Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book II

[Damien77]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by aaberdeenn:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Amaroq:

Thanks! Signed up for aberdeen in the MMOG based on your support. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nice

Unlucky with the defeat. Those darn super keepers </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It does happen in the game sometimes where one can out shoot the other side 20 to 1 and yet you cannot score while that 1 opposition chance result in a goal.

[Amaroq]

Wow, lots of comments today!

Damien, I've seen that IRL, too - Kasey Keller against Brazil in '98, for example, which was one of the matches that really made me into a football fan. The YouTube still gives me chills to watch!

I suspect the game-engine tries to model that by giving a goalkeeper a confidence boost every time he makes a save; get too much confidence going and it does become a lot more difficult to beat even an average 'keeper. Conversely, your guy may have trouble keeping his concentration and focus if the entire match has been down at the other end.

Wegason, its my experiences observing the top clubs closely for this write-up that prompted me to propose the Club Legend concept over in GQ; not so much to keep myself in the job, but to prevent Sir Alex, Wenger, at all from getting dumped in the first three years.

Thanks for your well-wrought compliment; gave me a big smile the rest of the afternoon!

I'm afraid I don't have it nicely PDF'ed or anything; you guys will just have to wait and take it in serial form!

Now let's see, where were we.. ah, on our way to Millwall:

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 30th October, 2007. Championship - Game 14, at Millwall.

London side Millwall were fifth in the Championship, unbeaten, but with 7 draws and only six victories despite having a +12 goal difference. They'd had a two-season stint in the First Division back in the late eighties, the only time they'd played in the top flight. This was the seventh straight season of Championship football at The Den. Though last season's 16th place didn't seem much to build on, and their financial season hadn't let them splash out on transfers, former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock was steadily reshaping the side in his image, and the tight defending and adventurous offense were precisely what he wanted to see. We again had a streak of luck in the injury department, as leading scorer Jason Roberts had torn a calf muscle on Saturday. The speedy Grenada forward, with nine goals on 14 starts this year, was a key part of the squad, but would miss the next three months.

On the other hand, I had an injury crisis at the back. With Morgan and Hammond injured, I had to promote Jamie Cooper to start at central defense ahead of Allan McGregor, who made his 50th league appearance for United in goal. Cooper was partnered with Danny Payne, Steve Foster, and Joe Keenan across the back line. Paul Thirwell was the defensive midfielder. On the wings, I tried Kyle Reid on the left and Carl Motteram in his United debut on the right. Hugo Viana was partnered with John Melligan in the creative midfield roles, and Noel Hunt returned up front, trying to rediscover the form that had made him our leading scorer.

A storm was brewing, and though it was still dry at kickoff, strong winds were blowing, enough to trouble the shots and passes of both sides. In the fifth minute, Hugo Viana forced a turnover in the Millwall defense, nipping the ball over to John Melligan with his tackle. Melligan took one touch to pass forward for Noel Hunt, who shot from inside the arc, only to see it go just wide. That quick hitting offense seemed to catch the fans off guard, but Millwall hit straight back. Nervous-looking Jamie Cooper dealt well with his first touch, but the second time a ball came into his zone, he left too much space. John Sutton shot from 20 yards, and it took a McGregor save to spare the youngster embarrassment. A minute later, Cooper came way too far forward, crossing midfield to pressure Sutton, and earned a yellow card for his trouble.

By the fifteenth minute, I'd have described the winds as gale force, and Joe Keenan was struggling. That's a real scare, as he's my last left-sided defender. In the 21st minute, Kyle Reid from the left wing threaded a great long pass through the defense into the path of Hunt's run. The striker had a golden opportunity, but missed wide. It was a dismal effort, which he really should have done better with.

Keenan was battling to play on, but his injury was putting a lot of stress on young Cooper, who had to help cover his area. When McGregor bailed the pair out with fine saves twice in two minutes, I knew I had to bring Keenan off. Darren Wrack took over at left back, and I switched Cooper to the right side of central defense, hoping that would be a little easier on him. Nonetheless, Millwall kept piling on the pressure, and it looked inevitable that a breakthrough would come for the home side. For nearly fifteen minutes, they'd been heaping shot upon shot on McGregor's net.

Then, Carl Motteram, whose aggressive tackles were scaring me as he was already carrying a yellow, stole the ball away deep in our half. The loanee from Birmingham launched a 50-yard ball which the wind carried over Millwall's last defender. Hunt outran the defense to it, then slotted home past Mike Pollitt to give us a shock 1-0 lead on 40 minutes!

Just before half, Viana looked very dangerous standing over a free kick just outside of the 18, but the wind curled his kick well right of goal. At the half, Millwall had an incredible 12 shots, 7 on target, and McGregor was playing the game of his life to keep us in it.

I sent the same crew out for the second half with orders to defend, defend, defend, but Paul Thirlwell still nearly scored. It was a corner kick in the forty-ninth minute, which Thirlwell took about 12 yards from goal, wide to the right. He fired a shot in from, only to see it glance off the crossbar and carry all the way out of the penalty area.

Millwall began to truly pour on the pressure then, in search of the equalizer, and I thought our counterattack would surely make them pay. Steve Foster made a fine tackle ten yards from goal to deny Mika Vayrynen, and in the 64th minute, McGregor made a fingertip save to deny Simon Wilson's 20-yard free kick. The resultant corner, however, Wilson sent to the far post, where substitute Jody Morris, on a mere three minutes earlier, had slipped free of Danny Payne. His header found the top-right corner of the goal, and the 14,168 Denizens who had braved the weather shouted their approbation: it was level at 1-1.

Both sides played tight defense for the final 25 minutes, but with the wind and weather it would take only a single slip to see the result. In the 85th minute, it was Wilson again the provider, this time finding captain Neil Harris in the six-yard box. The captain had what looked like the sure game-winner, but McGregor's desperation dive kept it out, and Cooper cleared the danger. A minute later, Morris played a great ball for Stephen Gibson, the 18-year-old Millwall striker who had two goals in three substitute appearances so far. Gibson was through behind Cooper, and it was one-on-one with Allan McGregor, who again came up aces to preserve the draw!

Millwall 1, Sheffield United 1

Morris 64; Hunt 40

MoM: McGregor

I heaved a big sigh of relief at the final whistle - I don't think I've ever had a side so hard-pressed to earn a draw. Allan McGregor deserved every plaudit heaped upon him by the press after the match: he had faced 19 shots, and 11 of those had been on-target. He'd saved ten of them, and that was the only reason we were escaping The Den with a point.

Jamie Cooper, Steve Foster, and Paul Thirlwell had all had fine games in central defense, but it was easy to see why Millwall were still unbeaten - and hard to see why they weren't top!

Storm or no, it was a pleasure to shake Warnock's hand afterwards, and his brief "You've done very well" meant as much or more than that Four-Four-Two article had.

[Amaroq]

Besides, sometimes, you wind up with the super-keeper on your side.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 31st October, 2007.

Queen's Park Rangers continued to soar atop the Championship with a 1-0 victory at home over Stoke despite similar miserable conditions. Ipswich had played a 1-1 draw with Oldham, maintaining second, though now three points adrift with a game in hand. There were six other sides within three points of us, but for the time we still held third.

I'd stayed in London for today's Under-18s Cup game, so I didn't even look at a Sheffield newspaper - surely Wormwood had something further derogatory to say, but I was spared reading it. Which was good; we'd gone the entire month of October without a win, and I didn't want to hear it.

Today was the 'big game', at least for Cousins, Newell, et.al, and I joined them at Canvey Island for the Under-18s Cup match. The winner would get to progress to most likely face Manchester United U-18s, though of course the Red Devils had to take care of their opposition for the day as well. I half expected a Halloween horror show, with several of my best U-18 players unavailable despite my efforts to have them ready - the defense consisted of three amateurs, for example.

The storm had settled in - the winds were gone, but it an icy-cold rain was falling and the pitch was soaked. We looked the more dangerous, but couldn't find the net until the 31st, when Robert Cousins's shot hit the bar, but the rebound fell to Darren Gibson for the finish. Defensive midfielder Steve Newton made it 2-0 off a corner kick just before half-time.

In the second stanza, Cousins and Man of the Match Joe Newell combined to make it 3-0 on Newell's header, and Canvey Island threw caution to the wind in attack. That got them one back in the 54th minute, but our lads replied three minutes later. Newell's pass was not perfect, but good enough to spring Gibson behind the Canaries' defense and make it 4-1. The talented Canvey Island side made it 4-2 with 25 minutes left, and I sent Jamie Cooper in to shore up the defense. Nicky Thomson's goal in the 79th minute gave us some breathing room at 5-2, and Gareth Davies's late goal made the final score a convincing 6-2!

That booked the lads a trip to Old Trafford at the end of November. Unlucky Danny Lea had to come off after a fall in injury time resulted in a sprained wrist, but it would keep him out for only a week, not enough to prevent him from visiting Manchester.

It was raining as far north as Chesterfield, where the Sheffield United Reserves contested a dreary match against Oldham Reserves. Chris Sedgwick and Jonathan Forte each played 60 minutes, with Forte scoring a goal, but Dean Bond failed to deal with the only shot on target that Oldham made, and Billy Sharp failed to live up to his last name despite having ninety minutes of action. The result was a 1-1 draw which saw the Reserves surrender top of the group to Doncaster Reserves, who have a two point lead and a game in hand.

The Champions League continued as well, with results both Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday night, Trabzonspor held Group A leaders Manchester United to a scoreless draw, while Portugese side Benfica beat their Spanish neighbors Deportivo 2-0. With the standings at United 8, Benfica 7, Deportivo 3, Trabzonspor 2 with two games to play, the group could well be over after the next matches.

In Group B, Dortmund crushed Rangers 4-1 despite the visitors scoring first. Sporting Clube Portugal and Roma drew 1-1. The results put Dortmund at 9, Roma at 8, Sporting at 4, and Rangers were mathematically eliminated with a single point, becoming the first team out of the group stages.

In Group C, Barcelona emphatically hammered Lyon 4-0, while Werder Bremen beat surprise group leaders Maccabi Haifa 1-0. That put Barcelona top with 8 points, the Israeli side on 7, the Germans on 4, and the French on 3.

In Group D, A.C. Milan became the first side to book their place in the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win at home over Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Ajax were close behind them after a 3-0 win over Dinamo Bucharest - Milan were on 10, with Ajax at 7, with Tel-Aviv and Bucharest on slim hope at 3 points apiece.

Celtic rekindled their faint hopes with a 3-1 win over FC Kobenhavn, while CSKA Moscow were looking stunningly dominant. A 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain assured the Russians top of the group with 12 points; Paris and Kobenhavn had 4 each. Though Celtic had only the three from the day's result, the Old Firm could book a spot with the right results down the stretch.

In closely contested Group F, Liverpool suffered a near death blow at Anfield when Valencia built a 2-0 lead and held on to win 2-1. With Inter Milan becoming the first team to beat Bayern München - and it was a convincing win, 3-0 at San Siro - Liverpool found themselves on the brink of elimination with 3 points, as Inter and Valencia had six and Munich nine.

Group G sides FC do Porto and Real Madrid continued to top their table with victories, Porto at nine points and Madrid at eight, having beaten the Portugese side head-to-head but suffered a pair of draws to the other sides, Panathinaikos (four) and Club Brugge (one).

In Group H, Chelsea continued their stroll with a 2-0 victory over Banik Ostrava, using a side that included only three Englishmen of the fourteen that took the pitch. That assured their place in the next round, with 12 points, and Juventus were all but through on nine after a 3-1 win over PSV - the Dutch side is on three points, with Ostrava the only side in all of the groups still pointless.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 1st November, 2007.

"I'm sorry," I told the board. "I know, we need to do better, and.."

"Stop, lad," Terry Robinson held out one hand, like a traffic cop, and waited until my spluttering attempts at apology subsided.

"Listen, if in July a soothsayer had said we'd be third in the table come November, and Leeds would be 23rd, I'd have told him he was crazy and demanded my money back. We're delighted."

"Even if the newspapers don't remember it," chairman Derek Dooley added reassuringly, "You're far exceeding everyone's expectations."

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Q.P.R. 32 10 2 2 20 8 +12 (14)

2 Ipswich 29 8 5 0 19 6 +13 (13)

---------------------------------------------------

3 SHEFFIELD UTD 28 8 4 2 19 4 +15 (14)

4 Leicester 28 9 1 4 21 13 + 8 (14)

5 Millwall 26 6 8 0 21 9 +12 (14)

6 Everton 26 7 5 2 16 6 +10 (14)

---------------------------------------------------

7 Coventry 26 8 2 4 23 17 + 6 (14)

8 Derby 26 8 2 4 17 12 + 5 (14)

9 West Brom 25 7 4 3 24 14 +10 (14)

10 Plymouth 23 7 2 5 21 18 + 3 (14)</pre>

I tried to argue finances - we'd lost £0.5M for the month - but Dooley wasn't having any apologies either. He was a bit more brusque about the finances, essentially telling me to go earn it back. We'd now lost £2.7M for the season, but still had £9.1M in the bank.

