Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book II

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 30th April, 2009.

"No, it was a complete waste of time. They're amateurs down there, boss. The field was barely adequate and the staff couldn't coach a kitten out of a paper bag."

I'd terminated Phil Davidson's loan to Colchester United, as they were facing York City in their final game and I'm a little partial. Besides, I wanted to give him his first start in our season finale, and the 20-year-old needed to have time to re-acclimate to the side. He was, in turn, treating me to a colourful explanation of why Colchester would be playing their football in League Two next year. A dismal season had left them in a virtual tie for last place with one match left to play. He'd played some ten matches for them, all starts, with one goal, 1 Man of the Match award, and a 6.40 average rating - due to lack of service, to hear him tell it.

Sándor Torghelle also returned from his loan to Leeds United. Though he hadn't been starting, the 26-year-old was much more professional about that than Davidson was. Of course, Elland Road is a bit nicer than Layer Road! The Hungarian striker had played ten matches without finding the net once, which meant that he was in real danger of finishing the season without a single goal to his credit, in either the Premiership or the Championship.

I was beginning to doubt that he had what it took at all.

In the UEFA Cup Semi-Finals, Manchester United completed their dismantling of Valencia, with Ruud van Nistelrooy and Brazilian defensive midfielder Kléberson netting in a 2-0 win that gave them a 4-0 aggregate.

In Germany, Parma were playing for a scoreless draw against HSV, but had a scary final ten minutes after Florian Meier's 79th minute penalty saw HSV close the aggregate to 3-2. That was how it stayed through the whistle for full-time, however, and the Italians were set to face United in the Final.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 1st May, 2009.

"Hey, lad, I just wanted to say," Derek Dooley said after confidentially pulling me aside before the board meeting. "Your loyalty was noticed, and appreciated. I know you've a year left on your contract, but I've no intention of letting it get that far. We'll talk about a new deal over the summer."

"Really?" I was mildly taken aback. "I thought we were struggling a bit much for that."

We'd secured just six league wins in the last five months - hardly the sort of rate-of-return one wants to write home about.

"Listen lad, if you'd offered me twelfth place at the start of the season, I'd have snapped your hand off. The Rupert Wormwoods of the world may be displeased with you, but I think you've worked wonders."

I tried to remind my optimistic employer that we weren't assured of 12th yet - Portsmouth and Southampton both had two games left, and they could still make up the ground if we couldn't secure another point.

He wasn't having any of it, and told me so.

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

1 Chelsea 89 28 5 2 81 19 +62 (35)

2 Arsenal 85 27 4 4 84 19 +65 (35)

3 Liverpool 78 25 3 8 79 32 +47 (36)

4 Middlesbrough 75 22 9 5 50 25 +25 (36)

5 Manchester United 64 19 7 7 56 24 +32 (33)

6 Blackburn 59 16 11 9 55 38 +17 (36)

7 West Ham United 58 16 10 10 60 54 + 6 (36)

8 Manchester City 54 14 12 10 44 44 0 (36)

9 Charlton Athletic 50 13 11 12 52 46 + 6 (36)

10 Newcastle United 49 12 13 11 43 45 - 2 (36)

11 Fulham 49 15 4 17 49 57 - 8 (36)

12 Sheffield United 45 12 9 14 32 41 - 9 (35)

13 Portsmouth 39 10 9 17 45 61 -16 (36)

14 Southampton 39 11 6 19 43 62 -19 (36)

15 Aston Villa 34 8 10 18 19 45 -26 (36)

16 Crystal Palace 31 7 10 19 32 59 -27 (36)

17 Ipswich Town 30 8 6 22 28 58 -30 (36)

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

18 Sunderland 26 5 11 20 29 58 -29 (36)

19 Tottenham 21 4 9 22 35 73 -38 (35)

R 20 Bolton 10 1 7 27 17 74 -57 (35)</pre>

Though Derek may be delighted with our performance on the pitch, Terry Robinson was a bit less enthused at the balance sheet. We'd posted another monthly loss, £0.7M in the red, as we continued to pay off the purchases of Florent Sinama-Pongolle and David Marek Rozehnal in monthly installments. The outlay had reduced our net profits for the year to £5.7M, and eroded our bank balance to a mere £13.2M.

Still, things were looking up, and I reminded Terry that we would have the TV revenue coming shortly to make up for the expenditures.

"I know. Its what we were counting on when we gave you that transfer budget," he assured me.

There hadn't been any word yet on the long-term budget planning, and I still didn't know if I had buy-off from my bosses on the three-years-to-Europe plan I'd outlined last month. I didn't think it was the time to push it - but I did warn Mister Dooley that there might be one more embarrassment in the works, as I hoped to start some younger players in the last few matches of the season, to get them some Premier League experience, and to see how they fared against top-class opposition.

On the injury front, Robert Cousins returned to training after his course of physiotherapy for his thigh strain, though I doubted he'd be ready for any of our final encounters. Defensive midfielder Steven White began light workouts, still on course for a next year after his season-ending surgery for a torn hamstring. I really liked the 17-year-old, and hoped he'd be back to full health by July.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 2nd May, 2009. Premier League - Game 36, vs Arsenal.

Arsenal were down to their last hope: Chelsea had won their match earlier in the day, 1-0 over Southampton, so the Gunners were seven points down. They needed to win their next two games, while seeing Chelsea drop their next, to set up an incredible title-deciding final match. It hardly sounded likely - but if it were to happen, it would have to begin at Bramall Lane. They'd beaten us 4-0 in London back in December, but we hardly seemed like the same club: I was playing only four players who had started that day! Their offense, tops in the league, included three players - Ivica Olic, Thierry Henry and Claudio Pizarro - who had each scored more league goals than our top scorer. Curiously, Henry was absent from their starting lineup: apparently he'd exhausted himself by making 44 appearances to date this season. Olic, who had pounded home 20 already this season, would also be missing - he'd strained his groin in their 2-0 win over Manchester City in late April.

I felt compelled to play my strongest starting lineup - a holdover from my days as a baseball fan. By September, when the season is over for many clubs, its not uncommon to see two bottom-of-their-division clubs sending out 19-, 20-, and 21-year-olds against each other, but a sense of honor compels the managers to play their first-choice nine against a team still in contention for a title. So it was here: I owed it to the integrity of the game to play my first choice against Arsenal (though, to be honest, I hadn't done so against Chelsea earlier in the season). Besides, it was our last home game, and the Bramall Lane support deserved to see their favourites.

The Bramall Lane record crowd of 32,996 cheered the announcement of each name: in goal, from Scotland, Allan McGregor. At left back, fellow Scot Sean Dillon. The captain, from Australia, central defender Hayden Foxe. His partner in defense, from the Czech Republic, David Marek Rozehnal. At right back, the 19-year-old from Ireland, Keith McCormack. The defensive midfielder, from France, Mathieu Berson. On the left wing, making his 100th appearance for Sheffield United, Englishman Jonathan Forte. On the right wing, from Holland, Victor Sikora. In the attacking midfield, from Canada, Iain Hume. The playmaker, English midfielder Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. And the striker, from France, Florent Sinama-Pongolle.

I hadn't realized just how international the squad had become: I was starting only two Englishmen, and only five Britons. When I'd started, we had only five non-Englishmen, and three of those were British!

Things started so brightly for the Gunners, as they ranged forward confidently in attack. By the second minute, Keith McCormack had been forced to head clear a dangerous cross by Fredrik Ljungberg, and in the third minute Hayden Foxe blocked Patrick Vieira's long-range howitzer - a lucky thing for Allan McGregor, who had been unable to see the shot coming.

Just after the seven-minute mark, they got the breakthrough, as Lungburg picked out Andrés D'Alessandro just above the arc. Mathieu Berson was in his hip pocket, but Foxe came forward to aid in the challenge, abandoning Caludio Pizarro. D'Alessandro picked out the Peruvian striker with a low pass into the eighteen, and Pizarro calmly slotted it past McGregor to claim his 50th league goal for the Gunners in the five years since his £11M move from Bayern München. My players were knocked back on their heels, and with an 0-1 deficit, our crowd were conspicuously quiet - save the taunting jeers of the visiting Arsenal support.

I'd started with the conservative 4-5-1 against David O'Leary's 4-4-2, and despite the early deficit I kept with it - it seemed perfect to spring the counter-attack when he was committing so many players to the attack. Still, every foray we made forward seemed met with Arsenal's trademark solid defending. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson tried Lee Martin from 35 yards, but the eighteen-year-old Welsh keeper was easily up to the task - he's kept 31 clean sheets this season, and Marc wasn't the first to try him from range. In the 26th minute, the Gunners nearly made it a two-goal lead when José Antonio Reyeys picked out Imre Szabics flashing towards the goal with a pin-point cross. The Hungarian striker got his head to it but it grazed the bar on its way over.

Things were looking quite grim for our side by the half hour mark: Arsenal had the majority of the possession, the best of the chances, and of course the lead. So it seemed like a little thing when Sean Dillon won a ball deep on the left side in the 36th minute. He worked it up the sideline with Jonathan Forte, and the winger played it on up the left side for Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who had drifted out wide. The French striker took it to the corner, drawing two men with him. Iain Hume was threatening the six, and drew triple coverage, which left Marc Bridge-Wilkinson unmarked just inside the eighteen. Sinama-Pongolle picked him out with a precise pass, and he took one touch to round most of the defenders before firing on net. The shot took the subtlest of deflections off of Ashley Cole, just enough to put Martin off, and it found the back of the net! Suddenly it was 1-1, and the crowd came back to life with a roar!

They were still on their feet three minutes later when Vieira connected with a diving header from Reyes's cross. Against most keepers that would have found the netting, but McGregor did brilliantly to turn it away. He'd come very close, but it looked like we might get a second just before the half, as we attacked the center of the Arsenal defense. McCormack, Berson, and Dillon did a great job of closing down, holding possession within forty yards of the Arsenal goal for nearly two minutes, as every half-clearance found its way to one of those three, and they put it back into the middle for Bridge-Wilkinson or Hume. Finally, Victor Sikora took the shot, blazing it just over the bar from fully thirty yards out.

I made no changes at halftime, and honestly I was hoping the 1-1 score would hold up throughout the second half. If O'Leary had other ideas, they took a blow when Szabics started hobbling in the 48th minute, having met a crunching tackle from Dillon. We were not only blunting the Arsenal attack, but we started to mount some pressure of our own: Bridge-Wilkinson hit a brilliant effort from 35 yards, but Lee Martin turned it over the bar.

In the 64th minute, Hume and Sinama-Pongolle worked it up the middle, with the striker passing it wide left for Jonathan Forte, unmarked as he raced for the box. The Welsh keeper saved his first effort, but Bridge-Wilkinson was there to apply the finish. Martin threw himself into his legs, pushing the ball away, and it was a mad goalmouth scramble for several heart-stopping seconds. Hume had his chance, but it was finally hacked away by Vieira, the Arsenal captain.

I'd held off on making any substitutions - the lads were playing very well, but after Arsenal earned a corner in the 76th minute, I sent on six fresh legs: Peter Weatherson replaced Sinama-Pongolle up top, Juan Carlos Valerón spelled Hume in the midfield, and winger Graham Allen replaced Forte, pushing Sikora to the left wing.

Each turned out to be instrumental in the 85th minute, as Allen's header back to McCormack along the right wing started the move. McCormack played it back upfield for Weatherson, central. He nodded it on to Valerón, who kept things moving with a one-touch pass for Bridge-Wilkinson just outside the arc. He jinked past centre-back Kolo Abib Touré, rushed to the eighteen, and fired home a brilliant strike for his tenth of the season, and what was surely the game-winner! I could hardly believe it, watching the lads celebrate and listening to the spine-tingling roar of the crowd: we were beating Arsenal, 2-1!

With nothing to lose - failure to get back into it would cost the Gunners the title - O'Leary tried that strangest of formations, the 2-3-5. I dropped our lads back with orders to defend, defend, defend, and for five minutes they did just that, inviting Arsenal onto them, but forcing them to shoot from 30 yards or more, or risk losing it in the packed center.

Then, in injury time, Dillon won a loose ball, and sent a long clearance upfield. Big-man Weatherson nodded it down for Valerón, and he played a quick pass for Bridge-Wilkinson up the middle. Arsenal had men back to defend, but Weatherson drifted open on the left side. The playmaker faked a shot, drawing defenders towards him to block, then picked out the striker with an excellent pass. Our number nine closed to twelve yards, then laced it back to the top corner at the far post, leaving Martin no chance!! It was the 100th league goal of Weatherson's career, and gave us a famous 3-1 victory which would put paid to the Gunner's title hopes!

