tough games to come though, so I've a feeling this little gap will come in very handy.

We are now around the mid-point of the Premiership season, so here is a good point to summarise what I have learnt about my side so far.

I feel that at home we can match anyone, but really need a bit of luck to get the win. Normally we create quite a bit, but poor defending allows our opposition to create as well. Away from home, our defensive frustration scheme is working amazingly well.

I have never been relegated as a football manager with Saints and I don't want to start now. Of course, back in our first season in the Championship, we had come extremely close to relegation indeed. In fact, in that season as we went into our final game I was quite sure that we were down until John Dawson and Carlos Lopez managed to turn things around for us. It was a miracle on the last day that kept us in the Championship that time. I felt that I had developed as a manager since then and that we wouldn't get ourselves into the same kind of trouble. During that poor season, I had not managed to keep any stability in terms of morale and tactics. In short, I had panicked and changed the line-up, tactics and got angry with the players as I tried to turn the form around. These were all big mistakes.

This season, I have kept calm and stuck with what I think is my best side, rather than making huge changes. I have stuck with my tactics and I have tried to keep the pressure off for my squad. Morale in the dressing room has been decent all season and I think this is key. Keeping things consistent and keeping heads held high gives you a chance to get something from every game. Despite our patches of bad form this season, I have seen nothing wrong with the way we are going about things. We have lost games narrowly and not been played off the park. Therefore, I have tried to pick out positives for the players, praised them and tried to keep confidence high. Don't get me wrong, there have been some angry words, but I have motivated the squad very well. I think I'm managing this relegation battle very well thus far. Perhaps I am tempting fate? Ask me will we stay up this season and I would answer maybe, but we'll need a bit of luck here and there.

The cold December weather had made me feel very reflective and I saw the opportunity, during City's long trip up the country to Sunderland, to rework my tactical philosophy. I decided that Saints should have more of a go at teams when playing away from home. Up until now, we had been sitting deep, playing on the counter and ultimately wasting time from the off. I wanted to play a little bit of football and to up the tempo. And the result, against Sunderland, showed that this was extremely effective, as old boys Joe Cole and Kevin Doyle grabbed the goals to send us home victorious after a 2-0 win. Yet the joy of this result was short-lived, as we went to Old Trafford in our next game and were beaten 2-0, as the Red Devils got their revenge for our famous result on the first day of the season.

Leicester City came to St. Albans Stadium in poor form and I decided that we would go all out attack. Steve Hill was in for Fernando Estrada and the youngster put the ball in the back of the net to put us 1-0 up. Leicester always looked dangerous on the break and eventually we conceded thanks to some calamitous defending. It finishes a draw but I can't help feeling we should have won. Steve Hill puts in an outstanding performance, which is a good positive to take out of this game.

The New Year brings my game of the season so far in the shape of a wonderful 2-1 win over Blackburn away from home. It is the nature of the performance that makes me so happy, plus my tactical tweaks. I sent the side out to play some high tempo football and we finished the game defending with everyone behind the ball. A Muratore brace and 3 points was surely the best way to ring in 2019. All in all Santa had been very kind to City over the Christmas period, gifting us a generous 7 points, with Blackburn the real highlight for me.

We take our form into January and beat an absolutely woeful Villa side 3-1 at home. I feel that City are currently looking like a decent outfit at this level. Villa were awful and they look unlikely to escape from relegation. On the other hand, we suddenly find ourselves well clear of relegation in a mid-table position. We're up so high in the table, that the City fans are getting vertigo. However, I have obviously let this wonderful run of form go to my head, as City are thrashed 4-0 away to West Ham in their next fixture. We are 3-0 down at half-time in an abject display and concede the fourth while hopelessly chasing a consolation goal. I knew that the good run couldn't last forever, but this display is so dreadful and spineless that I am shocked. All season so far, we have been playing decent stuff. We have been outclassed, but always stayed compact and tight. The pride of this Saints side was its solid defence and tight man-marking scheme. We couldn't claim to be a good technical side like the Arsenal's of this world, but we were hard working and well organised. I was really proud of that. But this display against the Hammers is pathetic. To make matters worse, Muratore is injured. We will miss our Italian genius.