Reviewing training with Stuart McCall, I was pleased to note that Darren Gibson was showing continuous steady improvement. According to our metrics, the biggest improver was young defensive midfielder Steven White, but when I pointed that out to Stuart, he said "Don't be too excited - odds are he was just knocking the rust off." Gareth Davies was also showing promise, and Jamie Cooper had reversed the backwards slide and was showing his first progress since our York days.

Unfortunately, promising midfielder Joe Newell was steadily losing ground, and appeared to be signficantly worse than he had when I first signed him. "He might be struggling with all the first-team action," Stuart cautioned. "Its a bit much, sometimes, for a youngster."

Ben Hammond also lost a bit off of his fine form from last month, but he seems to be recovering his confidence, and he's still my most-improved player since joining the Blades.

[aaberdeenn]

Good away point

Super Allan McGregor

[Wegason]

I completely agree with your "Club Legends" idea. Unless Man Utd were finishing outside the top four for at least two seasons in a row, he would not be sacked. I suppose if he finished one season below 10th he might be sacked but even so, I'd consider it very unlikely in the real world, I think he'd be given part way through the second season to actually be sacked.

It's good that super keeper's work both ways Here's hoping for a strong season, not necessarily promotion as you may promote too early, but a strong top seven finish would cement you for a title run next year and better prepare you for the Premiership I feel.

[Amaroq]

I think the compelling argument for it is 'game challenge' more than realism; the Big Four are only as strong as their manager, as we will see...

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 3rd November, 2007. Championship - Game 15, at Plymouth Argyle.

We were due for a home game, I thought to myself as we traveled to Dartmoor to visit the largest city in Cornwall, that south-west point of England. Since our last victory, this was our fifth match, four on the road and only one at home, and most against top-ten opposition. Plymouth were in their sixth visit to the Championship, the highest they'd ever been up the English footballing pyramid. This was their fourth year of this stay, after winning League Two in 2001/02 and then League One in 2003/04. They'd spent two years at the bottom of the Championship marshalling the squad, but last year placed tenth with a winning record and a positive goal differential, and reportedly nothing less than a playoff berth would do this year. More worrying, they really spread the ball around, with numerous goalscorers.

That would be a test for our battered defense. Allan McGregor remained in goal, having started every game this year. Joe Keenan got a rare start at left back, and in central defense young Jamie Cooper paired with Chris Morgan, back from injury. Slow Rory Beanes was the right fullback, as I had to start Danny Payne at defensive midfield to spell Thirwell. Graham Allen and Andrew Schofield were the wingers, and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson paired with Leandre Griffit in the attacking midfield. Peter Weatherson, still searching for his first goal of the year, got another chance up front.

After four straight matches without a win, some trouble with morale was beginning to set it, and on the road I decided to remain in the conservative, defensive formation which was so boring Rupert Wormwood. I'd love to see the lads find a game-winner on the counter, and Leandre Griffit nearly did just that at 1:13. With a great piece of dribbling, he sprang past the last defender into the box with just the goalie to beat. His shot went just wide. Later in the same minute, he took a superb ball from Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, skipped past defenseman Jamie McCunnie. Again, it was one-on-one, but this time he put it over the bar.

Twice denied, when Griffit next got the ball, in a 6th-minute counter-attack, he took it wide left. He beat his man with a neat 'flick to the right, run past the defender on the left' move, then fed a low cross into the area for Peter Weatherson. The 27-year-old was no more than 12 yards out, and Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia charged towards him, going into a slide to try and cover any low shot just before Weatherson lifted it for the top corner. It carried over Almunia's legs, and found the far post to give us a 1-0 lead!

Griffit was all over the pitch, getting back to head a cross out from our six, then dealing with the resultant corner personally. In the 26th minute, his vision found the unmarked Andrew Schofield when we got an odd-man rush on another counter. Unfortunately, the young winger put his chance over, but the threat was definitely there. The home side were struggling to find chances from close in, and Allan McGregor dealt comfortably with the long-range efforts that found the target. Their best chance of the half came in the 44th minute when Jamie Cooper handballed just outside the area. Gary Dempsey's 20-yard free kick was a shot on goal, but McGregor smothered it, and we want to the half still leading 1-0, and looking quite comfortable.

Plymouth found their stride in the second half, however, and began putting on more pressure just about from the start. In the 61st minute, Agustin Delgado's quick pass put David Friio into the area, 10 yards out and unmarked, but McGregor made a great reflex save to parry it. Dempsey gave Delgado a great chance from the arc in the 66th minute, but his furious strike carried well over. Still, I was concerned at the holes appearing in our tiring defense, which seemed to energize the crowd of 18,962.

In the 72nd minute, Schofield got himself in trouble along the left wing, dribbling back behind Joe Keenan under pressure, and seemed about to give away the ball in a great position for Plymouht. He sent a desperation pass upfield which somehow Griffit turned into a great chance, with a neat flick-on header to himself. The last defender came up to challenge for the header, and Griffit spun past him, breaking into the clear. He closed to ten yards before shooting, but Almunia came up with a fine save to keep it 1-0.

The home side's chances were all but ended in the 74th when Griffit's tackle took out Scottish midfielder Michael Stewart, who was forced to leave the pitch; Plymouth had made all of their substitutions, and were stuck with ten men. In the 75th, Cooper atoned for his earlier error with beautiful position to cut out what appeared to be a perfect cross from Plymouth captain Gary Dempsey, who had had Stephen Crawford running free. In the 77th, Griffit was again denied by Almunia, who was having a fine game in net despite trailing. It was becoming clear at this late stage that ten-man Plymouth were not going to be able to mount a significant challenge, and that was when Bobby Williamson made an incredible change. He went to something which I think may have been a 1-3-5 - yes, that's right, with one defender.

After dealing with their possession, it was all too easy for us to get a reply, and when I saw the resulting 5-on-1 breakway, I had to shake my head. Anybody could have found the unmarked man at that point, but given the game he'd had it was unsurprising that Griffit was the architect. Hugo Viana, who had come in on 78 minutes as our final substitution, took one touch to his left foot to settle. From 16 yards he made Plymouth pay for ignoring him, scoring his first-ever goal for Sheffield United, and that iced the game at 2-0.

There was one final piece of excitement in injury time, as Dempsey centered from the left wing for Plymouth, who had gone to a more sedate 3-2-4 which still had players in the box. McCunnie's flick on header found Friio, who should have had a goal with his head, but instead struck the crossbar. The rebound came to Delgado, who hit it on the half-volley, but McGregor blocked the shot with his body. It kicked off his chest to Dempsey, who had pinched in from the left wing, but McGregor dove at the winger's feet to take it away with the net wide open behind him had Dempsey gotten off a pass.

Plymouth 0, Sheffield United 2

----; Weatherson 6, Viana 87

MoM: McGregor

The lads were celebrating in the locker room - we'd finally gotten a result after three hard-fought weeks without a win. The superb Allan McGregor was again Man of the Match, though I might have chosen Leandre Griffit, who had been all over the field, with two assists and solid play all around.

Even better, we had two weeks off coming up, which should let the tired, bruised, and battered among us rest and recover.

[Wegason]

Great write up once again. Obviously when I said Man Utd, I meant Arsenal I was thinking of Sir Alex at the time of writing that, as well as Wenger.

[aaberdeenn]

Good write up Finally back to winning ways

[Amaroq]

Of course, Wegason, &thanks, 'deen.

Sorry for missing yesterday's update, had to really bear down at work after being almost useless on Wednesday, for some strange reason. As usual, will give you a double-dose in penance.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 8th November, 2007.

It was back to class for me - not that the club stops while I'm out, but I was busily filling my notebook with data. I can't believe what a firehose of information these UEFA-badge classes are - and I'd thought I was doing well beforehand!

Back at home, the players weren't the only ones celebrating: I got a note of congratulations from Terry Robinson, saying how delighted the board were, with a touching "p.s., I told you you'd pull out of it."

In fact, the only one who wasn't celebrating was my wife, whom I felt like I was barely seeing. We're both too busy, with careers just under way.

The result had closed us within two points of the lead, as Q.P.R. had drawn with fourth-placed Leicester. Ipswich had won, 2-0 against Preston, but Millwall had suffered their first defeat of the year, a 2-0 loss by visiting Stoke City, who were 17th after the result. Leeds United thoroughly dominated 19th-placed Doncaster Sunday on national television, a 3-0 win that put them out of the relegation zone on goal differential.

There was more celebration Monday, when it was announced that Paul Thirlwell had been selected to the Championship Team of the Week, though privately I was happier about Gavin Atkinson's return to the training pitch after completing his physiotherapy. We also had two internationals called up for the upcoming weekend: Hugo Viana to Portugal, with Darren Gibson again called up for the Scottish U-21 side.

In a driving rain at Lincoln on Wednesday night, I started several first-teamers in keep-fit starts, but it was the youngsters who came through, with 18-year-old midfielder Gareth Davies, and 18-year-old left back Brian Holmes finding the net in the first half to build an early lead. Lincoln Reserves found a reply late, but the final score was a 2-1 victory for Sheffield United Reserves. There was bad news in the form of Noel Hunt, who had started, but sprained his ankle early in the second half. It would keep him out at least a month, a disappointing blow for the first team.

The big news from the Premiership was the appointment of the new Arsenal manager: David O'Leary, who had guided Aston Villa to their shocking third-place finish and a Champions League berth last season, would not get to enjoy what he'd started - he would have the task of taking over the 6th-placed Gunners and re-establishing them as a top England side. At the moment, they aren't even the top London side, with Chelsea having firmly grasped control of that honour.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 10th November, 2007.

Rupert Wormwood, of course, had a field day with Hunt's injury:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Losing the team's leading scorer in a meaningless exhibition just underscores how poorly the American understands English football... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I made a mental note to myself never to grant him an interview.

Fortunately, by Thursday afternoon the news had moved on, with every article on Arsenal's new manager, David O'Leary. The Irishman had led Aston Villa to sixth in the Premiership last season, and with the team on good form this year, were again sixth and threatening to poke their nose into the hunt for a Champions League spot. The move to Arsenal, level on points, couldn't have come at a more intriguing moment, with the two sides to face each other next Saturday at Emirates Stadium for his first match in charge.

Friday morning, the local spotlight at least was back on Sheffield United. Danny Payne broke his ankle during a training session, and our 20-year-old starting right back would be out for the rest of the season. With Eric Deloumeaux out for another 2 months, and the transfer of Rory Beanes already arranged for January, it had the makings of an instant crisis. Beanes could start in the short-term, with Danny Wrack to help spell him if needed, but by January first, I needed to have some form of solution in place.

It was enough to throw a pall over the entire camp, and even the news that Darren Gibson had made an appearance in Scotland U-21's 3-0 thrashing of Malta wasn't enough to lift our spirits. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had a stiff drink afterwards, but no draught could prevent me from hearing the crunch of bone and the scream of pain many times before falling asleep that night. Its as though this team is snake-bit by injuries, it feels.

Stuart tried to put it out of their minds Saturday, for the Under-18s, and put on a cheerful face, which was made easier by the way they dominated Derby U-18's 3-0. Robert Cousins and Joe Newell were working very well together, with Newell earning Man of the Match for scoring a brace, and substitute Michael Harrison added a goal on a diving header just moments after coming in.

Ireland's playoff for a European Championship berth got off to a poor start with a 2-0 defeat in Prague to the Czech Republic. Brian Kerr's men dominated the match, getting off the majority of the shots and holding vast percentages of possession, but they simply couldn't find the target, placing only six shots on target, all of which were competently handled by Petr Cech. It left the Irish with a tough deficit to make up in the second leg.

In the other qualifiers, Belgium beat Slovakia 2-0, Germany defeated Russia 2-0 in Moscow, and Romania and Georgia drew 1-1.

In other international news, Scotland beat Malta 3-0, but Wales lost 1-2 in South Korea and Northern Ireland lost 3-1 in Sweden. Portugal won their match in Poland 2-1, but Hugo Viana was again not selected, even to the bench.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 14th November, 2007.

I got back to the office after the week in class - and found a stroke of good fortune. Keith McCormack, the 18-year-old who had been on loan to Watford, was back in camp.

The fortuitously timed return of the Irish youngster should help out at right back. In fact, I found myself comparing him favorably to Rory Beane. McCormack is a much faster, more physical player, and I think I'll stick him straight into the starting rotation. I'd have exercised the recall clause on the loan, but didn't have to, as it expired naturally on the 11th, two days after Payne's injury. While at Watford, in League One, he had played 12 matches, starting ten, scored one goal, and had a 6.83 average match rating.

We also had another deal lined up: Stuart had a loan deal arranged to bring Liverpool 19-year-old Jordan Holmes to Bramall Lane for the remainder of the season.

D R Jordan Holmes, 19, England, uncapped:

This young player launches breathtaking crosses if given the chance. He's got good pace, and is very good at the key defensive skills of posuitioning, tackling and marking. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the rest of the mental game required to make a Premier League player, but I can certainly see why the Liverpool coaches haven't given up on him. With better decision-making, anticipation, and fitness, he might really blossom into a good player, and one of my scouts rates his potential very highly. He'll slot into the rotation at right back with McCormack and Beanes, I think.