Sheffield United 3, Arsenal 1

Bridge-Wilkinson 36, 85, Weatherson 90; Pizarro 8

MoM: Bridge-Wilkinson

The elation around the ground suggested that we'd just won a Cup: the fans were singing and applauding, and the players flopped down on the ground, or piled on Weatherson and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson in congratulations. We'd just left one incredible calling-card for next season, serving notice to all and sundry that we weren't mere relegation fodder anymore.

[Kairyu]

Wow, great win there Amaroq. Hope this is just a start of great thing to come for blades

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 3rd May, 2009.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Chelsea clinch Title!

A magnificent performance by Ian Richards' Sheffield United put the final nail in Arsenal's coffin after Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Southampton had left the Gunners hanging by a thread.

Undaunted by Claudio Pizarro's early goal, the brave Blades battled back to a 3-1 victory to give the relentless Blues their third consecutive title.

The outcome rendered moot the sold-out London derby at Emirates Stadium, a tantalizing season finale which could have been the title decider had Arsenal managed to take three points out of Bramall Lane. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The British press have always liked to sensationalize things, but honestly, it was a great feeling - not to gift Roman Abramovich with anything, but to really feel like we'd arrived, that on any given Saturday we could beat any team in the Premiership.

A scoreless draw between Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town on Saturday saw Tottenham relegated, though they would beat Blackburn 4-1 on Sunday, and Sunderland became the third side sent down to the Championship Sunday evening when they fell 3-1 against Newcastle United. Yes, the entire Championship class of '08 - Tractor Boys, Palace, and Blades - had all survived!

In other news, I'd been spending some time on the phone arranging a friendly schedule for next season, and it looked like it was all arranged. We would open with a Sunday visit to Bootham Crescent, as I wanted to continue supporting York City by giving them a home friendly against us. Then we'd revive two local rivalries, playing at home against Leeds before traveling across town to face Wednesday at Hillsborough. With the season drawing close, I'd shift my attention to Premier League opposition, with a home match against newly-promoted Everton, a visit to Walkers Stadium in Leicester, and closing things out by hosting Fulham a week before Opening Day. Given how the squad is growing, I'd also found I wanted some Reserve and U-18 friendlies last season, so I scheduled four matches in that vein.

We'd also one big piece of news on the signings front. A.C. Milan had a 20-year-old goalkeeper, Gabriele Mattiussi, who looked absolutely destined for a great career, at least according to my scouts. The Italian club had been unable to come to contract terms with him, and I'd signed him as a backup for next season - on a free transfer! He was due to join the club when the transfer-window opens in July.

[Amaroq]

Thank you, Kariyu! Me too!

[Amaroq]

Friday, 8th May, 2009.

To nobody's surprise, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's magnificent two goals and one assist performance earned him unanimous selection to every version of a Premier League Team of the Week you could imagine.

Our mid-week Reserve match, the last of the season, was subject to scandalously poor refereeing, which certainly affected the outcome of the match. However, it wasn't fair to say it cost the lads the Reserves Group 1 title: they finished with a two-man advantage, and Jackie McNamara's free kick goal had come after a dubious foul, but they'd failed to bury Blackburn Reserves, letting the nine-man side hang around to snatch a late equalizer. The 1-1 draw allowed Manchester City Reserves' 3-0 win over Sunderland to lift City back atop the final table:

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

1 Manchester City Res. 52 16 4 6 46 25 +21

2 Sheffield Utd Res. 50 14 8 4 37 16 +21

3 Manchester Utd Res. 45 12 9 5 33 27 + 6

4 Newcastle Utd Res. 42 12 6 8 33 32 + 1</pre>

The lads had come close - a testament, perhaps, to the depth of the squad we were beginning to assemble.

Speaking of depth, I brought home a number of players from their loans. All had seen their loan team's season complete, and many might get an opportunity to play for us in one of the last two matches of the season.

Centre back Kyle McFadzean had spent the entire season with Derby County in the Championship, helping them narrowly scrape survival - they came 21st of 24 teams, where the bottom three were relegated. The 22-year-old made 39 appearances, 35 of those in the starting lineup, and picking up 2 Man of the Match awards and a 6.46 average rating. Unfortunately, he'd fractured his wrist in a training accident late in the season, which meant he'd be unavailable for our matches.

27-year-old Irish attacking midfielder John Melligan knew that his time at Bramall Lane was almost over. He told me he'd greatly enjoyed his time at Luton Town down in League One - "It felt good to matter again," were his words - where he'd netted 2 goals and an assists, with 3 Man of the Match awards in only 8 starts. His average rating of 7.25 was a career high, and he said that he'd be interested in a permanent move to Kenilworth Road, if I could arrange it. Luton finished the season 12th in League One.

Jamie Cooper was frustrated with his time at Crewe Alexandra in League One, which he characterized as 'an absolute waste of time' to the Sheffield media. The 20-year-old central defender had failed to force his way into the lineup, starting just 8 games, picked up one assist, and earned a 6.25 average match rating as Crewe placed 16th in the league.

Peter Gardner, a 20-year-old striker, had spent the entire season with Mansfield Town in League Two, helping them earn promotion via a second-placed finish. He'd started 29 games, with 6 more appearances off the bench, and netted 7 goals, third on the team. He rated an average of 6.51. Despite the promotion-campaign experience, he was unhappy with the loan, and felt that perhaps the level of play was beneath him, though his goalscoring record seemed to belie that assumption.

19-year-old goalkeeper Nick McDonald had also been in League Two, at Darlington, where he started 18 games during their dismal slide to 20th. Without his help they would never have staved off relegation. He posted 2 clean sheets, 1 Man of the Match performance, and a 6.72 average rating.

Brian Holmes, the 19-year-old left back, was very frustrated with his loan to Peterborough. I'd left him there for the entire season, failing to notice that he wasn't getting regular playing team even at the League Two side. They came 10th in the league, but poor Holmes played only ten matches, all coming off the bench, and mostly in losing efforts. He rated a meagre 5.90, and rightly worried that the time there had done his career more harm than good. I gave him an apology - if I'd been more on the ball, I'd have noticed that he wasn't playing regularly, and I felt I'd let him down.

Dean Bond had been an absolute star in his time at Hornchurch, starting 31 matches in goal as they claimed the Conference North title. He conceded only 35 goals, notching 5 clean sheets and one Man of the Match honour. His average rating of 6.72 mocked his fine play - he'd truly done better than that indicated. He was dissatisfied with the time, however, and asked that I at least find him a League home next season.

19-year-old striker Paul Preston had spent three months with Barrow in the Conference North. He felt that playing with a team at that level taught him very little, and told me he would have learned more had he remained at Bramall Lane. He did start 13 matches, netting 2 goals and an assist, with a 6.08 average rating, and frankly, I'd expected him to convert with more regularity given the quality of the opposition. Barrow were 12th in the Conference North.

Also playing for Barrow had been Gavin Atkinson, the slow-of-foot 19-year-old defensive midfielder. He, too, had started 13 matches, picking up 1 goal, 3 assists, and a 6.46 average rating. Like Preston, he felt he hadn't learned much from slogging around the poor pitches of the Conference North and training at the barely-adequate Holker Street facilities.

Darren Wrack and Mark Kearney still had playoff battles ahead of them, and Noel Hunt's Millwall side had one meaningless match left - so all three remained out on loan.

Here's a summary of all of our loans-out for the season:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Player Pos Age GS App Goa Ass MoM Av R Team(s) Division

Noel Hunt SC 26 12 12 5 0 1 6.92 Millwall Championship

Kyle McFadzean DC 22 35 39 0 0 2 6.46 Derby Championship

Sándor Torghelle SC 26 1 10 0 0 0 6.20 Leeds Utd Championship

Jamie Cooper DC 20 2 2 0 0 0 6.00 Oldham Championship

Chris Morgan DC 31 1 1 0 0 0 6.00 Q.P.R. Championship

Steve Newton DMC 19 25 26 1 4 0 6.31 York City League One

John Melligan AMRC 27 8 8 2 1 3 7.25 Luton League One

Robert Cousins AMC 19 11 11 0 2 0 6.64 Colchester League One

Phil Davidson AMC 20 10 10 1 0 1 6.40 Colchester League One

Jamie Cooper DC 20 8 8 0 1 0 6.25 Crewe League One

Mark Kearney MR 19 43 45 14 0 1 6.44 Port Vale League Two

Peter Gardner FLC 20 29 35 7 0 0 6.51 Mansfield League Two

Darren Wrack AMRLC 32 12 12 0 2 0 6.92 Cambridge League Two

Nicky Thomson AML 20 5 11 0 0 0 5.91 Darlington League Two

Briam Holmes DML 19 0 10 0 0 0 5.90 Pererborough League Two

Chris Gray FLC 19 0 8 0 0 0 5.88 Port Vale League Two

Gareth Davies AMC 19 15 15 3 4 0 6.60 Stevenage Conf. National

Paul Preston FLC 19 0 3 0 0 0 6.00 Kidderminster Conf. National

Gavin Atkinson DMC 19 13 13 1 3 0 6.46 Barrow Conf. North

Paul Preston FLC 19 13 13 2 1 0 6.08 Barrow Conf. North

Player Pos Age GS App Con Cln MoM Av R Team(s) Division

Stephen Cummins GK 17 14 14 21 1 0 6.71 Bradford League One

Nick McDonald GK 19 18 18 27 2 1 6.72 Darlington League Two

Colin Hatton GK 18 2 3 4 1 0 6.00 Hartlepool Conf. National

Dean Bond GK 19 31 32 35 5 1 6.72 Horncurch Conf. North</pre>

In other news, Tim Barnes, who I had been planning to start at defensive midfield against Newcastle, sprained his ankle in training on Friday, which would rule him out for the remainder of the season. Goalkeeper Colin Hatton, who would have started the U-18 match, strained his wrist blocking one of Darren Gibson's powerful shots.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 9th May, 2009. Premier League - Game 37, at Newcastle United.

The season was all but over, and the outcome of our second game with Newcastle was unlikely to impact either side's final position. Their 10th place league position and uninspired approach to matches had cost Vicente Del Bosque his job. Though the press were all aflutter about his sensational return to the Tyne, Kevin Keegan had not yet had time to work his magic. We'd battled the Magpies to a 0-0 draw under Del Bosque, and though Keegan played a more attacking style, I was confident we were fairly even with our hosts for talent, were I fielding my top lineup.

I wasn't.

It was what could be called at best an 'experimental lineup' for our side. I was treating the match almost like a post-season friendly, and a number of fringe players got appearances.

Ex-Minsterman Nick McDonald, back from loan, made his first Premier League appearance in goal. 17-year-old Mark Allen went him one better, making his professional debut at right back. Steve Foster and David Marek Rozehnal would provide some experience in the center of defense, though they were unaccustomed to working together, and Joe Keenan got a rare start at left back. Gavin Atkinson, just returned from the Conference North, got his second start of the season with us at defensive midfielder. On the left wing, Jonathan Forte was a long-time Blade, but opposite him 17-year-old Andy Lee was making his League debut after some Conference experience. Regular Iain Hume was in the attacking midfield alongside 17-year-old Gary Thomas, who got his first start. For 19-year-old Darren Gibson, it was his second start up front, but his 12th appearance all told for the senior side.

Though it was a cool and wet afternoon, the rain didn't prevent 50,572 diehard Geordies from attending St. James's Park. Perhaps in deference to the home support, Keegan named eight regulars to his lineup, though 17-year-old Sam Connelly and 21-year-old Stuart Carter might blunt some of the edge from his attack.

The fans were vocal - at least until the 13th minute, when Iain Hume won the ball from Patrice Evra on the right wing. He took it towards the corner, then cut in along the end line with several red-and-white shirts making themselves available in the middle. With everybody in the stadium expecting him to pass, the Canadian shot from an impossible angle, a powerful shot that threaded its way through two defenders. Goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen, unsighted by his own men, never saw it, and it carombed in off his left hip! What a goal! And a shock 1-0 lead for the Blades!

Newcastle came straight back, however, and in the 19th minute Jesper Grønkjær created a great chance, picking up a loose ball and picking out Peter Luccin with a pinpoint cross. Just 12 yards out, the French midfielder looked certain to score, but 19-year-old Nick McDonald came up with a great save to show just why Spencer had recommended him back in our days together at York.

In the 24th minute, however, Evra curled a wonderful ball up the left wing, where Craig Bellamy beat the inexperienced Mark Allen. Steve Foster, captain for the day, had to come over to help out, but nobody picked up the zone he had just vacated. Bellamy cut an incisive through ball into the space, and McDonald had no chance against the unmarked Grønkjær. The Danish winger converted, and it was all level at 1-1.

Evra was again victimized by our relentless pressure in the 28th minute, this time giving it away to Darren Gibson. The young Scottish striker had created an unassisted one-on-one opportunity, but saw it all come to naught when Sørensen rushed out to meet him at the penalty spot.