Our season wouldn't be complete without a game against Swansea and the luck of the draw in the FA Cup brought us up against them. A hangover from the West Ham game caused us to draw 2-2 at home in a game that Swans should have won. In the replay, we handed out an absolute thrashing and pummelled them 4-0 away from home. It is a long time since we have won in this manner! That takes us through to play United in the cup at Old Trafford. United knock us out of the FA Cup, but not before an absolutely thrilling 3-2 game, with our keeper flapping and gifting them the winner. We feel hard done by, but it's probably a blessing in disguise. The league is our clear priority and the sooner we manage to get safe the better as far as I am concerned.

A solid 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea is followed up by a 1-1 draw away to Spurs. We really are the draw specialists.

Aston Villa are rock bottom of the league and in a recent game have been thrashed by Bristol City. Meanwhile, St. Albans City are enjoying our mid-table position, a clear 7 points from the drop zone.

Liverpool come to St. Albans Stadium in early February and I really fancy a scalp in this one. With the Reds sitting top of the league, I want my lads to play with passion and have a go. I always feel we can beat anyone at home. Regrettably, what actually happens is that City concede a poor goal on the break and although we create chances, we're someway short of Liverpool. On another day we might have got back into it, but c'est la vie. It's a good performance, but they've outclassed us and sometimes in football you have to put your hands up and say that. I'm proud of the lads and a 1-0 defeat to a team like Liverpool is nothing to be ashamed of.

Another draw away to Newcastle has us well and truly labelled as the draw specialists. The punters must be raking it in this season putting money on us to pull off draws. It's 0-0 and the press have us down as a solid, if unspectacular, organised team. Newcastle are very decent opposition these days, up there with Liverpool in the league, and I feel proud of this solid performance. Meanwhile Villa are humiliated by Arsenal, with the Gunners putting 5 past them at Villa Park. St. Albans City are now an amazing 9 points clear of relegation and I am very happy with that indeed.

Tony Fox is absolutely doing the business for us this season - what a player he is turning out to be. And Stuart McNamara, on loan from Arsenal, is a real star, setting up so many goals. I decide to move McNamara in the target man position, as he is great with the ball played into feet and not bad in the air. Meanwhile, I bring Chris Joseph back into the enganche role. A 2-0 win over Manchester City is followed by a 2-1 win over Bolton Wanders. We are really not looking out of place in the division now. Suddenly it is all coming together. Joseph is particularly inspired and his fine performance is rewarded with a goal against Bolton. With our best XI is playing, I feel that we can challenge any team on our day.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

I am not feeling so passionate about my adopted country and beginning to find these international breaks to be a real nuisance. First of all Turkey play a friendly away to Croatia and manage a 1-0 win in a quite uneventful and dull match.

After that it's Scotland in an all important qualifier, then Belarus away from home.

Turkey 1 - 1 Scotland

Scotland are a very good side and they have two of my club players playing for them, that is Jim Pirie and Arsenal-loanee Stuart McNamara. I wish I had some of their talent available to me. Turkey are really lacking in wide players and attackers. An awful injury crisis has forced me to select a poor and unbalanced side. Turkey have such a lack of depth - this is no fun at all.

The Scots score first and we look poor. We really should create more at home, despite the poor quality of our first team. Lucky for me, a wonder goal saves my blushes on 88 mins. The Turkish FA will not be happy with a 1-1 draw against Scotland at home, but at least it isn’t a defeat. I feel very frustrated. In our group, Italy are flying, and qualification looks tough.

