Spav Posted June 16, 2005 Author Share Posted June 16, 2005 Monday 21st February 2005: I had been that keen to make sure that I wasn’t late for the interview that I had ended up being twenty minutes early. The receptionist had been kind enough to fuss over me, getting me a cup of tea and even finding a biscuit to go with it. Now, after half an hour of waiting in the foyer, the receptionist took a phone call, spoke a few words, then replaced the handset and looked over to me. “Mr Murphy, that was the chairman. He apologises for running late, but he will be with you in just a few minutesâ€. “That’s not a problem. Thanks for letting me knowâ€. “He’s asked that I show you into the boardroom for your interviewâ€. She rose from her desk and walked around to the other side. “Please follow me, Mr Murphyâ€. I did as she asked and followed her down the corridor. She stopped at a set of double doors and opened them for me. “If you would just take a place on the left hand side of the table, then the chairman will be with you in a few momentsâ€. I did as the receptionist asked while she left the room and closed the doors behind herself. Finding myself alone in the room, I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. I reflected on the past few years and what had bought me here. There had been my playing career. Nothing spectacular about that – just ten years as a hard-working full-back in the lower reaches of the Football League with Mansfield, Bury and Hartlepool. Then there was gut-wrenching decision to leave that particular line of my career and take up a player-manager role with Greys Athletic in non-league football. That had started well, but after a season and a half a car crash had ended all that. The injuries were severe enough to end my playing days. When I had improved enough to leave hospital after several weeks, I still had to face months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. I agreed a settlement with Greys to terminate my contract and got on with my recuperation. In the end the lure of football was too much though and I got back into management with Billericay. The fortunes of that club were now on the rise, thanks in part to my efforts. All of that took me to where I am today – sitting in the boardroom of the Lincoln City Football Club. The club was without a manager and currently sitting in 23rd place of the 24-team Nationwide League Two. Relegation out of the Football League was threatening and the previous manager had been relieved of his duties. I wanted to manage at the highest level, but I had to start somewhere. This would be a big challenge, but it would also be a way to get myself a reputation if I could get the job and turn around the fortunes of the club. I noticed that the palms of my hands were sweating as I had held my fists clenched tight for the past few minutes. I reached down to wipe them on the legs of my trousers and, as I did, I heard the doors being opened. Time to get this over with, I thought to myself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 16, 2005 Share Posted June 16, 2005 Monday 21st February 2005: I had been that keen to make sure that I wasn’t late for the interview that I had ended up being twenty minutes early. The receptionist had been kind enough to fuss over me, getting me a cup of tea and even finding a biscuit to go with it. Now, after half an hour of waiting in the foyer, the receptionist took a phone call, spoke a few words, then replaced the handset and looked over to me. “Mr Murphy, that was the chairman. He apologises for running late, but he will be with you in just a few minutesâ€. “That’s not a problem. Thanks for letting me knowâ€. “He’s asked that I show you into the boardroom for your interviewâ€. She rose from her desk and walked around to the other side. “Please follow me, Mr Murphyâ€. I did as she asked and followed her down the corridor. She stopped at a set of double doors and opened them for me. “If you would just take a place on the left hand side of the table, then the chairman will be with you in a few momentsâ€. I did as the receptionist asked while she left the room and closed the doors behind herself. Finding myself alone in the room, I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. I reflected on the past few years and what had bought me here. There had been my playing career. Nothing spectacular about that – just ten years as a hard-working full-back in the lower reaches of the Football League with Mansfield, Bury and Hartlepool. Then there was gut-wrenching decision to leave that particular line of my career and take up a player-manager role with Greys Athletic in non-league football. That had started well, but after a season and a half a car crash had ended all that. The injuries were severe enough to end my playing days. When I had improved enough to leave hospital after several weeks, I still had to face months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. I agreed a settlement with Greys to terminate my contract and got on with my recuperation. In the end the lure of football was too much though and I got back into management with Billericay. The fortunes of that club were now on the rise, thanks in part to my efforts. All of that took me to where I am today – sitting in the boardroom of the Lincoln City Football Club. The club was without a manager and currently sitting in 23rd place of the 24-team Nationwide League Two. Relegation out of the Football League was threatening and the previous manager had been relieved of his duties. I wanted to manage at the highest level, but I had to start somewhere. This would be a big challenge, but it would also be a way to get myself a reputation if I could get the job and turn around the fortunes of the club. I noticed that the palms of my hands were sweating as I had held my fists clenched tight for the past few minutes. I reached down to wipe them on the legs of my trousers and, as I did, I heard the doors being opened. Time to get this over with, I thought to myself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 16, 2005 Author Share Posted June 16, 2005 The man who