It was entertaining football, great stuff for the supporters, but at the half-hour referee Barry Knight decided to step in. Bellamy's pass wide slipped winger Koç Okan into the box, if well wide, maybe four yards in from the edge of the area. David Rozehnal met him, and the Turk tried to cut inside, clipping the Czech's knee and thigh. Penalty!

Rozehnal might argue the point, but Barry Knight was unrelenting, pointing at the spot and shaking his head in mute response. To the delight of the crowd, Okan buried the penalty to McDonald's right, and Newcastle took a 1-2 lead.

Even that failed to put a damper on our lads' enthusiasm, and Gary Thomas showed worlds of promise with his beautiful pass to spring Hume just minutes later. The Canadian rounded Sørensen adroitly for a golden chance .. but his shot went wide! He could hardly believe it! Neither could I. Hume has been nothing but accurate on the training pitch, but he just hasn't contributed as much as I had hoped when it counts.

Just before the break, Dutch fullback Niels Kamphuis got forward into to the Tynesiders' attack, floating a fine cross in from the right side. Bellamy chested it down in the box, but he let it get just a bit away from himself, and Rozehnal got in to clear, keeping the deficit to a single goal at halftime.

Newcastle piled on the pressure in the second half: 17-year-old Sam Connelly's half-volley from the eighteen went just wide; moments later, Luccin's header missed by inches, and Bellamy blazed one over from the arc. I'd seen enough, and I brought on a pair of veterans to try to stabilize the side. Sure, Sándor Torghelle and Jon Paul McGovern are hardly regulars, but they've a lot more experience than Gibson and Andy Lee, whom they replaced.

They also brought in more attacking orders, and Keegan responded with two changes of his own. It nearly paid dividends for him immediately, with Bellamy's through ball freeing Grønkjær up the wing. He whipped in a low cross, but substitute Richard Chaplow's diving header went over the bar. With fifteen minutes to play, I made my last change: Phil Davidson on for Thomas in the playmaker's role.

In the 77th minute, debutante fullback Mark Allen took a throw-in deep down the United right sideline. He dropped it back to Gavin Atkinson, and the defensive midfielder launched it into the six. Torghelle rose above Kamphuis, and got to the ball just before Sørensen could! He'd picked a magnificent time to score his first-ever goal for Sheffield United: his header made it 2-2!

The lads were still buzzing when Newcastle struck back with a devastating counterattack. Bellamy picked out Sola Ameobi, who played the killer through ball. He launched it to Grønkjær in space behind Joe Keenan, and the deadly Dane raced into the box to bury it past McDonald. My captain, Foster, was screaming for offsides, as Tobias Rau had been several yards ahead of the play, but Knight rightly invoked the passive offsides rule. The German hadn't directly interfered with play, though you could definitely argue that he'd been distracting the young 'keeper. The goal would stand: 2-3.

The lads gave a tremendous effort to get back into it, but the veteran Newcastle defense soaked up everything we could throw at them. Worse, in the 91st minute, the home side earned a corner kick. Grønkjær's corner picked out Chaplow at the near post, and the 24-year-old midfielder slotted it in under traffic with his left foot.

Newcastle United 4, Sheffield United 2

Grønkjær 24, 81, Okan pen 32, Chaplow 90; Hume 13, Torghelle 77

MoM: Grønkjær (Newcastle AMR).

For the quality of players I'd put forward, we'd made a very strong showing, and I'm sure the fans enjoyed the show - six goals and free-flowing, attacking football from both teams had made it worth getting out in the rain. A fun outing for players and supporters alike.

Jesper Grønkjær had been the clear hero, striking a brace, including the game-winner, and setting up the fourth goal. He was rightly rewarded with Man of the Match.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 9th May, 2009, evening.

The result had cemented our position in 12th, win, lose, or draw in the finale against Manchester United. In fact, they, too, were guaranteed their league position, falling just short of a Champions League berth in fifth place. I hoped that Peter Taylor would recognize it and play a weakened lineup as well.

Despite a squad half-way pillaged to give people senior-side experience, our Under-18s demolished Notts County, 5-0, to claim the Under-18s Group 4 title for the second year running. Tom Baker scored in the 8th minute, and for most of the match that looked like the only goal - until the side exploded for four goals in a 12 minute span, starting with Simon Blake's 20-yard screamer in the 73rd minute. Tim Mason added a brace, and amateur midfielder Paul Doyle rounded out the scoring. Steve Newton, who had been almost flawless in the defensive midfield role, was the Man of the Match, and I promised him the final match of the season against Manchester United.

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

1 Sheffield Utd U-18s 52 16 4 4 49 12 +37

2 Stoke City U-18s 47 14 5 5 34 20 +14

3 Sheffield Wed U-18s 47 14 5 5 30 19 +11

4 Liverpool U-18s 41 11 8 4 29 11 +18</pre>

Unluckily, Robert Cousins strained his wrist, which would keep him out of the United encounter, and Martin Hunt's season came to a close with a damaged heel.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 10th May, 2009.

Today, I was merely a supporter, the guest of Chairman Steve Beck as my old club, York City, faced off against Swansea City in the League One playoffs!

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

1 Sheffield Wednesday 78 22 12 12 71 49 +22

2 Wigan Athletic 78 22 12 12 69 49 +20

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

3 York City 72 18 18 10 66 55 +11

4 Brentford 72 20 12 14 63 53 +10

5 Oxford United 71 22 5 19 61 61 0

6 Swansea City 70 19 13 14 68 58 +10

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

7 Watford 67 19 10 17 67 59 +10</pre>

It was an odd feeling, being a spectator at Bootham Crescent, but Mister Beck had made sure I felt welcome - and he'd arranged a special treat for me. My seat-mate, flown in from Jamaica, was none other than ..

"Tappa!"

He returned my warm embrace with none of the awkwardness a Briton might have. "Its so good to see you, mate!!"

We'd ages of catching up to do - but that was put on hold, as the match was about to kick off, and our Minstermen made it thrilling.

Led by former Blade Alan Quinn, Swansea gave a great accounting of themselves, attacking Chris Kinnear's staid 5-3-2 with abandon, and for over an hour it was constant pressure in front of Simon Paul's goal. The 20-year-old Sunderland loanee made several good stops to keep it scoreless.

Stalwart Alan Navarro held the defense together, however, and as the second half wore on, the visitors wore out. Now, the club's record signings, £500,000 wingbacks David Murphy and Dean Marney began bombing forward. The former may have won Man of the Match, but it was the latter who came up with the breakthrough, sneaking into the box unmarked in the 70th minute to give York the lead!

Though its a two-legged affair, Swansea felt they had to attack, and that, as it so often does, lead to gaps at the back. In the 80th minute, Murphy's long ball sprang Paul Edwards in behind the Welsh defense, and he made it 2-0!! His 35th career goal for York, and they had half a leg in the playoff Final!

Tappa and I were jumping up and down screaming and hugging in the aisles - I was as happy a fan as ever there was!

[Panpardus]

Yay Tappa !

[Amaroq]

I figured you'd be pleased to see him!

[Amaroq]

Monday, 11th May, 2009.

"So, how've you been, mate? What's it been, two years?"

Tappa and I met for lunch in Sheffield, after I'd guided the side through our usual morning workout, and I wanted all the latest.

"Well, let's see, you know I was coaching the national youth side. We won our preliminary group at the CONCACAF Under-20 tournament, and we finished a strong second in the finals, behind Mexico. Not enough to make the Under-20 World Cup, but good enough to get me a spot coaching the senior team."

"Hey, a promotion! That's great, Tappa!"

"That's nothing compared to what you've done here, man."

"It's been a real ride," I agreed.

"What'd you manage, four promotions in three years?"

"Yeah, something like. Honestly, this year was harder than any of them: the Premiership is pretty incredible, and you're punished for even the littlest mistake."

"How're things with Stacy?"

"They've been well, I guess. She was a bit freaked when I had my heart attack .."

"You're WHAT?!?!"

"Aw, sh.. I didn't tell you?"

"NO, you didn't tell me!"

"Yeah, I had a heart attack in August. The same one my dad had, I guess."

"But you're okay now, right?"

"Yeah. It took a long while to get over the fatigue, but its all okay now. They've got me on a whole cocktail of cholesterol drugs and blood-thinners."

"You look fit enough."

"Well, yeah, I've started running. I'm gonna make myself go through pre-season training with the lads next year."

"Oh, God, that'll be embarrassing. We're not twenty-something anymore, Ian."

"I know, I know. So, what else is news?"

"Well, I got married..."

"WHAT!?! Congratulations, my friend!!"

"Yeah. Oh, she's great, my friend, I've never been happier. You should come visit over summer!"

"We're planning on going to the U.S., yeah, I bet I could talk Stacy into a trip to the Caribbean."

A few minutes later, our plan was set, and I had a week in Jamaica to look forward to.

We spent the next hour or so catching up on old friends and ex-teammates, but then I had to cut it short - I was already running late for the afternoon session.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 13th May, 2009.

It was back to the ground, as I tried to get a young lineup ready to face mighty United.

The reduced playing time I'd given to Keith McCormack and Joe Newell recently had reduced their feeling of being under public pressure, and they'd both cheered up noticeably around the training ground.

Noel Hunt's loan to Millwall had completed, and he returned to us. Not even his 5 goals on 12 starts were able to prevent the hapless squad from coming dead last in the Championship and seeing relegation to League One, but it had at least let him shop his abilities to those who might appreciate it.

On Wednesday, Manchester United met Parma in Olimpico stadium in Rome for the UEFA Cup title. Wayne Rooney broke a scoreless draw in the 71st minute, rising to head home Gary Neville's cross from the right wing. 33-year-old Domenico Morfeo equalized six minutes later for Parma, his shot from the eighteen clipping in off the post. The 1-1 scoreline held through regulation and both periods of extra time, though the Red Devils became ever more in control and Parma fell to a pure defensive stance.

The match went to penalties, and Parma's finishing was so woeful that it took only two from United to defeat them and hoist the UEFA Cup, 2-1.

Wednesday evening also saw Arsenal and Chelsea play their season finale, a thrilling 3-3 draw which might have decided the Premiership, had the Gunners not slipped up away to us, Ipswich, Blackburn, and Boro down the stretch.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 14th May, 2009.

Thursday was York's second playoff game, the away leg to Swansea.

As the first match had, an hour passed with Swansea battering Kinnear's 5-3-2 with limited success. This time, however, they got a break, when 20-year-old goalkeeper Simon Paul was adjudged to have pushed Chad Bond in the box in the 65th minue. Former Bladesman Alan Quinn converted the penalty in the 65th minute to bring Swansea within a goal.

God, I wish John Gregory had had the foresight to renew his contract - he'd still have been seeing action for us in the Premiership this year! Inspired by their captain's goal and unflagging effort, the Welsh rallied, and veteran defensive midfielder Christian Negouai found them the equalizer with just eleven minutes to play!

The match stayed 2-2 on aggregate, forcing extra time, where every single one of the 18,500 on hand at White Rock Stadium were on their feet - we all had been since the first half, to be honest. In the 98th minute, 19-year-old Mark Dixon, a youth I'd signed back in the day, split the Swansea defense with a thirty-yard free kick. On-loan forward Michael King struck it from the arc..

GOAL!!

Surely the game winner for York City!

In from Championship side Stoke, he scored his fourth goal in only seven games, giving the Minstermen a 3-2 aggregate lead!

Twenty minutes of tense defending followed. Adam Eckersley, Mark Dixon, attacking midfielder Joe Foote, and even striker Paul Edwards got in to head balls clear, and loanee Simon Paul redeemed himself with a few more good saves.

A 3-2 win sent them to the final!

Alan Quinn would have to content himself with a brilliant Man of the Match performance in defeat.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 16th May, 2009. Premier League - Game 38, at Manchester United.

The season was all but over - every team but the two involved had played their final match. The outcome couldn't change anything: win, lose, or draw, Peter Taylor's side would place fifth, giving them a run at defending their UEFA Cup title next season, while we would end up twelfth, a respectable finish for a first Premiership campaign.

If my last squad had been 'experimental', this side was virtually an Under-18 squad. Adam Ryan (18) was making his League debut in goal. Brian Holmes (19) had his first start of the year at left back. Ben Hammond (20) and Jamie Cooper (20) were the experience in the central defense! Retiring veteran Jackie McNamara (35) was making the final start of his career at right back, and would wear the captain's armband in a gesture honouring his wonderful career. Nicky Thomson (21) earned his Sheffield United debut on the left wing, with former York City star Jon Paul McGovern (28) making the first start of his season on the right. Phil Davidson (20) would partner Joe Newell (19) in the attacking midfield, while debutante striker Peter Gardner (20) would have the fans checking their programmes to see who he was, as he hadn't even made a Reserve appearance for us, being out on loan to Mansfield all season.

Judging from the names on the Manchester United scorecard, Taylor had realized the futility of the match as much as I had, and many of the United stars were notably absent: Rooney and Van Nistelrooy weren't even on the substitute's bench, although Alan Smith started up front in a nod to the home support.