Belarus 0 - 1 Turkey

This is a game in which we dominate but fail to take our chances. It nearly cost us the three points today in a game we should have won much more comfortably. The warning signs are there and we are going to have to play a lot better than this to qualify. I am not the most popular man in Turkey right now. I need to have a rethink and turn this around.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Back to Premiership football and we suffer an absolute disaster at the beginning of March against Pompey at home. Both of our centre-backs manage to get themselves sent off as Saints spontaneously combust. I am completely p*ssed off at the poor defending as we lose 4-2 at St. Albans Stadium. It is such a poor result and I am angry with the players, especially those sent off who cost us the game. I ask them to make it up to me away to Charlton. However, once more we self-destruct and are thrashed 3-0. We miss our first-choice centre-backs and just fell apart after the first goal. This is more like I expected our first season in the top flight to be. Two losses and seven goals conceded in two games. Back down to earth with a bump.

I ask the lads for a reaction in two big home games against Ipswich and Middlesborough and they duly deliver, with 4-2 and 2-0 results respectively. Both are great performances and McNamara is absolutely brilliant for us up front. The young Arsenal-loanee is amazing and I dream that we might be able to sign him. These two results mean we definitely stay up, such is the gap between us and the bottom three now. City have survived comfortably with four games to spare and quite frankly it is a relief! I am extremely happy, but keeping my feet on the ground. We now need to experiment with the remaining games. I don't want any talk of 'second-season syndrome' at my football club!

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to stay up, but I feel that next season might well be even more challenging for St. Albans City, thus I am not getting too carried away. Make no mistake, this has been a magnificent season and I couldn't have wished for more. However, I'm concerned about next year for several reasons. First of all, McNamara is unlikely to return to Saints for another loan spell next season as he will most likely push for a place at Arsenal, leaving us looking very short up front. Furthermore, my golden oldies Joe Cole and Kevin Doyle will be retiring, leaving us short of experience and depth in their respective positions. I will have to lose a few players, like Freddie Owen and Kevin Thomson (despite their wonderful service to the club) as they aren't good enough at this level. Replacements will need to be found. To make matters worse, Arsenal are sniffing around several members of my young team and I would not be too thrilled at the prospect of losing any of my first XI.

Meanwhile, at the top of the table (which still seems a mile away despite our fairly lofty position for a club like ours) Liverpool have taken the league title without a real challenger in sight.

The first half of the season, when we couldn't buy a win, seems a long time away now and Saints are free to enjoy the remaining five games of the season, thanks to a fine second half of the season. We narrowly lose our two away games 2-1 and 1-0 at Bristol City and Everton respectively. Quite frankly, the Bristol City game is a farce and I don't see how they managed to beat us, as we were terrific.

Our home form in these last games, however, gives us a lot to smile about, as we record three victories, the highlight of which is a wonderful 1-0 win over Gareth Southgate's former champions Arsenal. Middlesborough and Sunderland are similarly humbled at St. Albans stadium, in 2-0 and 1-0 results respectively. This little run of form, picking up a very respectable 9 points in our last 5 games, pushes us up into an unbelievable position. Prior to the last game of the season, we had reached the dizzying heights of 10th place in the league. The win over Sunderland in our final game, who were in 9th place, meant that we leapt over them and, thanks to other results going our way, pulled off an 8th place finish! We had done 'a Reading' (or ' a Wigan') and managed an unthinkable and excellent finish in our first season in the division!

But you haven't heard the best bit yet. St. Albans City FC were invited to play in their first ever European competition, the Intertoto cup, next season! This would present the club with a real chance of qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. This was a spine-tingling moment of wonderful ecstasy and I hoped that this might be the sign of things to come.

Aston Villa, Leicester City and Bristol City were relegated from the division. Bristol City had put up a wonderful fight and even taken it down to the last game of the season. They had been very unlucky and I sent my sympathy to their manager. They hadn't been quite ready for the challenge of the top flight. In truth, they had hugely overachieved to get the top flight in the first place and would need to build another squad to have another chance in the Premier League.

The end of season celebrations were wonderful, with the squad celebrating together in St. Albans, with myself and the chairman hosting a meal at a local restaurant. Our mix of nationalities, aside from arguing over the choice of wine, were happy together and had gelled incredibly well. Their language was the language of football. Youngster Enrico Muratore showed considerable maturity and took charge of the wine selection, in the end ordering a fine bottle from Northern Italy. After the meal, the players went off to celebrate in their own style. Seeing that the average age of the squad is somewhere around 23, they were no doubt going to be up to no good, but they deserved the opportunity to unwind and enjoy the success of this season. I celebrated in my own inimitable style, with a glass of Scotch, a good cigar, a book and a Beethoven symphony playing loudly in my living room.