The deal being in place so quickly was another fortuitous happenstance. The press - well, everyone except Wormwood anyways - was lauding me for "acting so decisively in the injury crisis", but the truth was I'd been working on the deal with Liverpool for several weeks, and had had to wait for Holmes's 3-month loan spell at Wigan to complete. "Better lucky than good," the saying goes, and this time it held true, though I wasn't above letting the press build the impression that I was a negotiating wizard.

On the left side of our defense, Sean Dillon was back from his physiotherapy, though it would be a few weeks before he was up to a first team start. Further up the pitch, Kyle Reid's loan was expiring, but I felt that the young winger hadn't shown enough to merit keeping him, and I wanted to give Andrew Schofield a run in with the first team.

Wednesday evening, a very small crowd turned up for our Reserve match in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where the United Reserves faced Stoke Reserves. Those who might have been inclined to attend were partly kept away by the cold rain, and partly by the lure of European Championship playoffs on the telly. Chris Sedgwick, still building fitness in the Reserves, scored an early goal for our side, but then Nick McDonald was under constant pressure the remainder of the match. Though he did finally concede one late, leaving the final score 1-1, the young goalkeeper earned Man of the Match honours for an inspired performance. Better yet, we suffered no injuries.

As soon as I got back from the Reserve match, I checked in on the television. Ireland's quest for a three-goal turnaround in the second leg got much more difficult when Marek Heinz scored in the 22nd minute to give the Czech Republic a 3-0 aggregate lead AND an away goal, and though the Irish clawed one back by halftime through Leon Best, they were hit twice on the break in the second half, leading to a 3-1 defeat and a 5-1 aggregate.

Germany had smooth sailing with a 2-0 lead over Russia entering their home leg, and two early goals made it 4-0 by the 15th minute. The visitors got one for pride, but the final score was 3-1, a 5-1 aggregate. Slovakia and Belgium battled to a 2-2 draw, which saw Belgium into the finals on a 4-2 aggregate after winning the first leg, and Romania overcame the odds to beat Georgia 2-1 away, giving them a 3-2 aggregate victory.

In international friendlies, England were embarassed by Urugay 1-0 at Wembley. Scotland, as expected, pounded the Faroe Islands 5-1, with Neil Janczyk, Paul Gallagher, and Kris Boyd scoring in the first half, and Ross McCormack adding two late goals after the outcome was clearly in hand. Wales drew against Albania 1-1 in Cardiff, with Robbie Savage scoring the goal for the hosts. Portugal beat Argentina 1-0 in Lisbon, with Hugo Viana coming on in the second half and playing well, if not spectacularly, over 30 minutes.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 16th November, 2007.

Darren Gibson was in a great mood after his Under-21 appearance over the weekend, and was even more thrilled when I told him he was starting in Tuesday's game against Ipswich. He's been showing steady improvement each month since joining the side, and he plays with an intensity and determination that I respect.

Kyle Reid's loan deal was over, and he returned to West Ham after a relatively unimpressive 3-month stint at Bramall Lane. I wouldn't miss him - I had other wingers with more talent, and younger ones with more potential. Still, he'd helped us through a rough spell of injuries, and I wished him luck in his endeavors elsewhere.

Kyle Reid, AM RL, 21: August 2007-November 2007: 1 season, 8 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 7.13

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 17th November, 2007. Championship - Game 16, vs Reading.

Reading had experienced a stunning series of successes over the past 7 seasons, climbing from League One in 2001/02 up to the Premier League by 2005/06, the first time in franchise history that they'd reached the highest level of English football. Unfortunately, a dismal season had seen them finish 18th, relegated back to the Championship for last season, where they'd muddled to 8th. The slide looked to be as precipitous as their climb: this year, they were back down to 16th and, until they'd turned things around their past three matches, had been staring at a relegation fight.

I still couldn't believe our injury list - I had six players out injured yet again, and I felt lucky I hadn't lost my goalkeeper! Still, what I did have made a reasonable lineup, with Allan McGregor in goal, Joe Keenan at left back, and Steve Foster and Chris Morgan paired in central defense. Jordan Holmes, on loan from Liverpool, made his Sheffield United debut at right back. Paul Thirlwell was a stalwart in defensive midfield. Jonathan Forte was the left wing and Graham Allen the right, while Marc Bridge-Wilkinson paired with Leandre Griffit as the attacking midfielders. Peter Weatherson was forced into starting at striker by Hunt's injury, and honestly more game time was the only thing that could whip him back into playing shape, in my opinion.

A steady rain was falling, making the pitch a muddy puddle which seemed determined to slow both sides to a crawl. Reading came out with a bunker defense, doing little but defend right from the opening kickoff. Anticipating something like that, I'd ordered the lads to try the patient buildup, taking their time and looking for the right pass. Unforuntately, Reading played it to perfection, and Paul Thirlwell's first shot was blocked out for a corner kick; Leandre Griffit's effort from the corner was blocked out for another one, and that perhaps thoroughly epitomized the sort of day it would be.

By halftime, Reading had not taken a single shot at goal, and had hardly journeyed into our half. They were pulling eleven back to defend, and the only person getting good shots off was Paul Thirlwell trying long-range efforts from the penalty arc. He couldn't seem to find the target - he's honestly a defensive midfielder, not a long-shot expert.

The second half offered more of the same, and when Thirlwell golfed two shots over the bar in the span of sixty seconds, the home crowd of 28,024 began to get restless. It was boring, and they weren't shy about letting us know. Unruffled, I stuck to my plan, but when we still weren't seeing any breakthrough by the 71st minute, I brought off Jordan Holmes and Jonathan Forte for Billy Sharp and, in his Sheffield United debut, Robert Cousins.

Cousins immediately sparked life in the attack, using his speed in the 82nd minute to cut past his man, and taking a fine pass from Peter Weatherson. It looked promising, but Johnny Mullins hook-slide tackle took it off his feet just as he entered the box. The youngster got up looking for the penalty, but the Championship is a rough league, and the referee waved play on.

With our side chasing the game, it was perhaps inevitable that Reading found an opportunity, and in the 86th minute, Dave Kitson sent a gorgeous ball over the top for Darren Simpson. The 18-year-old speedster had come on in the 71st minute for only his second-ever appearance, and his fesh legs carried him past Steve Foster. Joe Keenan desperately tried to close down, but couldn't get to him in time, and it was one-on-one between Simpson and Allan McGregor.

Some goalkeepers might have seen their concentration wander, but McGregor has been in brilliant form - and the Scotsman came up big once again. He read the kid's every move, and pushed the ball away when Simpson tried to dribble around him.

That was, sadly, the best effort of the match, and when Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's half-hearted 40-yarder failed to trouble Nicky Weaver, the referee blew full time.

Sheffield United 0, Reading 0

----; ----

MoM: Weaver (Reading GK)

It was one of the least inspired matches I'd seen in some time: Reading certainly got what they were looking for, escaping Bramall Lane with a point for their efforts, but I was ashamed and disappointed at the lack of creativity my side had shown. They'd struggled entirely too much trying to break down a defense which wasn't complicated by any means.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 19th November, 2007.

Elsewhere around the Championship, Ipswich Town had beaten Stoke 1-0 to take the Championship lead, three points clear of us - and they still had a game in hand. They were our next opponent, which was a chance for us to draw back level, or for them to really put some distance between us. Second-place Q.P.R. had drawn 2-2 with Leeds United, which left them a point behind Ipswich, while Leicester had caught up to get level with us for third on a 2-0 victory over Everton.

We strengthened the staff a bit by finally adding Croatian coach Niko Kovac, whose work permit application had taken the better part of a month to clear. He's a 36-year-old who prefers a 4-5-1 similar to mine. His interview was very impressive, and I'm expecting him to be the best coach in the side. He's great with both outfield players and youngsters, he's an excellent judge of both potential and ability, and he's a disciplinarian as well. For the moment, I have him working with the youth players and my attacking midfielders.

After his impressive debut, I'd penciled Robert Cousins into the lineup for Ipswich, but the injury-prone midfielder pulled a groin when he slipped on the muddy pitch during training on Sunday. On Tom Mitchell's recommendation, I sent the disappointed youngster off for three weeks of physiotherapy rather than letting my big signing-for-the-future suffer recurring injuries.

On the plus side, we did add a healthy body, defensive midfielder Mathieu Berson, who had turned down a permanent move earlier in the season. The Aston Villa player was seeing no action in Birmingham, while the injuries to Dillon and Payne had left me with only Paul Thirlwell and some youngsters as cover for the defensive midfield spot. A three-month loan seemed in the best interests of all parties.

DM C Mathieu Berson, 27, France, 18 U-21 caps:

Though not exceptional in any specific regard, the Frenchman also seems to be without weakness. He's not the fastest of players, but he has the stamina and work rate to continue long after some faster players might have petered out. His positioning, anticipation, and decision-making make up for the speed as well. He's a solid tackler, but can also distribute passes with precision and creativity, and he's quite a bit better shooting from range than Thirlwell. He looks like a perfect fit, and I'd love to bring him in on a permanent basis if the opportunity presents itself.

Unfortunately, he wasn't match fit - I'd have loved to drop him straight in against the leaders tomorrow!

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 20th November, 2007. Championship - Game 17, vs Ipswich Town.

You wouldn't have picked the Tractor Boys as a favorite for promotion if you'd just looked at their past three seasons: 21st, 16th, and 14th in the Championship. However, Ipswich is a proud club which spent 18 years in the First Division from 1968-1986, including back-to-back second place finishes, and both fans and ownership would love to see them back up. Manager Dave Jones was hired at the end of that disastrous 2004/05 season, and saved the club from relegation in his first month in charge. He's had to rebuild the squad mostly through free transfers like Swiss right back Bertn Haas, who leads the side in assists, and developing the talent he has on hand, like 21-year-old Dean Bowditch, who has blossomed into the side's leading scorer. Luckily for us, Bowditch wasn't selected, as there was some question about his eligibility.

It was wholesale changes from Saturday's lineup, with only Allan McGregor starting both matches. It was a virtual Under-18 lineup, with 8 of my ten outfield players slated to start in the U-18 Cup ten days later. Briam Holmes, who had been playing so well in the Reserves, got to make his United debut at left back, with Keith McCormack making his at right back. Ben Hammond and Jamie Cooper started in the center of defense. With Thirlwell tired and Berson not yet fit to start, Steve Newton started at defensive midfield, not only his United debut but his first match above the Conference level! "Fortune favours the bold," as Stuart is wont to say, but that might have been a bit overbold: the entire back five was all eighteen years old! Loanee Andrew Schofield manned the left wing, while Chris Sedgwick returned to the starting lineup at right wing. I hoped he would provide some semblance of veteran leadership. Hugo Viana I expected to be the playmaker, with young Joe Newell coming off of a pair of fantastic matches in the Reserves to return to the starting lineup. Darren Gibson, on an emotional high from his Scotland U-21 appearance, completed the youthful starting lineup.

It was raining again at Bramall Lane, after a letup yesterday, but the ground was in good shape despite the recent precipitation. With such a young lineup, an early goal could prove disastrous, and I came out with a very defensive outlook for the first fifteen minutes or so, hoping to give them time to settle. They hardly seemed to need it. Before the two-minute mark, Steve Newton made a wonderfully pacey dribble up the middle of the park, going upfield past Joe Newell, then passing to Hugo Viana. The Portugese playmaker looked up to see the beautifully timed run of Gibson, and sent a perfect ball into space ahead of the Scottish youngster. One on one with keeper Kelvin Davis, Gibson dribbled in to the edge of the six. For an instant, it seemed that was too close, as Davis saved his first shout, but Gibson got to the rebound and finished it off. It was the first senior goal of his professional career, and the crowd of 27,636 erupted in delight - they really like the kid, and watching his unabashed celebration, I did too!

Ipswich Town's more senior players looked on with disbelief, but then a grim determination took them, and they nearly got an instant reply. Nick Brown played a lovely ball for Shefki Kuqi, who had gotten free of our young defenders. Allan McGregor came out to meet him, and a fantastic save by the Scottish keeper denied the Finnish forward. The rebound fell to Newton, who played a dangerous backpass to Jamie Cooper, but the young defender made no mistake, clearing it safely off the line.

Kuqi had another fine chance in the 22nd minute, drilling a diving header on the end of Tommy Williams' low cross, but McGregor turned it over the bar. Most of the pressure was coming from the visitors, and I responded by giving the lads a bit more freedom, allowing them to go forward on the counter a bit more. This resulted in a pair of chances, but Davis saved both Gibson's header and Viana's long-range half-volley. Joe Newell had a great chance on a breakaway just before the half, but couldn't find the net. It was halftime, and we still led 1-0.

Still, the Blues were getting ever-more dangerous, and they came out for the second half with a sense of committment. Kuqi came close again, hitting side-netting in the 50th, and Hugo Viana had to leave the pitch momentarily for treatment after a hard challenge with Etuhu. Finally, in the 56th minute, Brown sent a cross in from the left. Brian Holmes outjumped Bertn Haas to head it away, but Tommy Miller got to the ball first on the right sideline. He took it to the byline, then sent in a cross to the near post, where Etuhu rose above the struggling Viana to head home the equalizer. The Tractor Boys had finally gotten a breakthrough, 1-1; I turned to Stuart McCall and said, "We'll find out how the kids react to adversity."