It all started so brightly for us. Sure, there was a succession of four consecutive Manchester United corner kicks in the fourth and fifth minutes, but they were well dealt with by my players, who are well aware of the importance of defending. In the eighth minute, Joe Newell's incisive pass sprang Peter Gardner through the hosts' offsides trap. Only a desperate sliding tackle by former Arsenal man Lauren saved it: the Cameroon defender took a chance with the slide tackle in the area but got the ball cleanly.

A minute later, one-touch passing from the right wing set up another move. Jon Paul McGovern played it through Phil Davidson, who sent it on for Newell. The 19-year-old again found Gardner up the middle with a great pass. He'd split the central defenders, and with a neat touch deftly flicked it past Tim Howard. Against all the odds, we'd taken a 1-0 lead!

Newell almost added a second four minutes later: his 35-yard curler looked like Marc Bridge-Wilkinson on a good day. It had Howard beaten - only to catch side netting. He missed by all of two feet, if that. Just past the quarter hour, however, Manchester United struck. Quenton Fortune's long cross-field switch picked out 23-year-old winger Christopher Eagles. He raced into the right corner to whip in the cross. Alan Smith showed why he's leading the Red Devils in goals, beating some five defenders plus the keeper to nod it home at the near post. It was 1-1.

From that point on, it was utter pressure from the home side, and another goal looked imminent. Solid positional defending, always a hallmark of my sides, kept them at bay through the half-hour mark, but it was merely delaying the inevitable. In the 36th minute, Eagles took a short pass several yards inside the corner of the penalty box. We had some ten men in the area, but he lofted a quick pass in the air to Smith some eight yards from goal, and the 28-year-old drove a powerful header home for his second of the day, putting Manchester United up 1-2.

Dealing with Cooper and Hammond was obviously child's play for Smith, and Brian Holmes had had enough. Five minutes after the second goal, he viciously hacked the star striker down at midfield. The youngster was lucky to escape a booking, as Smith had to be stretchered from the field. The crowd's mood turned ugly then, and I was scared for the youngster's life at hearing the low, guttural growl. I thought I might witness my first of the infamous football riots, but Manchester United's players were determined to get their vengeance by looking for a third goal.

Fortune had moved up from left fullback to left wing, and in injury time of the half - and given Smith's treatment, there were four full minutes - his cross skittered through our box. It found no target, but none of my defensemen could get a boot on it to clear. Eagles kept in in play on the right, and had space to curl a cross back to the far post, where Morten Gamst Pedersen rose above four defenders to head past hapless goalie Adam Ryan. That appeased the crowd a bit, and made it 1-3 at the break.

If I'd hoped that goal and a halftime break would quiet the opposition, I was utterly wrong: in the 48th minute, Fortune tried his luck with a shot from the arc. Newton blocked it, but Kléberson got to the loose ball no more than nine yards from goal and hammered home to make it 1-4. If there was any consolation to it, the crowd seemed to have forgotten their earlier ire.

I don't like to change keepers, but I couldn't let Adam Ryan get hammered any further: he wasn't learning anything at this point, and Stephen Cummins replaced him in goal. I wasn't about to make any wide-reaching tactical changes, and would be content to hold it to a three-goal deficit, honestly. I had brought Gary Thomas in for Newell at the half, and in the 62nd minute he duplicated Newell's earlier passing feats, picking out Gardner with a fine through ball. He reached it in the box, with a great chance to round Howard for a second score, but he took one touch too many and was muscled off the ball by Fortune.

With the result firmly in hand, Taylor was willing to see out time, as was I, and 1-4 was the final result. With the final whistle, our first Premier League season officially came to a close.

Manchester United 4, Sheffield United 1

Smith 16, 36, Pedersen 45, Kléberson 48; Gardner 9

MoM: Eagles (Manchester Utd AM R)

Christopher Eagles may have been Man of the Match, but the Old Trafford fans graciously applauded Jackie McNamara as he left the pitch for the last time. In fact, I noticed a clot of fans in Celtic jerseys who had came to wish the retiring veteran a final farewell.

[Kairyu]

great first season on the big time there for Ed. Hope Blades can go further next season.

[aaberdeenn]

Nice season chap and nice to see Tappa back. Hope for a better second season in the top flight.

[Dixie Flatline]

Well done, Roqy, for getting through the first season in the EPL relatively unscathed. Top notch story, too.

BTW, you'd be interested to learn that Joe Keenan is currently plying his trade with Melbourne Victory in the A-League (my hometown club). He played 11 games for the Victory this season and probably wasn't a great player overall.

[Spav]

Well done, Amaroq.

[Amaroq]

Wow, thank you, everybody!

For those of you who don't know how this works, we'll probably be spending about a week on the off-season; I'll try to work through it quickly but if you need to take a break this is the time to do it.

Dixie, thanks for the Joe Keenan note!

You Tappa Whitmore fans will be interested to learn that IRL, he was caretaker manager for Jamaica at two international friendlies in November, guiding the Reggae Boyz to a 3-0 victory over El Salvador and a 2-0 win over Guatemala.

(Links offsite)

Caribbean Today: Jamaica-El Salvador

thereggaeboyz.com News

Kariyu, "Ed" is flipsix3's character. But I'm honoured that you could confuse us.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 17th May, 2009.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The season is come to a close, and it was a great season for Sheffield football fans.

Wednesday won 22 out of 46 matches, leading League One in both scoring and defense, earning promotion back to the Championship, and then winning the title at home in the final match, a fantastic result which sent the Hillsborough faithful delirious. The fine season earned manager John Gregory a new position, at Coventry, but new manager Ian Holloway has yet to lose a match. He has the example of Ian Richards across town to show what can be done with a League One side in just two short years.

United's twelfth place finish was their highest League position since 1991/92 - but that squad offers lessons for this one, and manager Ian Richards. Back to back promotions saw them place second in the Third Division and then 2nd again in the Second Division to reach the top flight, where they placed a respectable 13th their first year. The second year they improved to 9th, which would be their high-water mark. Then it all went south, as the squad slid back to 14th in 92/93, and concluded their brief stay in the Premier League with that abysmal 20th and last in 1993/94 which saw them relegated to the Championship.

Lest anyone think that they've consolidated their position, it must be noted that it can all come apart as quickly as it came together - and many key members of the squad are pushing 30, or past it. There will be real work to do just to retain a mid-table place, let alone to press for a top-ten finish and a possible European berth. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Though Rupert Wormwood was up to his usual tricks, predicting both success and failure in the same paragraph, I was beginning to warm to his style. It certainly kept the fans poised on that razor's edge of hope and dread which I think defines football fandom. Every match, the dread certainty that the opposition will score, whether to beat you or to equalize; every match, the hope that the side can yet pull it out, or hang on. Its a roller-coaster, and I'm sure that's why its the most popular sport in the world.

The year in review: 2008-09 Premier League table

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

C 1 Chelsea 96 30 6 2 87 22 +65 Champions League

2 Arsenal 87 27 6 5 89 26 +63 Champions League

3 Middlesbrough 81 24 9 5 57 28 +29 Champions League

4 Liverpool 79 25 4 9 80 37 +43 Champions League

5 Manchester United 76 23 7 8 66 27 +39 UEFA Cup

6 Blackburn 62 17 11 10 59 32 +17 UEFA Cup

7 West Ham United 61 17 10 11 64 58 + 6 UEFA Cup

8 Manchester City 57 15 12 11 48 48 0 Inter-Toto Cup

9 Charlton Athletic 56 15 11 12 54 46 + 8 Inter-Toto Cup

10 Newcastle United 55 14 13 11 50 48 + 2

11 Fulham 53 16 5 17 53 57 - 4

12 Sheffield United 48 13 9 16 38 50 -12

13 Southampton 42 12 6 20 46 63 -17

14 Portsmouth 40 10 10 18 45 62 -17

15 Aston Villa 34 8 10 20 19 47 -28

16 Crystal Palace 33 7 12 19 32 59 -27

17 Ipswich 31 8 7 23 28 60 -32

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

R 18 Sunderland 26 5 11 22 30 64 -34 Relegated

R 19 Tottenham 24 5 9 24 40 79 -39 Relegated

R 20 Bolton 11 1 8 29 17 79 -62 Relegated</pre>

Sunday morning, I gathered the players one last time, and congratulated them on a job well done - then dismissed them for summer holiday. They'd have seven short weeks to enjoy their time off, with the squad due to re-assemble the second week of July.

Florent Sinama-Pongolle hung around afterwards, and approached me.

"I'm sorry I haven't done more, boss," the diminuitive Frenchman said. He offered no excuses, just the quiet apology.

"Its always going to take a little time to settle," I told him. "I thought you'd done very well."

He had, after all, had the highest average rating on the team amongst players with ten or more starts!

"Take your break, but keep yourself in shape, study some film, and keep working on your game. I've every confidence in you."

[Amaroq]

Monday, 18th May, 2009.

There was, of course, the Football Writers Association awards banquet yet to come. It was my first visit to the Royal Lancaster Hotel's vast ballroom, and I felt quite a bit in awe just to look around the room at the luminaries on hand: my peers José Mourinho, David O'Leary, Arsene Wenger, Jürgen Klinsmann and Kevin Keegan; footballing legends like Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard, Teddy Sheringham, and Fabrizio Miccoli; leading goalscorer Ivica Olic, England manager Gary Megson...

Its quite a scene!

We hadn't won much; the top awards are of course reserved for the top teams. Nonetheless, it was an honour just to be there, and we'd had two players who received honorable mention.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's magical curling goal against Aston Villa - the second one, from 35 yards - on November 1st was named second-runner-up on the Goal of the Season ballot.

Perhaps more impressive was the season 19-year-old attacking midfielder Joe Newell, who had finished the season third on the team in goals scored, with six, and second in assists, with six more, results that had not escaped the attention of the national media. He was runner-up in the English Young Player of the Year voting, behind Theo Walcott.

Liverpool forward Edú was named Football of the Year, and, unsurprisingly, Chelsea's championship performance earned José Mourinho the Manager of Year.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 20th May, 2009.

Tuesday's paper contained annoying news. Everton boss Iain Dowie is interested in Stewart Downing?

So am I!

"He's not for sale at any price," I told the press. "I'm not willing to let him go this soon after purchasing him!"

To my surprise, Downing responded in Wednesday's papers that he was becoming unsettled at not being a part of the first team.

"If I'm so important to his plans," he asked, "Why did I start less than half the games this season? I'm happy to stay at the moment, but if I continue to find myself an onlooker, I'll be looking to leave the club."

I hoped I'd be able to resolve that situation next fall - there weren't any competitive matches between now and then that I could use to help out before then.

Wednesday night was the night all of Italy had been waiting for: Inter Milan versus A.C. Milan, for the Champions League title. It was a beautiful night in Belgrade, where the Stadion FK Partizan had been chosen as the venue, and the sides played a fantastic match.

In the 39th minute, Inter right back Zanetti dribbled up the right wing, then knocked a ball to Kamara in space. He whipped in the cross, which Obefami Martins headed home to put Inter up 1-0 at halftime.

In the second half, A.C. Milan looked by far the more dangerous side, but it was Inter who capitalized, with Marek Jankulovski curling a free kick into the corner of the net from 23 yards to make the final score 2-0.

Inter Milan were Champions of Europe!

In other matches the same day, Joe Newell played 90 minutes for the England U-19s against Russia in the first European Under-19 Championship qualifier. The English were lucky not to lose after fullback James Watts was sent off in the 21st minute. Russia took a 1-0 lead on the hour mark, but an own goal in the 75th minute, set up by Ryan Brooks's fine cross, let the English escape with a vital point.

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

1 Bulgaria U-19s 3 1 0 0 + 2

2 England U-19s 1 0 1 0 0

3 Russia U-19s 1 0 1 0 0

4 Israel U-19s 0 0 0 1 - 2</pre>

Ireland U-19's, too, had a man sent off early, but with Stephen Cummins in goal, they kept a clean sheet against Austria U-19's. It looked like a scoreless draw would be the result until Keith Sheridan knocked home the winner in the 87th minute to give them a 1-0 win.

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

1 Ireland U-19s 3 1 0 0 + 1

2 Romania U-19s 3 1 0 0 + 1

3 Austria U-19s 0 0 0 1 - 1

4 Germany U-19s 0 0 0 1 - 1</pre>

Scotland U-19's had won their opening match, collecting a 2-1 win over Croatia U-19's. Though Darren Gibson is in the squad, he wasn't even selected to the substitute's bench.

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

1 Scotland U-19s 3 1 0 0 + 1

2 Czech Rep U-19s 1 0 1 0 0

3 Serbia U-19s 1 0 1 0 0

4 Croatia U-19s 0 0 0 1 - 1</pre>

It would be a demanding tournament, with three qualifying matches to be played in just five days.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 21st May, 2009.