walked in was still looking down at a set of papers as he entered the room. He lifted his eyes as he approached the boardroom table. “Mr Murphy, my apologies for keeping you waiting. Things are very hectic at the momentâ€. That’s fine, Mr Bradley. I fully understandâ€. I started to make a move to offer my hand, but he quickly waved his hand in my direction. “Please Mr Murphy, remain seated and we’ll get this completed as soon as possibleâ€. He took a seat opposite me and placed his papers to one side. He had looked distracted as he first entered the room, but now he focussed on me and gave me his full attention. “Mr Murphy, I’ll be straightforward with you. Lincoln City is not in a very good position at the moment. We desperately need someone who can turn around the fortunes of our team. We are also not in the best of positions when it comes to finances either. I could hire one of those has-been managers who come filing in for jobs like this one around this time of year, year in, year out. Or I could take a gamble and hire a young man like you who is keen to prove himself and doesn’t come with a list of prerequisites before he will take the jobâ€. He paused, perhaps for effect, but more like just to catch his breath. “Mr Murphy, I have heard very good things regarding your man-management skills, both currently at Billericay as well as at your previous club Greys Athletic. I believe that you can lift the current playing staff enough that we can avoid relegation from the Football League this season. You obviously feel the same way yourself or you would not be sitting here in this interviewâ€. Again he paused, but this time I felt it was so that I could reply. “Mr Bradley, thank you for being so frank with me. In a nutshell, what you have said very simply covers my application for the manager’s position. I’m ambitious, I’m skilled and you need someone to get a job done. I’m the man that you needâ€. He rocked back a little in his chair and appeared to make a quick decision. “You’re right, of course. Mr Murphy, I can offer you the position of manager of Lincoln City Football Club until the end of the current season. Based on your performance in the next two and a half months I may be prepared to offer you a more permanent deal for next season. What do you say?†There was no need for deliberation on my part. The conditions were what I had expected and the job was what I wanted. “It’s exactly what I want and I’d like to get started straight away this afternoon if I could, Mr Bradleyâ€. A smile broke across his face. He pushed his chair back and rose from the table, then began to walk around the end of the table towards me. I put my hands down to the wheels of my wheelchair and backed it out from under the table to set out and meet him half way. The smile left his face and a quizzical look replaced it as Mr Bradley stared down at me in my wheelchair. I could immediately tell that he had previously been unaware of my physical condition. “Mr Bradley, you obviously didn’t expect to see me in a wheelchairâ€. “No, I did notâ€. “Thirty seconds ago I was the man who you believed could save this club from relegation. Does what you now know in any way change your decision?†Mr Bradley hesitated momentarily and then the earlier smile returned to his face. “No, it does not, Mr Murphy, it certainly does notâ€. With that, he held out his hand towards me. I took it and we exchanged a firm handshake. It was time to get started – I had a job to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonh1979 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Nice to see that there are laws against discrimination in the 'FM world' too! Good start mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleqin Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Good start there and good luck. You might need it if you both have to get the players to adapt to an eventual new tactic, raise morale and get enough wins Don't forget a table so we can see how bad the situation is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 \o/ Woohoo - the legitimacy I need to cry go Spaz go! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrone the Magazine Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Great start Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEEMOD1 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Hi mate, This sounds like a interesting story, a table would be good to see, what year is it ? Hopefully you can get the job done and get the imps back up to mid-table if there is enough games left for that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz the Imp Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Do not get relegated, or I won't read* *may or may not be true That is all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 17, 2005 Author Share Posted June 17, 2005 Thanks to everyone for the comments. Harleqin andLEEMOD1 - There's a table coming up before the first game. Basically there are 12 matches left to play in the 2004/05 season. simonh1979, BoN and Tyrone - Cheers. Daz the Imp - Great to have a Lincoln fan on board. I will admit that I know nothing about the club or the area, so please excuse any errors that I make out of ignorance. I hope that you will have something to cheer about at the end of the season. Spav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 17, 2005 Author Share Posted June 17, 2005 Later that afternoon I was presented to the media at a hastily arranged press conference. To be honest, there weren’t too many people there. Mainly it was the local newspapers, but there was one camera crew filming the events for probable distribution to a wider audience. Mr Bradley walked in ahead of me and I wheeled myself around the end of the table and pulled up myself next to his chair. Mr Bradley began by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their attendance. He then introduced me as the new Lincoln City manager and briefed the reporters on the background of my career. After that, he threw the press conference open for questions. The first man he pointed to was obviously itching to ask me a question. “Mr Murphy, how do you ..