I also pulled Viana off, putting in Jack Lester, whose experience I hoped would help stabilize the side. Gibson earned a corner in the 61st minute, which Chris Sedgwick took from the right side. He picked out Lester, whose powerful shot careened off of defender Tommy Williams, and bounced wildly free of the area. Newell sprayed it out to the right, where Sedgwick controlled it. He found right-side fullback McCormack ahead in the area. McCormack showed maturity, feigning a shot to draw both keeper and defense to the near post, and then aiming a pass through the middle. Left winger Andrew Schofield chested it down towards the penalty spot, the blasted a right-footed shot at the top left corner. Davis, sucked in by McCormack's fake, was unable to recover in time.. goal!! An hour gone, and we led 2-1!

I shouted defensive instructions onto the pitch, and made my final two substitutions, sending on Billy Sharp up front, and later letting Darren Wrack take over the right wing from an exhausted Sedgwick. In the 74th minute, Newell sent a great long pass ahead of Sharp which brought to mind Gibson's first goal, but Sharp doesn't have quite the pace, and Zander Diamond was able to get back to make the saving tackle. At the 78th minute mark, Kuqi tried to play provider, sending a far-post cross for Wilkinson, who tried to head back across the goalmouth, but put it wide.

Despite my shouted instructions, there were chances at both ends now, as both sides were tiring from the rain and mud. Steve Newton in particular was playing far too adventurously from defensive midfield - though I liked it when it worked, it was a very poor choice for protecting a lead. In the 83rd minute, we had a throw-in deep in the Ipswich zone. Newell's flick-on header was perfect, playing it right to Jack Lester, but his shot was saved.

At 87 minutes, Tommy Williams made a fantastic play, dribbling past Ben Hammond, and then completely turning Jamie Cooper around as he entered the box - the young central defender never even tried to make a tackle, and had his back to Williams when the midfielder took the shot, putting it narrowly over the bar. It would have been a great goal, but with Ipswich chasing the match into injury time, spaces were developing at the back.

Two minutes into stoppage time, Jamie Cooper played a long ball down the left wing, and with his fresh legs Billy Sharp was the first one to it. With space, he raced to the edge of the box, and it looked like a classic one-on-one opportunity, but as Davis started off his line, Sharp chipped it over him from about 20 yards away. Davis backpedalled desperately, but there was nothing he could do about it, and Sharp had found the net for his first of the season.

Sheffield United 3, Ipswich 1

Gibson 3, Schofield 61, Sharp 90; Etuhu 56

MoM: Sharp

Pandemonium erupted.

I don't think anybody watching had believed that we would beat Ipswich with what was essentially our youth team, not until Billy Sharp's final goal. The referee blew full time immediately, and I half-expected the Bramall Lane faithful to storm onto the field.

It was a famous victory, putting us co-equal at the top of the Championship!

[happy slappy]

Lucky git.

Ah well at least Town are still near the top thought eh?

Good result.

[aaberdeenn]

Want to read but am too tired, will have to catch up in the morn.

[Amaroq]

LoL!

[Wegason]

Okay, now that is probably the best match report thus far.

*Quickly goes back to whizzing through his season before the deadline*

[Amaroq]

*grin* Thanks, Wegason. I'm liking this trend!

[Amaroq]

And slappy, keep an eye on Town - they have a pretty decent run in this tale..

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 21st November, 2007.

The board, as you might expect, were extremely pleased. "I think we underestimated you," Terry Robinson said, giving me an appraising look when he and Derek Dooley came by to congratulate me.

"I thought you were a madman!" exclaimed Dooley. "Imagine! Selecting that young of a lineup. Nobody else would have even tried that, let alone pulled off victory with those kids!"

"It does give some hope for the future, doesn't it?" I asked rhetorically, with a big smile.

But then, of course, there was Rupert Wormwood's article, which berated me for the youth and inexperience of the lineup. Its as though he wrote it without even watching the match, I swear!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Despite being many pundits' pre-season favourites for the drop, Sheffield United have been playing superbly. Surely it won't last for much longer.. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you know the Roman legend, how when they gave great parades of tribute to the hero of the day, somebody sat behind him in the chariot reminding him "You are only mortal"?

Aprocraphyl, perhaps.. but I wonder if Rupert Wormwood is that guy for me.

Champions League group play went through the fifth match of six on Tuesday night and Wendesday night. In Group A, Celtic won their second straight, a 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain, with the goals coming from Shaun Maloney and defensive midfielder Charlie Grant. Amazingly, six points was enough to put them second, thanks to the continuing dominance of CSKA Moscow, who beat FC Kovenhavn 2-1. That left both Copenhagen and Paris on four points, but Celtic's path took them to Moscow for the final match.

Liverpool lost a heart breaker in Italy. Milan Baros had put Liverpool ahead 2-1 in the 55th minute, but Inter battled back through Edgar Davids and Obefami Martins, whose second goal made it 3-2 on 77 minutes. Liverpool fought back to equalize, with Harry Kewell scoring the goal, and it was 3-3 with a mere seven minutes remaining. Liverpool needed a victory, however, and they kept pushing forward, which allowed Martins to score his third of the game, and Marek Jankulovski made it 5-3 with a 60-yard goal after Liverpool brought the keeper forward. That officially left Liverpool out of the Group of Death with 3 points. Inter had nine, and Valencia and Bayern Munchen had drawn 1-1, which saw them on 7 and 10 points respectively. That was enough for Muncich to book their place in the next round, as Valencia would host Inter Milan for the second place from the group.

In Group G, Porto and Real Madrid booked their places, Porto with a 2-1 win over Panathinaikos in Greece, and Madrid on the strength of a 2-0 victory over Club Brugge in Spain. The group leaders would face each other in the final match, but the outcome counted only for bragging rights. That was the story in Turin as well, as Jose Mourinho sent out a relatively second-tier side to face Juventus. The hosts didn't field a full lineup either, but what they did send was enough to book a 3-0 victory over Chelsea.

Manchester United could clinch a berth in the next round at Old Trafford if they could beat Deportivo, and it would mean they wouldn't need a result from their trip to Portugal for the final match. On such tasks are legends made, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, Quinton Fortune, and Kleberson came up big for the home side in a 3-0 lead - all three goals coming in the final 21 minutes. Benfica earned a 0-0 draw at Trabzonspor, and that was enough to see them assured of advancing as well.

Roma booked their place with a convincing 4-0 victory over Rangers, a match that highlighted just how large a gap there was between the Old Firm and a top European side. A 0-0 draw in the home tie was Rangers' only point. Dortmund were also through after a 2-0 victory away to Sporting Clube de Portgual.

A.C. Milan were equally convincing in a 2-0 with over second-placed Ajax, while Maccabi Tel-Aviv's 2-1 victory over Dinamo Bucharest sent the Romanian side crashing out. Ajax and Tel-Aviv would meet in Amsterdam to decide who would join Milan in the final rounds, with the home side needing only a draw.

Group C was getting very interesting. Early leaders Maccabi Haifa suffered their second straight defeat, this to Lyon 2-0, while favorites Barcelona could manage only a 1-1 draw at home against Werder Bremen. With one match to play, every team had a shot if they won their final match. Barcelona, with nine points, had clinched their berth thanks to a tie-breaking sweep over Lyon. Maccabi Haifa were at seven, and at home to the Catalunya side for the final match in a must-win. Lyon sat on six points, with Werder Bremen on five - either could advance with a win and a result for Barcelona.

In other news, York City crashed out of the F.A. Cup at the first round, suffering a disappointing 0-2 defeat at the hands of non-League side Hednesford Town, who had forced a replay with a 2-2 draw in the first match. Malcolm Parker's early red card didn't help my former side, and I had to wonder at the lineup choice, which certainly wouldn't have suited either a 4-4-2 or my preferred 4-5-1. Odd - I can't help but wonder how much further I could have taken that team, had I stayed with them.

Imagine the vintage Bootham Crescent in the Championship, or even the Premier League!

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 24th November, 2007.

We got a spot of seriously bad luck on Friday, when Marc Bridge-Wilkinson pulled a groin. As has happened so many times to my players this season, Tom Mitchell recommended physiotherapy, and with the usual fixture congestion in December, I was forced to agree. Its better to lose our star attacking midfielder for 3 weeks now than to risk having him injure it worse and require surgery.

Our weekend match wasn't until Sunday, as it was a nationally televised game, which gave me the leisure of watching some of our opposition. It was a low-scoring weekend, with four 0-0 draws, including Ipswich-Hull (which put Ipswich a point ahead of us, on an equal number of games), Leeds-Brighton, and Millwall-Leicester.

Everton, inspired by manager Javier Clemente's comment that this was the deciding game of the season, beat Q.P.R. 3-0, tumbling a side formerly in the title hunt down to 5th. Wigan Athletic's abysmal start continued - 18 games into the season, and they were still in search of their first win, looking like a sure bet to be relegated.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 25th November, 2007. Championship - Game 17, at West Bromwich Albion.

West Bromwich is a borough of Birmingham, a major city fairly central to England, almost due south of Sheffield. W.B.A. is a long standing club, which won the F.A. Cup five times - the first of those in 1888, and most recently in 1968. They won the First Division back in 1920, the first year of play after World War I. After a drop as low as League One in the early nineties, the club has been boucing back and forth between Premiership and Championship for the past seven years or so: promoted in 2001/02, relegated in 2002/03, promoted in 2003/04, narrowly avoided relegation the first year, then relegated after 2005/06.

Last year they placed third, and were unlucky not to advance through the playoff system. This year, they're in ninth - but that's a misleading stat, as they have the top-scoring offense in the Championship, and two games in hand over most of the competition. Six points would put them level with us for third place. The team's biggest star this year has been 31-year-old Jamaican international David Johnson, who joined them on a free last year, scored 16 goals, and this season is leading the team in both goals and assists.

Having sent a message with the wholesale rotation mid-week, I put my senior lineup back in, en masse. They were a bit shaken up, and I hoped that the youngster's performance would eradicate some of the complacency I sensed among the first-teamers. So, it was hot hand Allan McGregor in goal, with Joe Keenan, Steve Foster, Chris Morgan, and loanee Jordan Holmes for a defense. Paul Thirlwell was the holding midfielder, with Jonathan Forte and Graham Allen on the wings. I'd hoped to start Bridge-Wilkinson, but in his absence Leandre Griffit and John Melligan were paired in the attacking midfield. Billy Sharp's Man of the Match performance mid-week earned him the nod over Weatherson at striker.

Despite our obvious penchant for the counter-attack, West Brom came out aggressively, in a 4-4-2 and unafraid to venture forward. Our defense was tested in the early going. David Johnson got past Jordan Holmes in the fifth minute, but his shot was well wide of goal. In the 10th, Johnson's cross appeared to be drifting into the net, but Allan McGregor got up to tip it over the bar. The resulting corner kick reached Jolean Lescott in the six yard box, but the on-form McGregor was again up to the task , making a fantastic save to deny the tall defender's header.

In the 14th minute, Johnson showed that dangerous speed, running through our defense to reach a pass. He was one-on-one with McGregor, but the Scottish keeper made a fantastic save. The rebound rolled across the goal mouth, and Leon McKenzie had a chance to put it away, but Steve Foster arrived just in the nick of time to clear it away. We were under very intense pressure, and hadn't made a single inroad into the West Brom defense. I decided I couldn't wait any longer, as Jonathan Forte had been limping since about the fifth minute, and I brought him off for Carl Motteram.

Motteram seemed to provide the spark the offense had needed - only three minutes after he came on, he worked his way into the left-side corner, then sent a cross into the six for Billy Sharp. The striker's header was our first real threat of the match, but was pushed away by Russell Hoult. A minute later, Motteram picked out Leandre Griffit about 40 yards from goal. The French midfielder sent a beautiful ball into space for Sharp, who looked to have a certain goal, but Hoult acrobatically tipped it over. Motteram took the corner, and found Joe Keenan at the far post - his header flashed just wide!

At the other end, Johnson was still getting great chances, and three times in the next ten minutes he had open chances. Once he missed, and twice the brilliant McGregor came up with the save. Just before the half, Griffit's 18-yarder was tipped over - it might have been 0-0 at the break, but the crowd of 30,000 was getting their money's worth! Only fine goalkeeping at both ends had kept the scoreline nil-nil.

I decided to ask Paul Thirlwell to try and mark Johnson tightly, to see if that would help. The veteran doesn't have his speed, but I figured that his savvy might help cut out some of the chances, and if Johnson had to deal with double coverage on any of his runs, that would make it less likely that he'd get the ball.

Just after kickoff, however, the chances came from others. Paul Robinson - the left back, not the England goalkeeper or my former player - took a throw-in deep down the left side. He picked out Neil Clement, who sent the ball into the six-yard box. Mark Wilson met it with a diving header, and only a fine reflex save by McGregor knocked it away. It fell to Danny Butterfield, the right-side fullback, who struck on goal from 8 yards out. Impossibly, McGregor blocked that as well, an incredible double save!!

In the 53rd minute, Motteram got the counterattack going, and played it forward for Griffit. Griffit, John Melligan, and Sharp had a 3-on-4 rush, but the fullbacks stayed out too wide to help out, leaving the central defense outnumbered 3-on-2. Griffit took one defender on, then played it right for Melligan. Melligan drew the other to him, then fed Sharp about 25 yards from goal. He took it into the box, then shot left-footed, surprising Hoult, who had obviously read the scouting report that Sharp shoots only with his right. That quickly, we led a game which West Brom had been dominating, 1-0.