It wasn't until I went to type up the squad statistics for this article that I realized just how many players had donned the Sheffield United kit this season. Between Cup ties, the two meaningless end-of-season fixtures, mid-season acquisitions and my obvious preference for a rotation policy, fully fifty-four players had taken the pitch for us in competitive matches - while only seven of the players on our payroll had failed to. Two of those were 16, and one was out on a season-long loan, so that meant I'd only overlooked four eligible players!

It was also my most cosmopolitan squad ever, with players from a dozen nations taking part in the proceedings.

The year in review: Sheffield United team statistics

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Strikers Pos Age GS App Goa Ass MoM Av R Nation Notes

Peter Weatherson SC 28 19 31 15 2 1 7.23 England

F. Sinama-Pongolle SC 24 10 11 4 1 0 7.45 France

Noel Hunt SC 26 8 16 1 1 0 6.88 Ireland

Sándor Torghelle SC 27 7 12 1 1 0 6.67 Hungary

Darren Gibson SC 19 2 12 0 0 0 7.00 Scotland

Peter Gardner SC 20 1 1 1 0 0 7.00 England

Chris Gray SC 19 0 2 0 0 0 7.00 England

Att. Midfielders Pos Age GS App Goa Ass MoM Av R Nation Notes

M. Bridge-Wilkinson AMC 30 31 33 10 4 3 7.42 England

Joe Newell AMC 19 19 25 6 6 1 7.25 England

Juan Carlos Valerón AMC 33 20 24 1 6 0 7.00 Spain

Iain Hume AMC 25 14 18 3 1 1 7.11 Canada

Mike Flynn AMC 28 4 12 0 0 0 6.92 Wales

Gary Thomas AMC 17 1 4 1 0 0 7.25 England

John Melligan AMC 27 2 8 0 0 0 6.63 Ireland

Robert Cousins AMC 20 2 4 0 0 0 7.25 England

Phil Davidson AMC 20 1 4 0 0 0 7.00 England

Gareth Davies AMC 20 0 1 0 0 0 6.00 England

Michael Harrison AMC 17 0 1 0 0 0 6.00 England

Wingers Pos Age GS App Goa Ass MoM Av R Nation Notes

Stewart Downing AML 24 23 25 2 11 1 7.44 England

Jonathan Forte AML 22 16 21 1 3 0 7.00 England

Graham Allen AMR 22 9 15 0 1 0 6.80 England

Victor Sikora AMRL 31 26 30 0 0 1 7.33 Holland

Laurent Robert AML 33 6 11 0 0 0 6.45 France

Chris Sedgwick AMR 29 6 7 0 0 0 7.00 England Expiring

Darren Wrack AMR 33 3 7 0 0 0 7.00 England Expiring

Tim Vincken AMR 22 3 7 0 0 0 6.86 Holland Loan

Jon Paul McGovern AMR 28 1 3 0 0 0 7.00 Scotland

Simon Blake AMRL 19 0 2 0 0 0 7.00 England

Andy Lee AMR 17 1 1 0 0 0 7.00 England

Nicky Thomson AML 21 1 1 0 0 0 7.00 England

Def. Midfielders Pos Age GS App Goa Ass MoM Av R Nation Notes

Mathieu Berson DMC 29 30 30 0 4 0 7.33 France

Steven White DMC 17 6 6 0 1 0 7.50 England

Gavin Atkinson DMC 19 1 1 0 1 0 7.00 England

Steve Newton DMC 19 2 2 0 0 0 6.50 England

Tim Barnes DMC 17 1 1 0 0 0 8.00 England

Defenders Pos Age GS App Goa Ass MoM Av R Nation Notes

Hayden Foxe DC 31 37 37 0 0 1 7.16 Australia

Sean Dillon DL 24 32 32 1 0 1 7.09 Scotland

Keith McCormack DR 20 25 28 1 1 1 7.00 Ireland

Danny Payne DR 22 22 28 0 0 0 7.07 England

Joe Keenan DL 26 16 24 0 1 0 6.88 England

Steve Foster DC 28 25 25 0 0 0 6.88 England

David Marek Rozehnal DC 28 15 16 0 0 0 7.00 Czech Rep

Ben Hammond DC 20 15 15 0 0 0 6.87 England

Jackie McNamara DR 35 2 3 0 0 0 5.67 Scotland Retiring

Jamie Cooper DC 20 1 1 0 0 0 6.00 England

Brian Holmes DL 19 1 1 0 0 0 6.00 England

Mark Allen DR 17 1 1 0 0 0 6.00 England

Chris Morgan DC 31 0 1 0 0 0 6.00 England Expiring

Goalkeepers Pos Age GS App Con Cln MoM Av R Nation Notes

Allan McGregor GK 27 38 38 41 14 9 7.32 Scotland

Steve Harper GK 34 5 6 12 2 0 6.83 England Expiring

Stephen Cummins GK 17 1 2 0 2 0 7.00 Ireland

Adam Ryan GK 18 2 2 4 1 0 6.50 England

Nick McDonald GK 19 1 1 4 0 0 5.00 England

Colin Hatton GK 18 0 1 1 0 0 6.00 England</pre>

There were few surprises, there. Peter Weatherson had led the team in scoring, while Stewart Downing fed the most assists from the left wing. He looked to me like he might be the solution to England's perennial problem on the left, and I wasn't sure why he hadn't been called up to the senior side yet, after 17 Under-21 appearances. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson had had a fantastic year, and Joe Newell's record was very encouraging, especially considering his age.

One thing did surprise me: Victor Sikora had gone the entire season without an assist, despite 30 games and a purchase price of £1M. He looked like the biggest bust, but three others rivalled him. Iain Hume had played only 18 games after fetching a £2.3M purchase price at the transfer deadline. Though he'd come in on a free, I'd expected more than one goal out of Sándor Torghelle, and would be looking to offload the Hungarian over the summer. Also, for all that he'd cost £3.1M, a 7.00 average rating was all we'd gotten out of David Marek Rozehnal, who had been my hope in central defense.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 22nd May, 2009.

I had to travel to Wembley today to cheer on my lads from York City as they battled Oxford United in the League One Playoff Final. There was a solid crowd, nowhere near capacity, but perhaps 35,000, on hand, and I noticed I wasn't the only manager from the upper divisions there to observe.

Things got off to a dismal start for the Minstermen, as Oxford striker Keith Barker netted his 25th goal of the campaign in only the 12th minute. Listening to the strong support for Oxford, I felt as glum as could be.

Manager Chris Kinnear must have seen something he didn't like, because in the 16th minute he made two of his three substitutions, without changing formation from his staid 5-3-2. Paul Edwards replaced extra-time hero Michael King, and Adam Eckerlsey replaced central defender Ian Sharps.

I was scratching my head, as was everybody else at the ground, but even more confusing was Oxford's change in response. Mark E'Beyer was injured, and Martin Foyle brought off goalscorer Barker, shifting to something defensive to try and hold off the Minstermen!

Kinnear's changes looked like genius by the half-hour mark, as Wesley Daly netted to equalize, and then Paul Edwards broke clear of the Oxford defense to put York ahead, 2-1, at the half!

Now, Kinnear's trademark defense was called for, and without Barker, Oxford never seemed half as threatening as they had with the 22-year-old on the pitch. The York defense shut them down, an anaconda effort which left no breathing room in midfield. There was no scoring at all in the second half, and that was it!

York were into the Championship!!

What guilt I had about abandoning the players and supporters was all assuaged, and I began plotting who I might be able to loan to them with an eye towards helping them stay up next season.

[Kairyu]

*Shoot myself....

man I'm such a dumb idiot....

[aaberdeenn]

Superb as ever. and well played York. \o/

[Amaroq]

Thank you, 'deenn; as always, your support is appreciated.

No, no, Kairyu, you read this. I thought that made you an intelligent gentleman of refined taste!

Besides, I can't afford to lose readership, so no shooting one of my readers.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 23rd May, 2009, morning.

My joy for York was tempered a bit by compassion for Stephen Cummins, who hadn't done much to slow down Romania in Ireland Under-19s' second match. He'd conceded a pair by the 25th minute, and Ireland never really got into the match, though an 87th minute goal by Shelbourne 16-year-old Michael Connolly made the final a more respectable 2-1.

As only the top team would qualify, it looked like that had put paid to any real hope of Ireland advancing, though the right set of results could yet do it for them.

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

1 Romania U-19s 6 2 0 0 + 2

2 Ireland U-19s 3 1 0 1 0

3 Austria U-19s 3 1 0 1 0

4 Germany U-19s 0 0 0 2 - 2</pre>

England Under-19s needed all ninety minutes and a bit of extra time to beat Bulgaria U-19's. By the time Gillingham's 19-year-old striker Matthew Stevens found the winner, chasing a ball past the Bulgarian offsides trap to net with 91:09 on the clock, Joe Newell was well off the field. He'd lasted only 60 minutes while playing his second match in three days.

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

1 England U-19s 4 1 1 0 + 1

2 Bulgaria U-19s 3 1 0 1 + 1

3 Israel U-19s 3 1 0 1 - 1

4 Russia U-19s 1 0 1 1 - 1</pre>

Scotland U-19's lost the lead in their group, suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Serbia & Montenegro U-19's. Darren Gibson was named to the substitutes' bench this time, but again failed to take the pitch.

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

1 Serbia U-19s 4 1 1 0 + 2

2 Czech Rep U-19s 4 1 1 0 + 1

3 Scotland U-19s 3 1 0 1 - 1

4 Croatia U-19s 0 0 0 2 - 2</pre>

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 23rd May, 2009.

"According to soccernet.com, Stewart Downing said he was extremely flattered to be linked to a club like Everton, and would certainly want to consider any offer they might make to him. Do you have any comment?"

The players might be on holiday, but a manager never is. I'd hoped to do some work on the transfer wire for next season, but instead found myself giving an impromptu interview in London due to some rumour-mongering article on a football website somewhere. It surprises me how enterprising the English media are: they'd tracked down my hotel, and virtually ambushed me in the lobby when I came down for the morning.

"No, I've no comment. Everton have not approached us with an offer, and I'm not inclined to let my assists leader go after only one season."

I arrived at my seat a few minutes after kickoff, and had just barely settled in when I came back to my feet for Darren Fletcher's fabulous 30-yard curling shot that had put Manchester United ahead of Chelsea 1-0. The scene was Wembley, and the game was the F.A. Cup Final, which I was glad to have a pair of tickets to.

That goal came in the ninth minute, and just four minutes later Fletcher had an assist to his name as well, having hit Ruud van Nistelrooy in stride on the counterattack. Manchester United, after finishing fifth in the regular season, had a chip on their shoulders, and seemed to want the game a lot more than the three-times Premier League Champions in blue.

A half-cleared corner kick saw Mourinho's men get back into it early in the second half, as several United players headed back up the pitch, leaving Frank Lampard unmarked in the area. When Damien Duff won the loose ball, Lampard's close-range effort left Tim Howard no chance.

With Chelsea pressing forward for the equalizer, van Nistelrooy scored a second nearly single-handedly, dribbling some fifty yards before slotting home his 27th goal of the season. Manchester United hoisted the F.A. Cup for the 12th time in their history, giving them the odd double of F.A. Cup and UEFA Cup for the season, while Chelsea were left with only the League title to their credit for the year.

Having seen the celebration of the cup-winners, I knew that I wanted to taste that champagne more than anything else in the world!

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 24th May, 2009.

West Bromwich Albion won the Sunday playoff Final, beating Birmingham 3-0 to earn the final promotion spot to the Premier League. They'd placed only fifth, some eleven points behind Leicester, and would be the pre-season favourites for the drop, but remembering that none of the newly-promoted teams had fallen this season, I wondered if they might manage to surprise the bookmakers.

In the European Under-19 Championship qualifying, England U-19s were roundly castigated by the national press after choking against lowly Israel, 2-1. Though winger Andrew Schofield, a Leeds United player who had played for both York and Sheffield United in the past three seasons, scored a goal, it was not enough as Israel netted two by the twentieth minute. I was glad Joe Newell hadn't played, as the gaffe was quite embarassing to the national youth side.

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

Q 1 Bulgaria U-19s 6 2 0 1 + 3

2 Israel U-19s 6 2 0 1 0

3 England U-19s 4 1 1 1 0

4 Russia U-19s 1 0 1 2 - 3</pre>

Ireland U-19s also saw their dream come to an end, as Germany handed them a 2-0 defeat. For the Irish, it wasn't as much of a disgrace: in a tough group, they hadn't been expected to advance. Stephen Cummins was spared the embarassment, as it was Paul Coyle who took over in net, so our young 'keeper didn't even play.