What had I learned from this season? Well, I wasn't quite sure how we had done it to be honest. Results went our way in a number of close games, whether it was pulling off unlikely draws or even more unlikely wins, and sometimes this is due to the team pulling together and having a strong understanding that means they can snatch a result from the jaws of defeat. We had played very defensively, conceding only 42 goals, which is very impressive considering our status as one of the favourites to go down. We hadn't managed many goals, scoring only 43 all season as we concentrated our efforts on keeping it tight and not committing too many players forward. Next season I think teams will be more prepared to play us and the incentive may be on us to play a little more balanced and have a go at teams, especially at home. All in all I think that the Premiership is very close in terms of abilities towards the middle and bottom of the table. It would be easy for us to be sucked into a relegation battle, yet with a few half-decent runs of form we could push for Europe next season. It was a strange division in that respect really.

I had definitely seen the benefits of having a big squad at this level. My squad had been thoroughly rotated to offer me different options and to keep things fresh. I would have to replace some of the fringe players in the summer and I had my eyes on a few bosman signings. My plan was really to fully establish the side as a Premiership team next season, with another good strong midtable finish. The ultimate goal was to consolidate the league position and try to build the squad. At the moment, I was restricted to buying young unknown European talent in order to save money. My ultimate goal was to get the club into a position where I could try and bring in some homegrown talent and sign some British players, to give the side a British heartbeat. Hopefully, the boards plans to further improve the youth and training facilities would help the academy to produce some talent worthy of consideration in the future.

Exciting times were ahead for the club, as I reflected upon the season. Make no mistake, this season had been beyond all of my wildest dreams about the potential of the club. It was beyond anything I had expected when we gained promotion last year. Everything, from our amazing first win against United, had been fantastic.

If anyone had told me, after my first season in charge (and a 15th place finish in the conference), that fifteen years later that Saints would be in the Premier league and I would still be at the helm, I would have presumed they were drunk, on drugs, dangerously deluded, or all of the above. This season I had seen St. Albans City supporters all over Hertfordshire, especially in towns surrounding the city, such as Harpenden. The city itself was full of yellow and blue banners, shirts and memorabilia for sale and information about the club. St. Albans as a city had the feeling that it was home to a Premiership club, just as I had speculated it would do a few seasons ago. The fans had been fantastic again this season, with more and more locals coming to games to cheer the lads on. The team had captured the imagination of the city and the county, especially with its underdog status and amazing overachieving this season. I'd like to think St. Albans City had captured the imagination of all English football supporters. My plucky little side had upset the odds again and we were rolling in the right direction. City were going places, that's for sure and I hoped that I could keep the momentum going. It was going to be a long summer.

Final league pos: 8th P38 W13 D14 L11 F43 A42 Pts53

FA Cup: Fifth-round 3-2 defeat to Manchester United away

League Cup: Third-round 2-1 away defeat to Wigan

Average Attendance: 18339

Player of the season: Jim Pirie has been fantastic and very consistent for us

Signing of the season: I really doubted Anders Lindgren, but he has developed at a startling rate and did well this season

Top goalscorers: Enrico Muratore 10

Most Assists: Stuart McNamara 17

Most MoM awards: Jim Pirie and Stuart McNamara both on 4

City Legends: Lee Clarke, John Dawson, Mitchell Bryant, Frazier Campbell, Freddie Owen, Rob Marshall, Jim Pirie, Enrico Muratore.

Holy crap, that's the entire season of games in one post. *Eyes go fuzzy*

Congrats on staying up

Excellent job, and good luck in europe next season!

Once again delighted! Nice to read how you have developed with tactics etc

wow, wigan, reading, now st albans! congratulations!

Hey crouchy u playin 08 yet? have you started with the mighty saints if u have?