Thirlwell's double-coverage on Johnson was working wonders - he hadn't been near as much of a threat, and it amounted to 'front and back' coverage, with Thirwell taking away his ability to come back for the ball, and our central defense denying him space to run into. Griffit missed making it 2 by inches on the 68th minute, but with W.B.A. pushing forward, our counterattack worked to perfection in the 70th. Weatherson, who had come on to provide fresh legs at the 67th minute, took the ball in the middle of the park and dribbled at pace, literally outrunning the West Brom defense despite having the ball at feet. After a mazy thirty-yard dribble, he took it around Hoult and put it in the back of the net!!

The visiting stands were right in front of him, and he raced to them to celebrate. It was a fantastic individual effort, a sensational goal which would surely be remembered in the Goal of the Month balloting after happening on national television!

The West Brom fans began to exit the stadium, and I shouted at the lads to merely hold on to it, and play solid defense. In the 75th minute, Johnson finally slipped loose of Thirlwell by sneaking out to the left sideline, where he used his phenomenal speed to burst free into the corner. He sent the cross in, and substitute striker Ben Paszkowec tried a diving header, only to see that parried by the formidable McGregor as well.

In the 85th, a corner kick found Paskowicz's head again, but this time he put it just over. At the other end, Weatherson was giving the hosts' defense fits, several times rushing through the defense onto long passes, but he was unable to put the finish on. Still, 2-0 was good enough by me!

W.B.A. 0, Sheffield United 2

----; Sharp 53, Weatherson 70

MoM: McGregor

Allan McGregor was deservedly the Man of the Match after another sensational performance between the sticks, and the lads celebrated in fine fashion in the locker room afterwards.

I rather missed the reggae tradition of the York locker room, and felt we needed a tradition of our own, but I didn't know what it would be.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 28th November, 2007.

We'd held the best offense in the Championship scoreless, which extended our very impressive run - in 18 League matches played, we'd only conceded five goals, far and away the best defense in the Championship. We'd also gone six in a row without defeat, our longest such run of the season, and taken a solid hold of first place in the league. I received a congratulatory note from Terry Robinson, saying that he was delighted, and of course the morale malaise which had overtaken us through that dismal run was a thing of the distant past.

In the post-game interviews, I singled out Allan McGregor for praise, stating that in my opinion, 13 clean sheets from 18 starts was about all you could ask for from a keeper, and that I was glad he'd gotten the chance to showcase his talents on the national stage. The fans were delighted with his performance as well, and my praise was muted compared to the acclaim he was getting on the supporters' message boards.

The number one himself just took it in stride - sort of a "Its my job, boss," attitude which I quite liked.

In the privacy of my own office, however, I took aside coach Craig Shields, who is the reknowned tactical expert of the side. "Listen, Craig," I told him, "We do fantastically with the 4-5-1 and the counterattack against teams which are coming at as. But, when they just pack it in to defend, as Reading did, we've been struggling. I want to work out a new tactic to try against the next weak side that comes to Bramall Lane."

We spent hours pouring over our notes, and drawing on the white board. What we came up with to try was a 3-5-2, but one not particularly based on the 4-5-1, as our previous attempt at a 3-5-2 had been. This was designed as a 3-5-2 first, intended for three central defenders, two wingers, two central midfielders who drop back to defensive midfielder after a change of posession, one central attacking midfielder as the playmaker, and two strikers. Most of the team were instructed to hold up the ball if need be.

I gave the tactic a run-out in our two Reserve matches over mid-week, to see what, if anything, I could find wrong with it. It was hard to judge from the first game, against Preston Reserves, as they came out very attacking, and that wasn't what the tactic was designed to oppose. They wound up clogging it up by overloading the central midfield area, and scored a single goal. It wasn't until they went defensive in the final minutes that I could see the promise of the tactic, as it seemed to cut through their defensive formation much more easily than it had their attacking outlook earlier! No goal was forthcoming, and the 1-0 result stood. Matheiu Berson and Hayden Foxe both played ninety minutes as they tried to regain match fitness.

The second game was even worse as a trial game - a home match to Macclesfield Reserves in which I had to play a mostly-amateur lineup. The Under-16 lads really don't have the skill to make such a finesse tactic work, so it was hard to judge if mistakes I was seeing were a result of the tactic, or just a result of the players. The goal we conceded was certainly a case of poor judgment - one of my midfielders had dribbled backwards behind his line of defense, then turned the ball over. It had a silver lining, however, as the visitors obliged with an eleven-man defense in the second half, giving me a chance to see my new tactic against what it was designed for. Bringing the play out wide seemed to work well, but the midfield was again heavily clogged and tough to penetrate. Again, no goal, and a 1-0 defeat. I wanted to see the tactic in play with the senior side, but thus far the results weren't promising: certainly not something to start a match with.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 30th November, 2007.

I had one other thought while I was lying in bed Thursday night: perhaps I should try having the two central strikers push out wider: my strikers primarily score on the counter, while my attacking midfielders are perhaps equally dangerous. If the strikers could draw the central defenders out of position, leaving space for the two attacking midfielders to run into, that might work.

I popped out of bed, to my wife's annoyance, and shut myself in my office to write it down. It would be more like my older, 4-5-1-inspired 3-5-2, the one I basically get by removing a defender and inserting a striker. Two strikers drifting into channels, two attacking mids making forward runs, two wingers, a defensive midfielder to collect the garbage, and three defenders. It was 3:00am by the time I thought I had something workable to try, the next time I needed a 3-5-2.

Unrelated to the Reserve matches and tactical testing, we suffered another training injury: young central defender Ben Hammond, who, as so many of our players had this season, pulled his groin. Another trip to the physiotherapist, another three weeks lost - if I could figure out what was causing this predilection for groin pulls, I'd fix the problem. The only thing I can think of is that the majority of my training schedules here place a bit more emphasis on the mental and tactical side of the game, while at a lower level I was more focused on strength and conditioning. I thought maybe a lighter schedule would help to avoid the drop in training performance that I'd observed in the final two months of every season at York, but perhaps it was just causing my players to be less fit overall, and therefore more injury prone.

His timing couldn't have been worse: it would rule him out of Friday night's Under-18s Cup match against Manchester United U-18s, which the lad had been very much looking forward to. With the usual fixture congestion in December, it was a bad time to lose any player, let alone one that close to the starting XI due to other injuries! Maybe I just don't have a fitness-based coach?

I had to check, but no, I do have a fitness-based coach, Scott Sellars, and he is assigned to our defenders' training, as are two of our three physios.

There was worse news Friday morning. Right wing Chris Sedgwick pulled a hamstring, and though my physios thought he could return in two to three weeks, they were recommending surgery: a six month procedure. With a heavy heart, I authorized the procedure for my best crossing threat, not expecting to see the 27-year-old again this season.

That put a real damper on the good news, which was that captain Eric Deloumeaux had made it through his first day of training, on a very light regime, warming up and passing around with the lads, but then going jogging rather than participating in any of the more strenuous workouts we do.

Friday dawned cool but sunny. Our Under-18 side was flying high, with a 4-0 win over Bournemouth, the 9-0 over Wolves, the 6-2 win over Canvey Island, and recently the en masse appearance for the senior side and a 3-1 victory over then-first-placed Ipswich - a side which had progressed to the Quarter Finals of the League Cup before being dumped by Everton! The trip to Old Trafford, though, was something special: an incredible atmosphere inside the bus, with myself and a number of my more senior players along just to help steady the lads' nerves. The news that my scouts were predicting a win hadn't helped settle my nerves: its Old Trafford! Though I must say, the ground seemed cavernous and empty with only 1,372 in attendance.

I named my starting XI: Nick McDonald, Brian Holmes, Jamie Cooper, amateur Ryan Jones, Keith McCormack, Steve Newton, Nicky Thomson, Nick Smith, Gareth Davies, Joe Newell, and Darren Gibson, and then I had to pace the touchline and watch. United looked more dangerous early on, with a succession of corner kicks, but it was Joe Newell who found the net first, the defense playing too far back of him and letting the sharpshooter take a shot from 18 yards out to make it 1-0 in the 14th minute.

Darren Gibson, battling through an early injury, headed home a second in the 27th minute, and with a 2-0 lead at halftime, I brought him off. He was very disappointed, but I told him I didn't want to see a permanent injury develop. His replacement, Paul Preston, found the net on a breakaway in the 72nd minute, and with a 3-0 lead it was all but over. The final whistle confirmed it twenty minutes later, and right back Keith McCormack was named Man of the Match.

The lads had every reason to celebrate, and an Old Trafford changing room to do it in: they were on to the Quarter Final, and they'd just dispatched the biggest-name club in the tournament, as Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool had all bid adieu to the 'meaningless' competition in earlier rounds. In fact, given their form, and a few players seeing reasonably regular action with their senior side, I think our Under-18s have become the heavyweight of the tournament!

Luckily, Gibson's injury wasn't anything too serious, a strained neck and a week's rest, but nothing that would cause the promising young Scotsman any concern down the road.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 1st December, 2007. Championship - Game 19, vs Crewe Alexandra.

What a change from last month's board meeting, when I felt disconsolate entering the board room for the monthly review. This time, there was a spring in my step, and congratulations all around from the board members, from the win over Ipswich to the Under-18 Cup victory to our place atop the Championship table, we were doing fantastically in all aspects of the game.

With a match in the afternoon, we made a pretty quick time of the routine business, but the news from the books wasn't as good - we'd lost another £131,000 for the month, leaving us down £2.9M for the season, although the club's bank balance remained a healthy £9.0M. There was nothing left in the transfer kitty for the January window, I having spent it all already. Terry Robinson told me there were some awards to hand out, and he wanted to make them part of the pregame ceremonies, in front of the crowd.

Here was the top ten of the league table coming in:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Sheffield Utd 38 11 5 2 26 5 +21

2 Ipswich 36 10 6 1 23 9 +14

-------------------------------------------------

3 Derby County 36 11 3 4 24 13 +11

4 Coventry 34 10 4 4 26 17 + 9

5 Q.P.R. 34 10 4 4 23 16 + 7

6 Everton 33 9 6 3 21 8 +13

-------------------------------------------------

7 Leicester 33 10 3 5 24 15 + 9

8 Millwall 31 7 10 1 24 13 +11

9 West Brom 29 8 5 4 27 18 + 9

10 Crystal Palace 27 7 6 5 27 21 + 6</pre>

Crewe Alexandra were down in 17th place, but were riding a five-game unbeaten run. They'd had a similar path to us us recently, being relegated from the Championship with us after the 2005/06 season, but earning promotion straight back up last year after placing second in League One. Their leading scorer, Rob Hulse, would miss the match with a groin strain - and was it mean of me to take satisfaction in knowing I wasn't the only manager suffering from that malady? There was one other oddity: despite seeing him play a fine 7.47 average rating through the first 15 matches, Crewe had sold starting keeper Ben Williams to Stoke City for £1.4M in November, and that meant 20-year-old Owain Fon Williams was in goal. He'd filled in fully 34 matches the previous year when Williams had been hurt, but was making only his 4th start of this season and the 38th of his career.

My lineup was fairly straightforward, and similar to what we had been playing: Allan McGregor in goal, with Joe Keenan at left back, Steve Foster and Chris Morgan central, and Jordan Holmes on the right. Paul Thirlewell was our defensive midfielder, with Jonathan Forte and Graham Allen on the wings - I'd had Sedgwick slated to start on the right until his injury. Creative loanees Hugo Viana and Leandre Griffit were the attacking midfielders, with Peter Weatherson the striker.

The pre-game ceremonies were nice. Billy Sharp had come third in the Championship Young Player of the Month voting, and I had been named second best Manager of the Month behind Glenn Hoddle at Derby County. But the biggest award was the Goal of the Month, where we'd taken a 1-2! Peter Weatherson's sensational goal against West Brom on November 25th was named second best, beaten only by his teammate Billy Sharp's chip over the keeper from 20 yards in our dramatic victory over Ipswich on the 20th. The lads enjoyed a home celebration of the fact, and the fans gave them their proper due.

I was expecting a bunker defense from such a weak side coming to Bramall Lane, but Crewe manager Dario Gradi surprised me by coming out in a 4-3-3 formation and looking to attack. Steve Foster's 50th league match for Sheffield United, couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. Not thirty seconds into the match, Michael Higdon swung in a cross from the right, and Marcus Bent got past Foster to nod a header on goal from 15 yards out. Allan McGregor must have thought it was rolling wide, for he hardly even moved towards it, and when it tinked in off the post, you could have heard a pin drop amongst the crowd of 28,008. We'd only conceded five league goals prior to it.. and these upstarts had us off to a 0-1 start at 34 seconds?