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

Q 1 Austria U-19s 6 2 0 1 + 1

2 Romania U-19s 6 2 0 1 + 1

3 Germany U-19s 3 1 0 2 0

4 Ireland U-19s 3 1 0 2 - 2</pre>

Scotland U-19s took an early lead on Scott Laird's goal in the first minute, but the Czech Republic youth side came back for two goals by halftime to beat them 2-1. Darren Gibson played the final ten minutes as Scotland went to a desperate 4-3-3, but he was unable to find the equalizer, which wouldn't have been enough to see them through, anyways.

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

Q 1 Serbia U-19s 7 2 1 0 + 3

2 Czech Rep U-19s 7 2 1 0 + 2

3 Scotland U-19s 3 1 0 2 - 2

4 Croatia U-19s 0 0 0 3 - 3</pre>

In news a little closer to home, Sunderland sacked manager Nigel Worthington this morning. He had presided over their relegation season, and at least the board had given him until the last match to try and sort things out. With relegation assured, they wanted to give a new manager time to assemble the squad for next season - and one got the impression from their comments that nothing less than immediate promotion would suffice.

Darren Wrack's loan to Cambridge was over. He'd played 12 matches, with 2 assists, and a 6.92 average rating for the League Two side, which I hoped might make him more attractive to other league sides, as we wouldn't be renewing his contract. Cambridge had placed sixth in the league, and knocked off Port Vale in the playoffs before losing the final, so I could only hope that he'd helped out.

Mark Kearney, the 20-year-old right wing, had also returned after a full-season loan to Port Vale. Despite playing 45 matches, and scoring 14 goals, for the League Two side, he was unhappy with it, declaring the affair a waste of time, and saying he'd have learned more at Bramall Lane. I'd hoped the promotion battle and playoffs - Vale had finished fifth, before falling to Cambridge - would help him learn how to cope with big games, but apparently not. He hadn't secured any assists, which was worrying from a winger, but did have 1 Man of the Match award and a 6.44 average rating.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 26th May, 2009.

With the final matches in the books, I was off on holiday myself. I hadn't taken a holiday last season, and my wife had absolutely insisted that we take one this summer, a trip of nearly three weeks in length.

We started with friends and family in California, whom we'd been all too remiss in visiting.

I'll not bore you with all the details: family gatherings are a family thing, of course, but it was good to see my parents and my younger brother. Believe it or not, my wife and mother get along like best friends, and I've a good relationship with my mother-in-law as well.

I was still following the news from England of course, and saw that Jamie Redknapp had been named as the new Sunderland manager. The 35-year-old former player had no previous management experience, but then again I hadn't, either, when I first started at Lancaster.

York City made the news with a splashy £1.2M sale, sending 25-year-old defender Dean Marney, who had damaged his knee in a training accident after starting 51 matches for them, to Bolton. If he recovered fully from the rumoured cartiledge damage, then its possible Bolton had gotten a real steal, but I'm sure Steve Beck and Chris Kinnear were thinking it was better to invest the money in players who would be sure to contribute right from the off.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 30th May, 2009.

It was an international weekend today, and though you can't get much on American television, I did have Stuart McCall following all of the action to give me the run-down.

In Friday's European Under-21 Championship qualifier, Keith McCormack had played a fine match, going ninety minutes and getting an assits as Ireland U-21s handed Andorra a 2-0 defeat, which kept them in touch with Holland for the qualifying position from their group:

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

1 Holland U-21s 13 4 1 0 + 8

2 Ireland U-21s 10 3 1 1 + 5

3 Sweden U-21s 10 3 1 1 + 4</pre>

However, the big news, of course, was the World Cup qualifiers on Saturday. A full evening of European qualifying saw only two of our players get any action:

England remained top of their group after a 1-1 draw in Belgrade. Frank Lampard's first-half goal, wonderfully set up by Wayne Rooney, had given England an early lead, but Kevin Nolan's dreadful attempt to head a free kick behind net turned into an own goal that gifted Serbia & Montenegro the equalizer before halftime. In the second half, the local heroes were at times overrun by their fiesty hosts, and could count themselves somewhat fortunate to have escaped with a point. With 11 points, England still held a three-point advantage over the second-placed Serbs.

Austria moved into third with a 2-1 victory over the Faroe Islands, while Cyprus and Switzerland played a 1-1 draw of their own.

Scotland trounced Kazakhstan 3-0 in Glasgow, with Paul Gallagher, Ross Hepburn, and Darren Fletcher getting on the board before the 21st minute. Combined with Belgium's 1-0 win over Turkey, that created a three-way tie for the lead, for which Scotland held the edge in thanks to their group-leading goal difference.

Ireland hammered Andorra by the embarassing scoreline of 6-1; Leon Best was already on his way to a hat trick when Antonia Alberto Guerra was sent off, and Richie Byrne, John O'Shea, and Liam Miller added goals to make the final. None of our lads played, with Noel Hunt sitting unused on the bench, and Keith McCormack still playing for the U-21s, though the Irish media are reportedly hungry to see him pressure Stephen Carr for the right back position. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't gained any ground on the leaders: first-placed Sweden beat Georgia 2-1, and Holland pounded Albania 3-0.

Group 7 wound up in a three-way tie, with results going precisely correctly to create such confusion. Wales started things by beating Israel in dramatic fashion. David Vaughan and Robert Earnshaw had given the visitors a 2-1 first-half lead at Ramat-Gan, but the Israelis battled back with an 83rd minute goal to equalize. Little used striker Stuart Fleetwood, however, drew a penalty in injury time, and fellow substitute John Oster converted the biggest spot kick of his life to make it 3-2. In the other match, Romania handed the Czech Republic a 2-0 defeat, despite the best efforts of Petr Cech and our own David Marek Rozehnal. The results left Romania, the Czechs, and Wales equal on ten points each, with Israel only two behind. In a battle of the minnows, Moldova beat Azerbaijan, 1-0.

Poland manager Pawel Janas became a national hero overnight, as his squad beat Germany 3-1 in Chorzow. The Germans were shaken by two goals in the first five minutes and an injury to Miorslav Klose, but it must be said that Janas had done an excellent job motivating his players for the match. The win closed the Poles to two points back of the group-leading Germans, who had had the cushion to afford such a match. Denmark should have beaten Northern Ireland, but Jon Dahl Tomasson, who had scored earlier in the game, missed a penalty which could have unknotted a 1-1 tie. Slovakia and Luxembourg fought a boring scoreless draw.

In Group 1, Italy remained tops with a 2-0 victory over Belarus, giving them 13 points and a four-point cushion. Russia moved to second at the halfway mark with a 1-0 win over Finland, while surprising Iceland beat up on Armenia, 3-0, staying equal with the Russians and creating a situation where their goal differential might really help them over the second half.

The same 3-0 scoreline was the result in each of Group 2's matches. For France to triumph over FYR Macedonia by three was unsurprising: they'd completed the first half without conceding a goal, and averaged three goals in each of their games. Norway's 3-0 win over Hungary - Sándor Torghelle was acclaimed the worst player of the match, having failed to take a single shot despite playing ninety minutes up front for Hungary - kept them even with France on 13 points, and the Wednesday rematch between the two sides in Paris looked likely to decide the group. However, for little Estonia, their 3-0 triumph over Liechtenstein represented their largest-ever World Cup victory, and their first win of this year's tournament.

Croatia and Spain continued to run away with Group 6: their mid-week rematch in Zagreb was looming large, as Croatia held a one-point lead over Spain, and the tie-breaker edge after their first encounter. The Croatians beat Slovenia 2-0, while the Spanish media weren't happy with a 2-0 win over lilliputian Lithuania. Bosnia were a distant third despite a 3-0 win over San Marino.

Bulgaria re-took the lead in Group 8, surpassing idle Portugal with a 2-1 triumph over former leaders Latvia. Greece began to stake their claim for a place in the discussion with a 3-0 win over last-placed Malta, climbing to within three of the lead.

Personally, I was happy to watch my home country play on an ESPN broadcast. It wasn't much of a match, as the U.S.A. thoroughly outclassed Trinidad & Tobago, scoring three goals in the first half before letting off the gas in the second. Freddy Adu netted a brace, and former Arsenal youth Daniel Karbassiyoon scored the third goal in a 3-0 win.

Elsewhere in the North American qualifiers, Iain Hume played all 90 minutes in Kingston as Canada looked like taking a 1-0 victory until Damien Francis of Wigan Athletic found a late equalizer to send the visitors home knotted with Jamaica at 1-1.

Mexico's miserable campaign continued as they conceded a late equalizer to Honduras, and the 1-1 draw resulted in their manager getting sacked. Failure to qualify for the World Cup would be unthinkable for the Mexicans, especially from such a weak continent. Luckily for them, they were only one point behind Trinidad & Tobago for the third and final automatic qualifying berth, and fourth would see them into a playoff.

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

1 U.S.A. 10 3 1 0 + 9

2 Honduras 7 2 1 1 0

3 Trinidad & Tobago 4 1 1 2 - 2

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

4 Canada 4 1 1 2 - 3

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

5 Jamaica 3 0 3 1 - 1

6 Mexico 3 0 3 1 - 3</pre>

[Amaroq]

Monday, 1st June, 2009.

"Its Ben Hammond."

I had Stuart McCall on the phone - which was NOT how I wanted to be spending my vacation, let me tell you.

"He wants to be placed on the transfer list. He's still concerned about their being too much competition for places, and he wants to go somewhere less crowded."

"Tell him no. With Steve Foster and Chris Morgan leaving this summer, he should get regular action in the first team."

"There's also Laurent Robert. He didn't turn up for training today."

"Wait a second. Aren't the players on holiday?"

"Well, yes, but he's been working out in the weight room with one of our coaches."

"Fine him a week's wages: I want that to be the standard fine for this sort of thing."

It was a day of conference calls. The monthly board summary couldn't be put off, either, but with the season over, it was short and sweet, primarily covering the financials. They were pleased that we'd achieved what Terry Robinson characterized as "A comfortable mid-table position," and both fans and board were quite happy with the club's progress for the year.

The financial side of things had seen an unexpected bonus: I hadn't been counting on prize money, as that hadn't amounted to much at the lower divisions, but the prize for coming 12th in the Premier League was a tidy £5.25M. That was not an insignificant total, and it meant that instead of posting a loss for the fourth consecutive month, we'd netted a profit of £3.8M, bringing our total for the season up to £9.5M.

Since I'd spent a record £11.2M in transfer fees - a number that was still climbing as the monthly fees for Rozehnal and Sinama-Pongolle continued to mount - that meant we'd been massively profitable in all other areas. The bank balance was a healthy £17.1M, and the board warned me that they were debating between paying a dividend to the shareholders, or reinvesting some of the wealth in 'capital improvements'.

I told them I could only hope that meant players, and reminded them of my three-year-goal of qualifying for Europe.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 2nd June, 2009.

"Today, its Robert Cousins."

I was beginning to hate that announcement from Stuart McCall.

Another of my unhappy youths, Cousins had followed Hammond's request to be placed on the transfer list with a request of his own. Since I was hoping to get the 20-year-old into the match rotation next season, I told Stuart to deny his request as well.

In other news, I'd reconsidered releasing Steve Foster on a Bosman. With Ben Hammond unhappy, I'd offered the veteran defenseman a new contract, with a raise, but a reduced role, through 2011. He'd reluctantly accepted: apparently he wasn't getting the offers he'd hoped he would get, though I warned him that Hammond would be my first choice in rotation.

I wasn't getting much relaxing on the beach done, but my wife was getting quite a tan!

Stuart told me that Keith McCormack had played a great game at Crossan Park in Mullingar. I'd never heard of the ground, but I knew that meant the Ireland U-21 match against Albania. The right back had sliced open the opposition's defense with two assists, and earned Man of the Match honours for his efforts. Unfortunately, his Irish were still three points back of Holland.

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

1 Holland U-21s 16 5 1 0 + 9

2 Ireland U-21s 13 4 1 1 + 7

3 Sweden U-21s 13 4 1 1 + 5

4 Georgia U-21s 6 2 0 4 - 7

5 Albania U-21s 4 1 1 4 - 6

6 Andorra U-21s 0 0 0 6 - 8</pre>

In other groups, a 2-2 draw with the Faroe Islands saw England Under-21s knocked out of first place, with Switzerland nipping a point ahead of them. Wales U-21s had won both their recent matches, and were in a tie for first with the Czech Republic, whom they'd just beaten 3-0.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 3rd June, 2009.

For the second half of our vacation, Stacy and I stopped over in Jamaica, where Tappa Whitmore had invited us to stay with him for a week. He's been very happy coaching at the national team there, and he had a real treat for me: beautiful tickets, right on the midfield stripe and in the fourth row, for the Jamaica-U.S.A. qualifier. We were so close to the action, I felt I could shout instructions to the players, and found myself having to bite my tongue at times!