Gradi made a tactical substitution immediately, bringing off striker Andy Morrell for defender Lee Bell, and juggling things into a defensive 4-4-2: ironically, the formation I'd expected from the start. I'd set out my 'patient buildup' 4-5-1, and the chances started to come in the 10th minute. Peter Weatherson got free on a fast break, and Bell justified Gradi's odd substitution almost immediately, barely getting a foot in to block it out for a corner. That corner was played to Hugo Viana, attacking the near post, and his beautiful shot was hacked off the line by defender Lee Dukes. Fullback Jordan Holmes put a cross through the six before the Crewe defense could recover, but Weatherson couldn't quite get his head to it. We kept piling on the pressure throughout the rest of the half, and that got the crowd right back into it.

I'd made a few tactical adjustments to this formation as well, and was very pleased with the resulting performance. We were dominating the wings, and getting crosses in from both sides. In the 17th, Weatherson headed another Holmes cross over the bar; in the 23rd, Paul Thirlwell headed over from a corner kick. In the 32nd minute, Jonathan Forte got free up the left, and was unlucky that Weatherson's header went over. Not to be outdone, Graham Allen sent in a fine low ball from the right three minutes late, and Weatherson let it drop before striking a right-footed volley from 18 yards. That, too, went over the bar. The wings combined in the 38th minute, with Allen sending a cross over the tightly packed, narrow defense to Forte, who had snuck free behind them all. He dribbled into the area to shoot from close range, but Welsh keeper Owain Fon Williams denied him.

We were applying tremendous, non-stop pressure, and were finally rewarded in injury time. Forte's cross for Viana in the six-yard box looked very dangerous, but Williams fisted it away. Leandre Griffit collected, and passed backwards to Joe Keenan to re-set the offense. 30 yards out, rather than holding up the ball, Keenan sent an aerial ball forward into the box. Weatherson, 8 yards out and in traffic, tried to chest it down to himself, but wound up redirecting it with his chest to the near post: it went in, an absolute fluke of a goal, but it made the halftime score 1-1.

I told the lads they were better than this team, and asked them to keep up the pressure: "That young goalkeeper will surely crack," I promised. We got a bit of a break in the 49th minute when the goalscorer, Marcus Bent, was injured after a crunching collision with Thirlwell. Gradi had to make his second substitution, leaving him little tactical flexibility for the second half. We got off one of our trademark fast counterattacks in the 51st minute, with Viana and Griffit linking up in the midfield, and the Frenchman sending a killer through ball to Weatherson, who was making a diagonal run to his right. Weatherson and the ball reached the arc simultaneously, and with only the goalie to beat, he cut it back to the left post - a fine move, his second of the game, and a 2-1 lead!

The crowd roared in approval, and the Crewe players looked like they'd been gut-punched. You could see defeat in their eyes as they trudged back to line up, now without three of their best goal-scoring threats due to injury or substitution. They tried to build up an attack from the resulting kickoff, but Joe Keenan beat Lee Collymore in the air to defuse it, and Chris Morgan played a long ball which Weatherson collected on the left. He played it to Viana, who passed off to Griffit, but the center was packed, and Griffit played it out wide left where Weatherson had drifted unmarked. He dribbled all the way to the edge of the box, then sent a soft, short aerial ball to Hugo Viana, where the defense was respecting the far-post threats of Griffit and Allen. The Portugese attacker unleashed an incredible left-footed volley from about 12 yards out that was impossible to stop, for the first time showing off his fantastic flair. The lead was 3-1, and the game seemed comfortably in hand.

Crewe were never going to challenge after that, and I switched back to my usual conservative counter tactics to punish them if they did overextend themselves, sitting Graham Allen down to rest. Weatherson blazed one over at the hour, and Viana had a fine chance from a free kick ten minutes later, but put it high and wide. I brought Jonathan Forte off to a standing ovation from the crowd in the 70th minute, one which he fully deserved for his performance.

Weatherson wanted the hat trick, so I left him in for the full ninety minutes to chase it, and in the 80th Griffit picked him out with another lovely pass. He was into the area and about 18 yards out when he unleashed a wicked shot which looked sure to go in, but struck the post solidly and came straight back into play. The defense dealt with the rebound competently. Substitutes Darren Wrack and John Melligan also had good chances in the final minutes, but a 3-1 win was good enough for me!

Sheffield United 3, Crewe Alexandra 1

Weatherson 45, 52, Viana 53; Bent 1

MoM: Forte

Jonathan Forte, who had dominated the left wing, was a definite choice for Man of the Match, though you could have made a case for Griffit, whose play had been flawless, or Weatherson with two goals and an assist as well. In fact, the only player to do poorly on the squad was Allan McGregor, who never made a save.

[Damien77]

Great run of form

A good man in McGregor from what I see; though in the game, goalkeeper can fluclate a lot from games to games.

[Strankan]

We need an update...

[soupaman]

...desperately

[avstwentyone]

We need a fix you mean.

[Wegason]

Per the off topic thread Amaroq's been having some computer troubles, so please, be patient.

[Amaroq]

Apologies to all my readers. My home network got hacked over the weekend, and I've had the devil's own time disinfecting it. Google 'rootkit hack' if you want an appreciation of how nasty it was.

I think we've just gotten it all sorted out (the better part of a week later!) by basically reformatting and reinstalling *everything*.

Luckily I have "Blade" backed up on CD so I'll be able to resume posting in a day or two.. in the meantime, please be patient!

[BobBev]

Thank heavens this little masterpiece is safe - basturd hackers, why don't they expend all of that energy and brainpower on something constructive like a damn fine FM story.

[prince_capri]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BobBev:

Thank heavens this little masterpiece is safe - basturd hackers, why don't they expend all of that energy and brainpower on something constructive like a damn fine FM story. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well said!

@Amaroq: Enjoying the story. Really well written and detailed match summary

[avstwentyone]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Amaroq:

Apologies to all my readers. My home network got hacked over the weekend, and I've had the devil's own time disinfecting it. Google 'rootkit hack' if you want an appreciation of how nasty it was.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Considering that what you mentioned having to do is my full-time job then yes, I fully sympathise.

[Amaroq]

Thank you guys so much for your support, well-wishing, and sympathy. Much appreciated, each and every one of you.

I think we're back, and after installing security, firewalls, etc, the first three programs installed on my machine were Firefox, FM'07-7.0.2, and FM'05-5.0.5.

Now, how about a double-update?

[Amaroq]

Monday, 3rd December, 2007.

The lads were still celebrating our 3-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra when Derek Dooley visited the changing room to offer his congratulations and express his delight. The smile on the chairman's cherubic face lit the place up wall to wall: he kept saying things like "It feels like a dream!"

We heard on radio that Ipswich had drawn, falling four points back of us - despite their game in handm they could no longer take top spot away from us. Derby were second now, with 39 points, two behind our total of 41, and the three-goal performance had lifted us up to tie Crystal Palace for the lead as highest-scoring offense, to go with our top-of-the-league defense.

Unsurprisingly, after both receiving '10' ratings for the match, Jonathan Forte and Leandre Griffit were named to the Championship Team of the Week, and there were others on the squad who could reasonably feel hard done by not to have joined them.

Our two tournaments both had their draws over the weekend. The Under 18s Cup Quarter Final draw on Sunday gave our lads a home tie, which would be against the winner of the unresolved Sunderland-Everton match. Monday, however, was the big draw nationally: the F.A. Cup Third Round. I still found it odd that a League One playoff winner was held out of the Second Round, while most of the teams in the Championship had been in it, but this was the round in which all eligible teams were drawn.

Right from the off, a number of Premiership teams were picked, eleven of them in the first twenty names drawn, leaving only nine in the other 44 - relative safety for those like us who escaped the early pairings! We drew an away tie against fellow Championship side Hull City, not my favorite draw. I'd have rather had a home tie or lower-division opposition than make another trip to The Circle, where we'd suffered our last defeat in mid-October.

Three lower-league clubs had lucky days, with Conference side Crawley drawing a lucrative away match at Tottenham, non-Conference side Hednesford drawing a home tie against Southampton, and the winner of a Runcorn-Hitchin replay would be home against Liverpool.

On the pitch, with one of the silliest lineups ever - it included three amateur goalkeepers wandering about the pitch as outfield players - a side claiming to be our Under-18s, but in reality consisting of the absolute dregs of the Under-16 squad, dropped behind Tranmere U-18s by two goals before Danny Lea's second-half brace got them back into it with a 2-2 draw, and it could have been a win if Dean Reid hadn't missed a first-half penalty. Lea was Man of the Match for inspiring the comeback.

In other news, Hayden Foxe, who is still working his way back from injury, has been called up to the Australian national team for the Oceana Nations Cup, an oddly structured tournament whose teams play two matches a week from the 8th of December to the 22nd, then play the elimination rounds over the first nine days of January, but doesn't have the Final until late March. Though I'm a little worried about him re-injuring himself if he tries to play too much too soon, if Martin O'Neill wants to deal with getting him back into match fitness, I can't think of a better way for the defender to regain his competitive edge without costing me games! I might have had a different attitude had I been losing a key starting player for the busiest month of the year, but all it really meant to me was that he would miss the F.A. Cup match on the 5th of January.

Chris Sedgwick had had his surgery, and there was a bit of good news: the talented right winger would only miss three months, which should get him back to match fitness in time for a late promotion push, and the possibility of playoffs. Noel Hunt resumed full training after his foot injury, which had kept him out for the month of November, and had unfortunately ended his form as our leading scorer.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 5th December, 2007.

As I reported to the third and final session of my UEFA A license class, Champions League group play concluded over Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Group A, Manchester United were anointed group winners, wearing their black third kit in Lisbon against Benfica. Both sides had already advanced to the next round, and so chose relatively experimental sides: Scottish forward Kevin McKinley, whom we had faced in that Hull match while he was on loan, made his United debut, and 20-year-old Italian forward Giuseppe Rossi made only his second appearance for the squad in four years. Defensive midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba, making only his second start in the past four seasons, scored the goal and earned Man of the Match honours in a 1-0 game. Deportivo handled Turkish side Trabzonspor easily, 2-0, in the other match, to earn the UEFA Cup consolation spot as the Turks finished the group stage without a single goal.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Manchester Utd 14 4 2 0 9 1 + 8

2 Benfica 8 2 2 2 4 3 + 1

3 Deportivo 6 1 3 2 3 6 - 3

4 Trabzonspor 3 0 3 3 0 6 - 6</pre>

Group B had been all but decided as well, with the two qualifying teams already named and Rangers needing a miracle to claim the UEFA Cup berth. Dortmund beat Roma 1-0 in Germany to clinch the top spot - they'd needed only a draw, while Rangers lost at home to Sporting Clube de Portugal, 1-0, to conclude their embarassing European campaign.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Dortmund 15 5 0 1 13 4 + 9

2 Roma 11 3 2 1 9 3 + 6

3 Sporting CP 7 2 1 3 5 8 - 3

4 Rangers 1 0 1 5 2 14 -12</pre>

Group C had a wide-open finish, with any of the four clubs able to advance, depending on results. My sentimental favorite, Maccabi Haifa, was at home against Barcelona, who were already through. The Spanish giants refused to play like it, however, with Frank Rijkaard naming a full-strength side which punished the Israelis at every opportunity. Samuel Eto'o had a hat-trick by the 28th minute, and it was 5-0 at half-time, at which point the sides seemed to agree to play out time quietly, as there was no further scoring. The Israelis had garnered seven points from the first three matches to go first at the halfway mark, but lost each of the next three to fall to the UEFA Cup spot. That meant that the other match would decide second place, and Werder Bremen put forth a determined effort to see off French side Lyon 3-1 at the Weserstadion.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Barcelona 12 3 3 0 14 4 +10

2 Werder Bremen 8 2 2 2 8 8 0

3 Maccabi Haifa 7 2 1 3 3 9 - 6

4 Lyon 6 2 0 4 8 12 - 4</pre>

The rough night for Israel continued with Group D, where Maccabi Tel-Aviv travelled to Amsterdam needing a win against Ajax to take second. There, too, it was 5-0 at half-time, in fact, it was 5-0 after a mere 24 minutes, as Ryan Babel netted four goals in a nineteen minute span!! The final was 7-0, and saw Ajax through the next round. In the other match, A.C. Milan ran out a second-string lineup which still dealt handsomely with Dinamo Bucharest, 2-0, in Romania.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 A.C. Milan 16 5 1 0 12 1 +11

2 Ajax 10 3 1 2 13 3 +10

3 Maccabi Tel-Aviv 6 2 0 4 6 16 -10

4 Dinamo Bucharest 3 1 0 5 2 13 -11</pre>

Our homework Tuesday night was to prepare, for discussion, a lineup and tactical approach for Celtic, who needed a win in Moscow against CSKA Moscow to guarantee their berth in the knockout round. My proposal was knocked as 'too defensive minded', my plan essentially having been to keep it scoreless for 60 minutes and then push for the winner.

In the event, Celtic came out attacking, but two early goals from CSKA Moscow's Brazilian attacking midfielder Daniel Carvalho put a damper on that, and all but guaranteed a perfect group play for the Russian side. It clearly took the wind out of their sails. Though Chris Sutton clawed one back late to make the final 2-1, the Scottish side were reduced to scoreboard-watching. Paris Saint-Germain and FC Kobenhavn were drawn 2-2 at halftime, and if either could find a game-winner in the second half, Celtic were out... but neither could, and the 2-2 draw stood.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 CSKA Moscow 18 6 0 0 11 4 + 7

2 Celtic 6 2 0 4 7 8 - 1

3 FC Kobenhavn 5 1 2 3 6 9 - 3

4 Paris S.G. 5 1 2 3 4 7 - 3</pre>

In Group F, Bayern München were already through and Liverpool were already eliminated, which may explain why the German side came out with a second string that turned in a lackadaisacal performance. Liverpool man Jérémie Aliadière, formerly of Arsenal, made his first start of the season and claimed two goals, with Milan Baros and Marcelinho netting as well in a 4-0 victory. Such a convincing triumph over the Cup holders left the fans thinking 'what might have been', but it wasn't even enough to buy the Reds a berth in the UEFA Cup.

In Valencia, the fight between the home side and Inter Milan would determine the group's other place. The Italian side took a two-goal lead twice, the second time on Freddy Adu's first-ever Champions League goal, his seventh in the blue-and-black stripes of an Inter jersey. A late penalty closed the gap, but Valencia still needed two in injury time to advance, and the 3-2 final put Inter top of the table.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Inter Milan 12 4 0 2 14 9 + 5

2 Bayern München 10 3 1 2 10 11 - 1

3 Valencia 7 2 1 3 7 9 - 2

4 Liverpool 6 2 0 4 13 15 - 2</pre>

The other two groups were already decided. In Group G, Porto needed a draw at home against Real Madrid to go top of the group in a classic Spain vs Portugal clash, but central defender Francisco Pavon found the net for his first goal of the season and only the fifth of his career for the Spanish side. The 1-0 victory was enough to put them top, with Porto second. Panathinaikos emphatically claimed the UEFA Cup spot with a 2-1 win over Club Brugge that left them six points clear of the Belgian side.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Real Madrid 14 4 2 0 8 2 + 6

2 Porto 12 4 0 2 9 6 + 3

3 Panathinaikos 7 2 1 3 6 7 - 1

4 Club Brugge 1 0 1 5 3 11 - 8</pre>

In the final group, Juventus sent Banik Ostrava out without a single point, the only side so woeful, with a 3-1 win in Austria by their second string. Chelsea, at home, controlled the match against PSV, with Joe Cole, 17-year-old Simon Blake, and Czech superstar Tomas Rosicky scoring first-half goals. It was a stunning first start for Blake alongside Chelsea's brigade of stars, and only a late penalty awarded to the visitors made it 3-1.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Pts W D L GF GA GD

1 Juventus 15 5 0 1 17 7 +10

2 Chelsea 15 5 0 1 11 4 + 7

3 PSV 6 2 0 4 8 12 - 4

4 Banik Ostrava 0 0 0 6 4 17 -13</pre>

[Amaroq]

Friday, 7th December, 2007.

I'm now officially a UEFA A License holder, and none to soon! I can't wait to have a break, and see my wife - the class schedule on top of all of our regular work has been really exhausting. Not that she's around much - as the junior nurse, she's been working graveyard and swing shift, so its hardly like she's home when I am.

It sounds trite, but I miss her, and I felt more relief at the end of class than pride in completion of it. Maybe I'm just too tired, lately; this job can really chew a man to pieces.

Though I guess I did feel a bit vindicated when the professor recalled my Celtic preparation and discussed the morale impacts of conceding early - basically touting my defense-first watchword as the 'correct approach', at least in a tricky road encounter against quality opposition!

Our Reserve team had their grudge match with Sheffield Wednesday Reserves last night in Stocksbridge - they don't play their home games at Hillsborough, either. Stuart returned them to a more customary 4-5-1, though I wanted to eventually try the patient buildup version of that for a full match. Jack Lester scored in the first half before 10-man Wednesday equalized in the second. Noel Hunt lasted 58 minutes, while Mathieu Berson went seventy, but then twisted his ankle, leaving us on ten men also. Sean Dillon lasted ninety minutes in a tune-up start, and I hoped to return him to the senior side next week. The final score was 1-1, as both sides played fairly conservatively in the final twenty minutes; Lester was Man of the Match.

Luckily, Berson's injury wasn't serious - I'd hoped to see him makes his first senior start mid-week against Derby County, and Tom Mitchell thought that it shouldn't be a problem.

Sunderland Under-18s beat Everton U-18s, 2-1, which meant our lads would face the Black Cats on Sunday January 6th, a day after our senior side's F.A. Cup debut at The Circle.

Stuart McCall gave me the results of our monthly training review. I don't know whether it was the addition of coach Niko Kovac, or just a subtle lessening of our injury crisis, but we'd finally started to see some significant improvement from our players. I'd been on the verge of reverting back to the style of training regime I'd had at York - hard, physical work, with less emphasis on technical and mental development - as in previous months I hadn't been seeing much development, but finally it was all starting to click.

Right back Keith McCormack showed incredible improvement, which really excited me. I'd learned a bit about this in class; it didn't dampen my enthusiasm. He'd been on loan to League One side Watford for three months; they don't have our quality of facilities and coaching staff. However, the eighteen-year-old had been playing first-team football. This meant that his training form was dropping while he was at Watford, but he was learning a lot from playing in truly competitive, fast-paced matches rather than Reserve matches with recuperating first teamers or older players past their prime.

The impressive rise Stuart observed was Keith applying what he'd learned in our training environment, regaining that match sharpness which one would hope for from a player. It still made him our most-improved player for the season!

16-year-old striker Dean Reid and 18-year-old right wing Nick Smith had both made tremendous strides as well. Ben Hammond hadn't progressed this month due to his injury, but was still one of our most improved players overall. Robert Cousins, in-on-loan winger Andrew Schofield, and defensive-midfielder-in-training Gavin Atkinson had all made good strides, as had Brian Holmes and Leandre Griffit. Colin Hatton and Rory Beanes were showing pretty consistent improvement.

Joe Newell had previously been dropping off consistently, but seemed to have reversed that trend this month, finally improving a bit, though he's still down from where he was when I acquired him. Paul Thirlwell and Jack Lester are clearly aging, and Peter Weatherson is significantly off of his form, hampered as he has been by injury and a lack of first-team football.

Still, all told, I was very happy with the team finally showing some significant improvement, and it was enough to stave off my decision to radically change the training schedule - especially with the usual Christmas cluster of matches on the horizon.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 8th December, 2007. Championship - Game 20, at Crystal Palace.

Our match at Selhurst Park was nationally televised, featuring as it did the two highest-scoring offenses in the Championship. I had to wonder how well it would do in the ratings, however, as it was in the same time slot as the Newcastle-Chelsea League Cup Quarter-Final.

Crystal Palace of course need little introduction, as they are a long and storied club who have been in the Premier League five different times in the past twenty years. Their last two stints were only a single season followed by relegation, but on the strength of TV revenues and parachute payments, they took the Championship title in 2005/06, but placed 20th last year to get relegated straight back down to our level. This season they are in tenth, but boast a formidable offense and have won three more than they've lost. Andrew Johnson has been their leading scorer, netting 15 apiece the last two years, and this season the 26-year-old has bagged 12 already on just 19 starts. He's also closing in on his 100th goal for Palace, currently on 87, and scored a goal in his England debut earlier in the year.

I added a few younger faces to our starting lineup. Allan McGregor remained in goal, with Joe Keenan at left back. In central defense, Jamie Cooper partnered Chris Morgan, as both were full of energy on the practic pitch. In-form Keith McCormack is looking like earning consideration at right back permanently, given the performances he's put in so far. Paul Thirlwell has been the ironman at defensive midfield, and after my experiences with David Johnson in November, I assigned Thirlwell to man-mark Andrew Johnson and to keep a tight mark on him. Jonathan Forte was hoping to match his perfect '10' from the last match on the left wing. Graham Allen was the right wing, with Hugo Viana and 18-year-old Joe Newell in the attacking midfield. Both Billy Sharp and Peter Weatherson were in form at striker, and I opted for Sharp to save Weatherson for the home crowd mid-week. On such little decisions can careers turn...

It was, unsurprisingly, raining in London, and we were under pressure from the get-go. Palace had the better of possession, keeping it in our half, and forcing us to commit two yellow card fouls in the first twelve minutes. The first was to Jonathan Forte, and the second was by captain Chris Morgan, who conceded a free kick right on the penalty arc. Jason Koumas, the Welsh international who is the 'spark of their creative midfield', according to my scouts, stood over the ball. The reknowned free-kick expert curled a beautiful 21 yard effort over the wall to the top corner at the near post, and there was nothing Allan McGregor could do to deny him. It was a Premier League-calibre effort from the man they had signed from West Brom the previous year for £3.6M, and we were down early 0-1.

They kept up the pressure despite the lead, and our defense was hard pressed to keep them out. Long-time Finland defensive midfielder Aki Riihalahti got into the box in the 26th minute thanks to a fine low pass Johnson from right, but the veteran put the shot over the bar. We weren't even getting chances at the other end: at halftime, we didn't even have a shot. Clearly, changes were in order, and I decided to go to our patient buildup version, canceling Thirlwell's double-coverage instruction.

It hardly seemed to help. In the 56th minute a spectacular cross by Johnson picked out left winger Ross Flynn unmarked, and he dribbled into the area. Keith McCormack got there and made an inch-perfect tackle when failure would have been disastrous for the youngster, as he was already carrying a yellow.

In the 58th minute, I changed to my modified 3-5-2 patient tactic (not the all-new one), bringing on Peter Weatherson for Thirlwell and Carl Motteram for the limping Jonathan Forte. Before they even had a chance to settle, Palace had a corner kick. Fitz Hall made it 0-2, connecting with a diving header at the six for his first goal of the season.

Having the strikers drifting wide to make space for my attacking midfielders seemed to be working, with Weatherson dragging defenders wide left. This made space for Joe Newell and Billy Sharp, and in the 64th minute Sharp got off our first shot, putting it over the bar. We only had 3 defenders back, however, and Palace manager Steve Wigley did the unexpected, trying a quick change to a 4-3-3.

This saw Andrew Johnson man-marked by Jamie Cooper, and that was a mismatch waiting to be exploited. It took less than two minutes, with Hungarian striker Sandor Torghelle on the left picking out Johnson with a perfectly flighted long pass, and Johnson burned Cooper, dribbling to 8 yards and then burying it into the net. The capacity crowd of 26,380 was dancing with delight, and any remnant of our national television audience must have changed the channel at that point, as it was clear we weren't going to overcome an 0-3 deficit.

I returned to the 4-5-1, but kept Sharp on as an attacking midfielder, putting Sean Dillon on at left back, moving Joe Keenan to defensive midfield, and bringing off the tired and ineffectual Hugo Viana. The 75th minute saw our best chance of the day, with Weatherson up the left again, this time cutting it back to Sharp at the 18. The young striker let rip a one-timer, but Hungarian keeper Gabor Kiraly was up to the task, making a fine save to tip it over the bar. It was the only time all day that he was called on to make a save.

Any hope we had of getting a goal for pride was extinguished in the 83rd, when Motteram was carted off injured after a vicious tackle by Neil Shipperly, leaving us down to 10 men. We were already heading to the worst defeat of my United tenure, but matters were made ten times worse when Peter Weatherson was left writhing on the ground by young fullback Gary Borrowdale in injury time.

Crystal Palace 3, Sheffield Utd 0

Koumas 12, Hall 60, Johnson 67; ----; MoM: Johnson (Palace FC)

We'd been thoroughly dominated from start to finish, and I couldn't see how Palace were lying so low in the table: they had been simple better than us in just about every aspect. Andrew Johnson, in particular, had shown he was as good as the hype.

I told the lads we'd just been shown how well the worst team in the Premiership plays, and that it was clear we'd have to raise our game if we were serious about promotion this year - and staying up next year.

They were ambitious words, I hoped, giving the lads something to think about as I rushed off to the physio room to find out how my injured players were doing.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 10th December, 2007.

The League Cup Quarter Final in Newcastle was a match as compelling as ours was one-sided: Newcastle scored in the first minute on a 25-yard strike by Krisztian Listzes, and Chelsea were reduced to ten men when Glen Johnson saw red on a controversial call in the 54th - you could have argued that it wasn't worth a foul, let alone a second yellow. Spanish forward Mista, on as a substitute when the red card was issued, equalized for the short-handed side in the 59th after Ballack's lovely pass, chipping keeper Thomas Sorensen, and that set up a titanic struggle. Chelsea were reduced to nine men in the 72nd minute when Gael Clichy went off injured.

Shola Ameobi gave the home side the apparent winner in the 82nd minute, getting a one-on-one with Peter Cech, and though Cech made the first save, Ameobi scored from the rebound. With only nine men, one could have forgiven Chelsea for giving up, but that discounted the determination of the visitors. Landon Donovan, whose determination had sparked San Jose Earthquake's fantastic comeback from a 4-0 deficit in the MLS playoffs years earlier to a 5-4 extra-time win, was the catalyst for the equalizer in the 87th minute when Tomas Rosicky's pass put the American past the last defender. One-on-one with the keeper, rather than shoot he passed right across the goalmouth, where Mista was able to slot it home. The 29-year-old Spanish forward, acquired from Valencia for £40M in the summer of 2005, was on a mission, and in injury time, working all alone at the front, he dribbled through the Newcastle defense on a fantastic individual effort, securing his hat trick and an incredible 3-2 victory for the shorthanded Blues!!