I was screaming at the referee in the first minute when he awarded a soft penalty against the U.S., but I found myself applauding when Jamaica converted the spot kick: it was taken by my former player, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, and marked his first international goal.

Daniel Karbassiyoon equalized in the second minute, slicing through the Jamaica defense on a fantastic pass from Freddy Adu - the 20-year-old has really come into his own on the left side, and has scored 24 international goals on only 39 caps.

In the 11th minute, Simieon Howell, a local favorite who plays his club football in the Jamaican league, scored on a header, and it was 2-1 Jamaica. That wound up the final, despite Adu's fine efforts in earning Man of the Match and my shouts of encouragement through the desperate final half hour.

I'd really enjoyed the crowd: National Stadium was a beautiful venue, and though the fans around me clearly knew my loyalties, they were polite and respectful anyways. One man told me, clapping his hand against my shoulder, "Better luck next game - but we needed it more."

It was true, they had - the win had moved them up to third in the group. Mexico's interim manager had gotten them their first win of the qualifying section, a 3-1 victory over Canada in Mexico City. According to Stuart, who saw tape of the match, Iain Hume was extremely disappointing on the right wing, and should really have been substituted rather than left to play ninety minutes.

A 2-2 tie between Trinidad & Tobago and the Honduras kept the CONCACAF final group tight from top to bottom:

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

1 U.S.A. 10 3 1 1 + 8

2 Honduras 8 2 2 1 0

3 Jamaica 6 1 3 1 0

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

4 Mexico 6 1 3 1 - 1

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

5 Trinidad & Tobago 5 1 2 2 - 2

6 Canada 4 1 1 3 - 5</pre>

It was hard to begrudge the happy home side their victory, especially with the U.S. still top of the table, and I found my host in an expansive mood as I shook his hand and congratulated him.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 4th June, 2009.

It wasn't until the next day that I saw the scorelines from Europe's World Cup Qualifiers.

England took advantage of a miserable game from the Faroe Islands to extend their lead over Group 4. Injuries to two starters in the first half hour hurt the hosts, but they kept things scoreless through halftime. Frank Lampard started the Three Lions on their way in the 48th, but midfielder Ingi Hojsted, plying his trade with Parma, found the net for his first international goal to equalize in the 64th. The wheels came off in a ten-minute span, as Wayne Rooney and Darius Vassell both scored, and Hojsted earned a red card. Rooney netted a second in the waning minutes, and the 4-1 final put England in firm control of the group.

Second-placed Serbia & Montenegro were held to a scoreless draw in Cyprus, which meant that Austria's 2-1 win over Switzerland catapulted them into the runner-up spot.

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

1 England 14 4 2 0 14 2 +12

2 Austria 10 3 1 2 7 7 0

3 Serbia & Montenegro 9 2 3 1 8 7 + 1

4 Cyprus 6 1 3 2 5 7 - 2

5 Switzerland 5 1 2 3 7 11 - 4

6 Faroe Islands 4 1 1 4 6 13 - 7</pre>

Scotland started the day in a three-way tie for first in Group 9, and playing at home in Glasgow, but goals from Wesley Sonck and Bart Packo were enough for Belgium to beat them 2-0 and plunge the Tartan Army into the depths of despair. Ukraine took over first in the group with a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan, and even Turkey, with a game in hand, looked poised to leap ahead of the Scots.

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

1 Ukraine 10 3 1 1 8 5 + 3 (5)

2 Belgium 10 3 1 1 4 2 + 2 (5)

3 Scotland 7 2 1 2 6 5 + 1 (5)

4 Turkey 5 1 2 1 6 5 + 1 (4)

5 Kazakhstan 1 0 1 4 4 11 - 7 (5)</pre>

In Group 5, the top three teams continued to sweep aside all opposition with no change in their relative placings. It seemed the only way their standings would change is with results against each other. Group leading Sweden brushed aside Andorra 3-0, and though Georgia put up a great fight against Holland, for the second match in a row they lost, 2-1.

Ireland pounded Albania 4-1, led by a brace from Robbie Keane and goals by John Paul Kelly and Leon Best. The press weren't too pleased with Shay Given, who had again conceded to a lesser side, but were magnanimous in their appraisal of Damien Duff, who won Man of the Match. Our player, Noel Hunt, came on for the final 25 minutes, after the outcome was well in hand, and had little impact.

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

1 Sweden 16 5 1 0 12 2 +10

2 Holland 15 5 0 1 12 2 +10

3 Ireland 13 4 1 1 15 4 +11

4 Georgia 2 0 2 4 4 12 - 8

5 Albania 2 0 2 4 5 14 - 9

6 Andorra 2 0 2 4 2 16 -14</pre>

In the tightly packed world of Group 7, every match was taking on seemingly epic significance. David Marek Rozehnal was irate to be left out of the Czech Republic side which faced Wales atop the group, and doubly so when the Welsh won, 3-1, at Millennium Stadium. Craig Bellamy's brace followed a goal by Simon Davies, and the result had Wales at least temporarily atop the group.

Romania kept pace with a 2-1 win over minnows Azerbaijan, while Israel dispatched Moldova, 3-0. With four matches left to play, the group was still too close to call:

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

1 Wales 13 4 1 1 15 7 + 8

2 Romania 13 4 1 1 10 6 + 4

3 Israel 11 3 2 1 10 4 + 6

4 Czech Republic 10 3 1 2 11 5 + 6

5 Moldova 4 1 1 4 3 14 -11

6 Azerbaijan 0 0 0 6 3 16 -13</pre>

After doing all the hard work against Germany over the weekend, Poland found themselves unable to deal with Denmark, who scraped a scoreless draw in Chorzow. With Germany beating Slovakia, albiet by a single goal from captain Fabian Ernst, the Poles found themselves in third, with little hope of overcoming the leaders, even if they did beat them again in October.

Northern Ireland capitalized, piling in a 4-0 victory over Luxembourg, with Alan Blayney earning his first international clean sheet on his third attempt.

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

1 Germany 13 4 1 1 10 6 + 4

2 Northern Ireland 10 3 1 2 11 6 + 5

3 Poland 9 2 3 1 8 6 + 2

4 Denmark 6 1 3 2 5 6 - 1

5 Slovakia 6 1 3 2 2 3 - 1

6 Luxembourg 4 1 1 4 4 13 - 9</pre>

Italy exploded for an incredible seven goals, pounding Armenia 7-0 to make a statement atop Group 1. Russia beat Belarus, 3-1, in Moscow, but their hopes must be turning towards the playoffs at this point. Iceland dropped two valuable points, as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Finland, letting Russia move clear of them by the same margin.

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

1 Italy 16 5 1 0 15 0 +15

2 Russia 12 4 0 2 7 6 + 1

3 Iceland 10 3 1 2 10 6 + 4

4 Belarus 6 2 0 4 8 9 - 1

5 Finland 5 1 2 3 3 8 - 5

6 Armenia 3 1 0 5 3 17 -14</pre>

France won the decisive battle for Group 2 in Paris, with goals by Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka in the 73rd and 79th minutes, respectively, providing the power before a crowd of 69,499. The 2-0 win over Norway seemed sure to have provided Les Blues an insurmountable advantage.

Hungary finally stopped their rot with a 3-1 victory over Liechtenstein, with Imre Szabics scoring a hat trick. Ineffective Sándor Torghelle was left off the 18-man roster, and that's an awful sign for his career. Estonia held FYR Macedonia to a 2-2 draw.

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

1 France 16 5 1 0 17 0 +17

2 Norway 13 4 1 1 10 5 + 5

3 Hungary 10 3 1 2 9 8 + 1

4 FYR Macedonia 7 2 1 3 8 11 - 3

5 Estonia 5 1 2 3 6 12 - 6

6 Liectenstein 0 0 0 6 3 17 -14</pre>

In Group 6, Spain had finally recovered from their opening loss to Croatia, and traveled to Zagreb a mere point behind the group leaders - only to see Ivan Klasnic and Vranzyi Sigmundarson put through goals as Croatia handed them their second 2-0 defeat of the campaign, to the delight of the partisan crowd of 36,417. Bosnia's 2-0 win over Slovenia kept them in a distant third, though they had some hope of catching Spain for second place, while Lithuania earned their first point of the section with a 1-1 draw against high-flying San Marino.

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

1 Croatia 16 5 1 0 14 3 +11

2 Spain 12 4 0 2 11 6 + 5

3 Bosnia 10 3 1 2 9 8 + 1

4 San Marino 8 2 2 2 7 11 - 4

5 Slovenia 4 1 1 4 5 10 - 5

6 Lithuania 1 0 1 5 5 13 - 8</pre>

Portugal were widely expected to brush aside Group 8 leaders Bulgaria, and the run of play confirmed that estimation of the teams. It hadn't counted on the keepers, as Bulgarian number one Dimitar Ivankov played a blinder, and Portugese stopper Bruno Vale had an absolute howler in only his fourth international cap. The result? A 3-1 win for Bulgaria which put them solidly in the group lead, and left Portugal in danger of missing the World Cup. Greece beat Latvia 1-0, moving clear of both Latvia and Portugal to take second place.

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

1 Bulgaria 12 4 0 1 9 4 + 5 (5)

2 Greece 9 3 0 2 6 5 + 1 (5)

3 Portugal 7 2 1 2 9 7 + 2 (5)

4 Latvia 7 2 1 2 8 6 + 1 (5)

5 Malta 0 0 0 4 2 11 - 9 (4)</pre>

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 8th June, 2009.

After a week in Jamaica, I was more relaxed than I had been since accepting the Sheffield United job, I think, and it was getting easier to think about the day at hand than of all the things which needed doing back at Bramall Lane.

It had been brilliant, absolutely brilliant, to have relaxing time with Tappa and his bride. The ladies hit it off perfectly, and Tappa and I spent many an hour at the beach with cold beers in hand.

I got more familiarity with the state of Jamaican football, accompanying him to several local clubs, but if I'd hoped that would unearth a stunning new talent to take England by storm, I was sadly disappointed.

I did get one piece of news from back home: veteran goalkeeper Steve Harper had agreed to terms with Championship side Coventry City; he would move on the first of July. We also had a contract offer accepted by a young Nigerian defender, but the move was delayed due to trouble getting a work permit for him.

I was moving, myself.

We'd left Jamaica, with promises to keep in touch with Tappa, and not let two years go by between visits next time. We were back up to the U.S., where I made a trip to the East coast to the Carolinas, where I could visit my grandmother and extended family.

One of the family members has a big beach house, and we can usually rent another one for a week, and four generations of Richards spread out all over makes for a quite entertaining week: more aunts, uncles, cousins, and the like than you can possibly keep track of!

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 14th June, 2009.

Liverpool today sacked Arsene Wenger, citing failure to 'challenge for the title'. He'd only been given eighteen months in charge, but hadn't won any silver in either of the two seasons in question. I was yet again linked with a prominent position, and found myself glad that I was out of reach of the British tabloid press, who didn't know my itinerary.

In other news, Jürgen Klinsmann was appointed the new Manchester City manager, filling the vacancy I'd been so sensationally offered just a month ago.

Also, Darren Wrack agreed to terms with League Two winners Wrexham, so he would be plying his trade in League One next season.

All too soon, however, my vacation was over, and it was time for the continental flight back home.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 16th June, 2009.

I was back in England, and while taking the obligatory day to let my body clock re-adjust... okay, honestly, it takes me the better part of a week, and I find myself awake all hours of the night... I decided to look in on Lancaster City, and see how my former players there had done these past five seasons.

The year I'd left them, 2004/05, they'd slumped all the way back to 19th, narrowly avoiding relegation, and placed there again the following season - but that was followed by three good years, with the squad coming 6th, 3rd, and 5th the last three seasons.

Kevin Hull, now 30, is still the Assistant Manager, having lasted into his third manager. Bary Stimpson and Gary Bauress are still on as coaches, and Simon Clifford remains a scout.

Of my former players, eight are still with the club.

Jamie Speare, now 32, remains the first-choice goalkeeper, and has racked up 141 starts and 32 clean sheets over five seasons.

He's split time with Ryan Yeomans, 23, who has 90 starts and 23 clean sheets.

Welsh central defender Joe McMahon has been a rock for the club, with 202 appearances and 9 goals, starting at least 35 matches in each of the five seasons. He's only 25, and looks likely to remain with the club for a long time.

Attacking midfielder David Mellor, 24, hasn't been a goal-scoring machine, but has notched 13 goals and 10 assists in 178 games, usually partnered with Jason Lay, now 27, who as 12 goals and 13 assists over 172 appearances.

Shane Tolley had played 204 matches, with 23 goals and 24 assists, but the 24 year old was going to be leaving on a free transfer, moving up to League One side Mansfield.

The striker partnership has been the strength of the club the past three seasons, and a big reason why they've done so well. Michael Yates, now 29, was there when I arrived, but has netted 59 goals in 207 games, all but eight of them starts. He's added 11 assists, and his brace against Bromley remains the club's record for goals in a match.