Earlier in the day, our Under-18 side had travelled to Wales to face Wrexham U-18s. It wasn't our top U-18 lineup, with players like Joe Newell and Jamie Cooper in the senior side for the day, but it wasn't a weak lineup either, and they were unlucky to come away beaten 0-1. Steve Newton played a fine game in the holding midfield role.

Predictably, our three-goal thrashing had seen the senior side knocked out of the top spot, which was now occupied by Derby County. The defeat was the worst for one of my teams since Halifax beat York City 3-0 on 11th March, 2006, almost 21 months earlier - unless you count the Tottenham-York friendly the following year, which had the same scoreline.

The media, of course, were in an uproar, and The Star's lead reporter asked some hard questions after the match. Trying to keep some of the heat off of my players, I told him that I thought the better manager won on the day. I hoped putting the blame on Wigley's tactics - for example, the move to the 4-3-3 when I was trying to attack - would help alleviate some of the tremendous morale thrashing my players had just experienced.

Rupert Wormwood seized upon that; he couldn't resist the opportunity to twist my words. After dissecting our performance - "outclassed in every phase of the game" - he then predicted that

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The Blades' long-anticipated slide down the table has begun, though if they are honest, the club's supporters will acknowledge that it has its benefits. If United were so thoroughly manhandled by the team which came in last in the Premiership last season, perhaps its better that they not promote this season, as the team clearly aren't ready.

Richards tried to lay the blame at the feet of his opposing manager, but if the American isn't sufficiently skilled to counter Steve Wigley's tactics, he will be thoroughly outclassed by the likes of Jose Mourinho, David O'Leary, and Graeme Souness. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ironically, my statement and Wormwood's article did seem to help a bit with the lowered morale in the camp, with several of our stars expressing renewed determination.

The news from the physios was not so good, especially with two matches a week upcoming for the Christmas fixtures. Peter Weatherson had broken his shoulder, and was expected to be out at least a month, possibly more, as he recovered. Carl Motteram had fractured a cheekbone, and the doctors said a minimum of three weeks for the on-loan player. Luckily, Jonathan Forte's injury was minor, and wouldn't keep him out even from Tuesday's match. That was lucky in part because on the right, where I'd been planning on giving youngster Nick Smith his first team debut, the luckless 18-year-old had picked up a bruised thigh and would miss the match.

I got a bit of a shock when Hayden Foxe announced to the Australian media that he was unhappy he wasn't in the first team. I was flabbergasted, and couldn't resist complaining to Stuart McCall.

"He's been out for four months in physiotherapy, and now he's on international duty! Of course he hasn't been in the first team!"

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 11th December, 2007. Championship - Game 21, vs Derby County.

It was not the moment I would have chosen to face the top-of-the-table side, but the schedule is inflexible, and Derby County came to town hard on the heels of our thrashing by Crystal Palace. First Division Champions in 1971/72 and 1974/75, they fell as low as the Third Division in the '80s, but promoted back to the highest level in successive years. They had a six-year stint in the Premier League from 1996-2002, but were relegated, and narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship the following two years. That was followed by 3rd and 4th-placed finished in 2004/05 and 2005/06, though both times they were eliminated in the playoffs.

Last year they slipped to 13th, and that led to bringing in Glenn Hoddle, who has turned around the club on some canny free transfers, including Lee Bowyer, Lomana LuaLua, Titus Bramble, Mauricio Taricco and Linvoy Primus. LuaLua is a Congo forward who leads the club with seven goals, while Bramble, Primus, and Taricco have started almost every match in the rebuilt defense. Primus has anchored the center with an incredible 7.79 average rating in league play this year, and that may be a huge part of the reason Derby currently sit top of the table and riding a ten game unbeaten streak.

For the first time all season, I changed the entire starting XI. After a defeat like that, perhaps sitting out a match would send a message to some players, and help shake up the complacency. 18-year-old Nick McDonald made his Sheffield United debut in goal, giving McGregor a day off for the first time all season. On the left, Sean Dillon made his return to the starting lineup, while veterans Steve Foster and Hayden Foxe were paired in central defense. I'd been planning to start Cooper, but after his poor performance and Foxe's outburst, I put the Australian in, naming him captain, and hoping it might placate him even if he couldn't go ninety minutes. On the right side, the first of four loanees in my lineup was fullback Jordan Holmes. French defensive midfielder Mathieu Berson made his debut for us, while it was Andrew Schofield on the left wing. On the right, with Smith out and Allen too tired to go, Darren Wrack would make only his fifth start of the year. Up front, in-form Leandre Griffit was paired with John Melligan in the attacking midfield roles, and with Weatherson injured, Hunt recovering, and Sharp exhausted, it fell to young Darren Gibson to make the start at striker.

It was raining again, but with the strong support of the home crowd behind us, we came out the stronger side. Though I had the lads on fairly conservative instructions, they were definitely pushing forward, with both Sean Dillon and Jordan Holmes getting involved in the attack early. That nearly caught us in the sixth minute, as the Argentinian left back Mauricio Taricco led a fast break on the counter. Derby were playing a 5-3-2/3-5-2, pushing the wingbacks well up the pitch in offense, and Taricco must have dribbled for fifty yards befored sending a cross for Lomana LuaLua on the right side. The striker put the shot wide.

In the 9th minute, Leandre Griffit led our attack, reaching the end line wide left, and then dribbling along it towards the near post. He passed to John Melligan at the six. The attacking midfielder looked to have a simple finish with the keeper nowhere in sight, but Pablo Mills threw himself in front of the shot. The resulting corner kick was headed out of the area, but held in by Griffit on the right side. With a forest of defenders clumped between himself and the goal, the Frenchman instead of shooting sent a last past left for Andrew Schofield. With defenders closing in, the eighteen-year-old left winger launched a right-footed blast to the top right corner. Goalkeeper Lee Camp was unsighted by his own men, and 29,174 voices erupted in unison as we took an early 1-0 lead!

The crowd was still buzzing with excitement when Barry Nicholson turned with the ball in his own half, and sent a long pass upfield. Young striker Ben Wilkinson victimized the not-yet-match-fit Hayden Foxe, blowing past the Australian defender on pace to haul down Nicholson's long pass. Only young Nick McDonald stood between Wilkinson and his first-ever goal for Derby, and the 20-year-old shot from beyond the eighteen to equalize. It was a shaky start for our young defense, and with the match equal at 1-1, I hoped it wouldn't mean a full-scale collapse at the back.

With the play of John Melligan, I shouldn't have worried: he blazed a shot over from range in the 22nd minute, and then in the 23rd his perfect through ball slipped Darren Gibson into the area unmarked. The Scottish youngster had a wonderful opportunity, but Camp made a great save to deny him. In the 28th minute, Darren Wrack put Gibson free again, this with a long pass that caught Gibson in stride on the right side. He dribbled into the area, and ignored Leandre Griffit, who was open for a pass across the goalmouth, opting to shoot instead, and Camp dealt competently with it. We would have had more chances if not for the great play of Derby's captain, Linvoy Primus. He blocked Griffit's shot in the 30th minute, and derailed Gibson with a crunching tackle just outside the area to keep the scores level at half-time.

We were definitely looking like the stronger side, and I didn't want to make any changes. "One more goal should do it, lads," I promised, and they came out of the changing room fired up. In the 50th minute, Leandre Griffit looked to have a golden opportunity on the fast break, but there was Primus again. This time, the 34-year-old ran him down and threw an inch-perfect tackle. Griffit may have a hard time living down being stopped by the 'old man', but Primus had definitely showed that he still has plenty of pace left. In the 55th minute, Michael Modubi hauled down Griffit in the arc, giving us a perfect chance from a 19-yard free kick. Melligan took it, and shot direct, but it hit the crossbar had has it caromb back into play. I was looking for an opening, and brought on Noel Hunt and Jack Lester for the tiring Gibson and Melligan in the 62nd minute.

With no opening forthcoming, I shouted instructions to be more aggressive, pushing the wings and fullbacks forward, and bringing on Graham Allen for Darren Wrack at 68 minutes. Five minutes later, Hunt took a 25-yard free kick. It deflected off the wall right to Lester, who had every opportunity from only eight yards out, but golfed it well over into the stands behind the net.

On 76 minutes, Derby had a corner kick, but a whistle for pushing denied them the chance - and Foxe took the free kick quickly, starting a counter-attack. Hunt played a ball to Allen on the right side, on the midfield stripe, for what looked like a great counterattack. Allen had room to run, and teammates open to pass to, but decided to play a crazy backpass, trying to send it all the way back to Nick McDonald! Tired striker Lomana LuaLua was walking back from the corner, and would have been miles offsides had one of his teammates sent that ball, he was closer to it then anybody. As the young keeper came rushing out in desperation, the African striker found it all to easy to dribble around him on the wet surface and apply the finish, making it 1-2.

I've only heard a crowd growl in anger like that once before - its a deep, guttural growl like a big, angry dog that sets your hair on end. I was seriously afraid for Allen's life, as it sounded like they might riot, pushing through the barriers to lynch the 20-year-old. McDonald couldn't believe it, and none of their teammates would even look at young Allen, who must have felt utterly sick.

Desperation offense ensued for the final fifteen minutes, and the boos and taunts Allen had to endure got worse as he tried to play the hero, trying a shot from 40 yards that was more dangerous to the corner flag than to Camp's net. With such an emphasis on offense, the counter-attack was almost inevitable, and LuaLua nearly made it three in the 88th minute. McDonald could only partially block the shot, and was lucky when it clanged off the post and right to the feet of Hayden Foxe, who was able to clear.

Unfortunately, we were unable to find an equalizer, and the boos rained down in full force when the referee blew full time.

Sheffield United 1, Derby County 2

Schofield 10; Wilkinson 12, LuaLua 76

MoM: Primus (Derby DC)

Linvoy Primus may have earned Man of the Match on the day, but he wasn't the central figure in the match.

In the locker room afterwards, 20-year-old Graham Allen was utterly disconsolate, as he and everybody else knew that his utterly abysmal decision had cost us a match which had looked eminently winnable.

[HD]

My god your reports are in-depth. Makes me feel feeble in comparison

Unlucky on the loss.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 13th December, 2007.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">IDIOTIC MISTAKE COSTS BLADES </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

read The Star's headline, while the Derby paper opted for

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

Graham Allen's life had just become a living hell.

The merciless press were entirely too willing to tear him to shreds, and from one columnist's description of the play as

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">the worst decision in football history </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

to Rupert Wormwood's insidious insinuation of match-fixing, to the letters to the editor over the next week, the sentiment was unanimous:

Allen had cost us the match, and it was unforgivable.

He had to go.

Wormwood, of course, had other barbs to set, and claimed that the two match losing streak was the <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">beginning of the end for United. We all knew their glorious start to the season was too good to be true, and the only surprise is how well the side have done to this point, especially in light of the constant injury crisis. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Even worse, however, was the "fan mail" which reached Allen. We had to hire secretaries to sort through it, as reading it uncensored was crushing the youngster. There were some who offered their support or encouragement, but there were many more that were negative, and the most mild of those called for him to be transferred, to pursue his career elsewhere. These, of course, conveniently ignored the fact that our starting right wing, Chris Sedgwick, was going to be out for most of the season, and that that would leave us with no natural right wing at all. Some, creatively, suggested he be sold to Derby, others that I let him go on a free, others that he be "sent to Sicily, where he can learn to be more subtle in his match-fixing."

They got worse from there, from the "I wish you were dead" and "I wish you'd never been born" e-mails to some which were very specific, detailed death threats. These got turned over to the police for investigation, and in fact several arrests were made, as free-speech or no, making death threats is a crime. Poor Allen wound up spending a good portion of his salary on his personal protection, as despite the offer of a plainclothes detective on guard, he felt the need - understandably! - to hire private security as well.

As though encouraged in their timing by the firestorm, Leeds United chairman Gerald Krasner sacked Jan Molby Tuesday night, giving another crisis to our troubled region. Under Molby's management, Leeds had hovered around the relegation zone all season, and after a 3-0 defeat to Millwall Tuesday evening, Krasner had had enough. The Elland Road side stood 21st, just two points clear of relegation, and keeping them in the Championship would be the first task for the new manager: quite a fall for a side tipped as a favorite for the playoffs at the start of the season, especially when compared with our stunning renaissance - at least until these past two matches!

There were a number of vacancies, and Scotsman Alan Irvine, the former long-time Everton manager, was named the new manager of West Ham United on Wednesday. He'd been out of the game for several years, but had tired of gardening leave and took over a side 10th in the Premier League and looking to make the push for a European spot next season, if not this year.

On our left wing, Oxford were reportedly "stepping up the chase for Sheffield United left winger Jonathan Forte."

Talking about it with Stuart McCall, my assistant manager suggested that the left winger had no future at the club, and that we should accept any offer we get for him. However, Niko Kovac, whose opinion I am coming more and more to trust, thinks that Forte has the potential ability to become a very good player for the club. Considering that he's our only real left winger, and has been starting the majority of our matches thus far this year, I told them to keep their hands off of him.

In fact, the threat they offered prompted me to sit down with him and suggest that he might need a bit more experience at Bramall Lane before considering a move to another club, and I offered him a contract through 2011.