The true gem, my legacy to the club, has been Phil Bartholomew. The striker, signed in August of 2004, has become the club's all-time leading scorer, netting at least 17 goals in each of the past four seasons to tally 88 in 216 games. He's added 31 assists, and 36 Man of the Match awards, winning the Supporter's Player of the Year each of the past five seasons. There are few records he doesn't hold for the club, and at age 25 it looks like he's really coming into his own.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 17th June, 2009.

When I returned to Bramall Lane, I had a typewritten notice on my desk from physio Paul Miller: at age 57, he'd decided that the 2009-10 season would be his final campaign, and he was going to retire next June.

I was back in England just in time to catch the televised broadcast of the England-Australia Confederations Cup match. Resilient defending by the Australians, especially our center back Hayden Foxe, provided a stiff test for the English national side, but Alan Smith found the net twice in the second half to give England a 2-0 win and the early group lead.

After a tough time getting a work permit for him, we'd finally gotten everything in line to bring 19-year-old Nigerian central defender Abubakar Shittu over from Rancher Bees on a conditional youth permit.

He obviously wouldn't be a member of our starting lineup, but he'd had a goal in only his second international this summer, and looked to have the pace needed to survive in the Premier League. I hoped he would prove coachable.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 19th June, 2009.

Speaking of coachable, midfielder Juan Carlos Valerón qualified for his coaching badges, and he looked like he'd make a very good coach. He'd also declared that he was retiring at the end of the year. I offered to make him a player/coach, but his agent indicated that he wasn't willing to accept anything less than his current £1.9M per-annum salary, and of course I couldn't guarantee him that beyond the end of his playing days.

Laurent Robert was also retiring at the end of 2010, but since he would be leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season, it was probably time he called it a day.

Jackie McNamara's official retirement became effective on the 19th. He hadn't been much to our side, but he'd been a fantastic player for Celtic in his day.

Jackie McNamara, D/DM RC, 35: January 2009-June 2009: 1 season, 3 games, 0 goals, 5.67

In Spain, England enjoyed near-total domination of Japan, and the 2-0 scoreline, with goals by James Beattie and Frank Lampard, could really have been much worse had England shown more clinical finishing. There was bad news, especially for Manchester United fans: Wayne Rooney had strained his knee ligaments, and would be out for the remainder of the summer.

Australia were handed their second straight 2-0 defeat, this time by an excellent German side which got two goals from Michael Ballack. Hayden Foxe played all ninety minutes again, without really excelling, and Australia's Confederations Cup was all but over after only two of the three group matches.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 1 England 6 2 0 0 + 4

2 Japan 3 1 0 1 - 1

3 Germany 3 1 0 1 + 1

4 Australia 0 0 0 2 - 4</pre>

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 20th June, 2009

Saturday saw a return to the business side of the sport, with the annual board meeting to address the upcoming season.

"We've received £13.8M for the television rights to next season," Derek Dooley explained. "Now, we've heard your plan for taking the squad to Europe in three seasons, but frankly we have obligations to the shareholders as well as to the fans, and we've decided to announce a dividend of £7.3M."

"That still leaves £4.6M for your summer transfer budget," Terry Robinson added, "Plus you'll get to retain the vast majority of any sales you make. Honestly, we'd prefer it if you could move the players who aren't in your first-team plans, and raise money for any further purchases that way."

"Now, we recognize that its not reasonable to expect the team to improve, on that budget," Mister Dooley continued, "So we'll be judging your performance against the same standard: battle bravely, and avoid relegation. I do think you've shown the current squad to be capable of beating anybody in the league, so I'd love to see an improvement, say, into the top ten, but that would be icing on the cake. We'll all be happy if you can consolidate our gains and establish a secure place in the Premiership.

"With no embarassing five-nil scorelines."

That last drew a laugh from the rest of the board, but I knew there was a kernel of truth to it as well.

[Dixie Flatline]

Great as always, Amaraoq. Too bad the chairman and the board of directors haven't released funds to help you purchase better players.

[Amaroq]

Thanks, Dixie. Wormwood agrees with you..

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 21st June, 2009.

"Player of the Year!" read the headline, above a photograph of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. The article was very complimentary to our attacking midfielder, who had been the star of the side two years running, now.

However, the complimentary nature of that story was counterbalanced by Rupert Wormwood's usual vitriol. At least this time it was directed at the board, and ostensibly on my behalf. "Greedy corporate mentality" was one of my favorite lines, and he concluded by lamenting how "unjust" it was that "The fine performance of Ian Richards' side is rewarded by such treachery."

I, of course, had no comment to make, though I thought to myself he might be overreacting a bit. £4.6M would be a record purchase, if I spent it all on one player, and was more than enough to get me started looking around the summer transfer list.

Before I could sort out who I might want to bring in, however, I had a fresh batch of young players entering the U-18 side.

GK Paul Stone, 18, England: He shows good teamwork, determination, and a nice work ethic, but I don't think he really rates alongside the other keepers in our youth setup. His reflexes, concentration, and ball handling just aren't up to the level I'd like to see, and his anticipation is absolutely awful: he seems to instinctively move to block off the wrong angle.

GK Simon Fox, 17, England: Every now and then you see a player with a fatal flaw. Fox looked good in many ways, not exceptional, but certainly reasonable for a 17-year-old. Until you start paying attention to his positioning. He can't line up in goal without getting himself off-center, and within ten minutes of play, he's as likely to be defending a third of the goal while leaving the far post entirely unguarded. If we can't coach that out of him, he won't be long for this side - or a professional career at any level.

D C Ross Crowe, 17, England: Reasonably quick, with good jumping and determination to match, this youngster was a central defender by virtue of his exceptional ability in the air. He might lack any ability up front, and he'd have a lot of work to do on his positioning and decision-making, but he certainly seemed to have the foundation of a good central defender.

SW/D C Paul Davis, 18, English: He's older than I would like to see out of the youth programme, as he'll turn 19 in January, but I can see why my youth coaches recommended him. He's a hard worker, with that exceptional determination and bravery that can drive a man to stardom. He takes fabulous free kicks, and he's deadly from the penalty spot. However, he's also one of the worst positional defenders I've ever seen, and he's fairly poor in the air. If he weren't so utterly abysmal in attack, it might be worth trying to retrain him to another position, but as it was I thought he was likely to find regular employment several divisions beneath us.

D/DM R Jon Atherton, 17, England: Just two days past his 16th birthday, this youngster has the makings of a team captain. He's a natural leader, with the sort of determination, work ethic, bravery, and teamwork that you want your leaders to embody. He can float in a corner with the best of them, and is lethal from the penalty spot. Unfortunately, that's left him some real weaknesses in the areas more important to a defender: he doesn't tackle or mark as well as I'd like to see, his positioning is mediocre, and he doesn't have the pace to keep up with a Premiership winger.

D/DM R Terry Moore, 18, England: A little faster, a little bit better at the defensive aspect of the game, and a little older, Moore looks like he'll provide good competition for Atherton at right back. He, too, has some real weaknesses, especially in the air, and in his mental game - some of his decisions are purely woeful. He has good long throws, looks reasonably determined, and just might have that same spark of leadership Atherton does.

DM C Jonathan O'Connor, 17, England: Stuart McCall singled out O'Connor as an exciting player for the future, perhaps knowing my penchant for young defensive midfielders. He'd have a lot of work to do to overcome the crowd already at that position, which might be a challenge for the youngster as he had no real standout attributes, though he was consistent across the board. I worried that he might lack the pace to contribute in the Premiership, but he is faster than Gavin Atkinson.

M C Mick Hamilton, 18, England: With other natural central midfielders, I've tried to retrain them to a task more useful in my system. Hamilton, however, can't cross, so he's not suited for the wings, lacks the creativity and accurate long shooting to fit my attacking midfield role, doesn't impress as a marker or tackler, so isn't suited for any defensive role, and can't finish a shot to save a kitten, so he won't convert to a striker. His reflexes are too bad to make him a goalkeeper, and I find myself thinking that he really ought to give up on a playing career and consider coaching.

AM LC Steven Howard, 15, England: A phenomenal free-kick taker who also sends in a wicked corner, I can see why my coaches like this player despite his young age. He's highly aggressive, and a good finisher when given the chance. As you might expect from one so young, he has some real weaknesses as well. His first touch needs work, he's prone to lose his concentration, and he's not very good at shooting from range. More worrisome are his lack of strength and poor aerial ability, which are both aspects I don't expect him to develop, unless he has a late growth spurt.

AM RC Gary Phillips, 17, England: Though two years older, he doesn't have much on Howard in any category. He lacks the truly standout attributes, but doesn't make up for it in strength or aerial ability: he is, if anything, worse than the younger man in both those categories, and slower to boot. I doubt anything will come of his career, at any level.

F RC Scott Lee, 16, England: A young striker who can't seem to find the net with his feet, with his head, or from long range, Lee isn't even particularly accurate from the penalty spot. He's too young to throw out immediately, but I doubt he'll warrant a professional contract at this level.

In news from Spain, Australia finished out their Confederations Cup with a 1-1 draw against Japan. I suppose it was an exciting match, as both goals came in the final ten minutes, but with Australia already out, I was hard pressed to care beyond feeling relief that Hayden Foxe hadn't injured himself.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 23rd June, 2009.

Australia's draw had given England a guaranteed berth in the next round, letting Gary Megson give some of his first-choice players a well-deserved rest. Nonetheless, the Three Lions finished out their Confederations Cup group with a solid 3-1 victory over Germany. Alan Smith scored once and Jonathan Stead netted a brace to overcome a halftime deficit and knock the Germans out of the tournament.

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

Q 1 England 9 3 0 0 + 6

Q 2 Japan 4 1 1 1 - 1

3 Germany 3 1 0 2 - 1

4 Australia 1 0 1 2 - 4</pre>

Finishing first in the group let England avoid Brazil, at least until the Final, but the draw was little better: hosts Spain.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 26th June, 2009.

Facing a sold-out crowd packing the Santiago Bernabéu to cheer on the hosts was good practice for England's international aspirations. Unfortunately, they weren't able to carry the match to their hosts, as Spain battled their way to a 1-0 victory in an evenly-matched contest between two hard-working teams.

Brazil advanced to face Spain in the final with a 3-0 romp over Japan, who still aren't in the same league as the South American giants.

My work on the telephones secured a £1.5M deal to send disappointing striker Sándor Torghelle to Czech side Sparta Prague, where he would have the opportunity to play in the Champions League. If he could resurrect his career after a disastrous tour of duty in England, I wished him the best of luck.

A small portion of the proceeds would go towards bringing in a young fullback, Chris McKenzie, from Scottish side Hibernian.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 30th June, 2009.

England saw off Japan on Saturday, 1-0, in the Confederations Cup third-place match. Though they'd always felt in control, the goal was a long time coming as Japan's keeper played a fine match. It took David Prutton's 90th-minute goal to beat him, set up by fine wing play from Shaun Wright-Phillips.

On Sunday, Brazil hoisted the Cup with a 3-1 victory over Spain. Nilmar, Dagoberto, and Júlio Baptista were the goalscorers, overcoming an early goal from José Antionio Reyes at the Nou Camp.

I had arranged several more transfers, and one was effective immediately. The lower-division transfer window for England clubs was open, so the sale of Gavin Atkinson to York City for £190,000 was completed as soon as I signed the paperwork. I've always liked the youngster, so I was sad to see him go, but I knew he'd find a great fan base at Bootham Crescent, and a level of play much more suited to his abilities. I hope he can help keep York in Championship!

Gavin Atkinson, DMC, 19: July 2007-June 2009: 2 seasons, 5 games, 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 MoM, 7.60

22-year-old central defender Kyle McFadzean would be making a move, as well, to Aston Villa, who were willing to shell out nearly £1M for his services next season.

19-year-old left back Chris Holland had played 41 matches with our U-18 and Reserve sides, but was one of the seven players who never made a senior appearance for us. Despite a year of remedial work at it, he was still struggling to make the simplest of tackles, and I'd been surprised anyone was interested in him, let alone Conference National side Droylsden.

Youngster Mick Hamilton, newly promoted from our youth academy, moved to Alfreton on a free transfer. I hadn't seen any redeeming qualities in the 18-year-old, and the Conference North seemed much more his speed.

Both of them had gone on free transfers yesterday, and I think the most surprising move was today's deal. Striker Paul Preston, owner of a great goalscoring record in the senior side, was sold to non-League side Solihull Borough for £75,000. I was surprised that a club so far down the footballing pyramid could afford such a transfer fee, but the young forward was as enthusiastic about that as he'd been about anything which had happened at Bramall Lane.

Paul Preston, SC, 19: September 2007-June 2009: 1 season, 2 games, 2 goals, 0 assists, 1 MoM, 7.50