…†I quickly held up my hand and interrupted him. “First up, my name is Willie. Please feel free to call me by that name. Secondly, please identify who you are and what organisation you work forâ€. The reporter pulled a face that looked like someone who he had just stepped in dog ****, but he quickly regained his stride and answered. “Tony Cunningham, Lincoln Standard. Willie, the most obvious question, how do you think your disability will affect your ability to properly manage this football club?†So much for political correctness, it appears. Straight for the jugular and why not attach the label ‘cripple’ while you’re there, I thought. “Tony, first of all let me correct you on something. I don’t have a disability. I am suffering from the effects of a car crash that I was involved in approximately 18 months ago. Since then I have been undergoing rigorous treatment for those injuries that I sustained at the time. The doctors tell me that with continued physiotherapy and a little bit of luck I will be walking again in the near future. In the meantime, to protect my injuries and to still allow myself some freedom of movement, I use this wheelchairâ€. The reporter looked to interrupt my answer, but I was determined to finish on my terms. “Secondly, Tony, until earlier today I was the manager of Billericay and I performed that job without any issues arising from the fact that I am currently confined to a wheelchair. Plus I think you will find that my achievements at that club speak for themselves and I certainly have left them in a far better position than they were in when I first arrivedâ€. Again the reporter looked to speak, but I carried on now that I was on a roll. “Finally, Tony, let me point out that most of the media think that they can sit on their arses and do a great job of managing a football team, so why shouldn’t I sit on my arse in a wheelchair and do exactly the sameâ€. There was a ripple of laughter from those gathered in the room. I looked to Mr Bradley sitting beside me. He had a smile on his face. He glanced at me and then looked out ahead at the reporters. “Can I have the next question please?†Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 18, 2005 Author Share Posted June 18, 2005 Tuesday 22nd February 2005: I’d already been introduced to Gary Simpson who would be my assistant at the club and had had a chat with him late the day before. Consequently when I arrived at the practice ground early this morning and managed to navigate my wheelchair up the six-inch step at the entrance, Gary already had the players gathered in the change-rooms as I had requested. I was sure that they’d all heard the announcement of who their new manager was and what condition they would find him in. I needed to make a quick and positive impression on this bunch of players as we didn’t have too many games left to turn things around. “Right lads, I’m Willie Murphy, your new manager. You can call me ‘boss’ or ‘gaffer’ or ‘Mr Murphy’ to my face. Behind my back, you’ll probably call me ‘the cripple’ or ‘the gimp’. I believe the lads at Billericay used to call me ‘Wheelie’ instead of Willie and that was quite popularâ€. I watched for the effect that my self-depreciating humour had produced on the assembled players and I was rewarded with several grins. “I’m going to spare you all the ‘rev-em-up and get-em-going’ speech. We’re all professionals here and we all know what our jobs are. What I am going to do though is make you lads a promise. It’s a promise that requires input from both of us and this is what it’s all aboutâ€. I could see that I had the players interested. “Lads, when the whistle blows to end the match on the final day of the season we are going to find ourselves safely situated in Division Two for another season. After that whistle blows, the fans are going to very grateful to you for turning around the poor position that this club currently is in. They are going to want to thank you and to receive that thanks you are going to do a lap of honour. If you lads promise to put this club in that position on the final day, then I promise to join you and walk with you on that lap of honourâ€. I let the words sink in for a moment. It was a big challenge, not just for the players, but for me as well. “I’m not prepared to wheel myself from the final game in this contraption. Are you prepared to walk from the final game and only have the Conference League to think about next season? I could see that I had got most of them thinking. It was a good start to our working relationship. Now I just had to keep the pressure on. “Right lads, Gary’s gonna take you for this morning’s session while I look you over, so let’s be having youâ€. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 Thursday 24th February 2005: I settled down onto my bed and relaxed for a few moments. My back was killing me after today’s physiotherapy session at the hospital. Not only that, but my left hip was aching like hell as well. However my soreness was tempered by the fact that I had briefly been able to stand with the aid of crutches, even if I wasn’t able to move my legs forward and actually take a step. I’d told my therapist of my new goal – that I wanted to be able to walk a lap of the Sincil Bank ground at Lincoln by May 7th which was our final match of the season. My therapist Caitlin – who I swear had worked as a practitioner in a torture chamber in a previous life – made soothing sounds of agreement, but said that we’d just to see how I went over the next ten weeks. The pain was easing the longer that I lay upon my bed. Being in a wheelchair may have helped my mobility, but it caused a lot of discomfort in the process. My best salvation from the pain and unease was to lie flat out and take the strain off my lower back. I took the chance that I was relaxing to yet again run my eye over the Nationwide Two table and the fixtures for the last dozen matches of the season. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Nationwide League Two - Thursday 24th February 2005: |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | Swansea | 34 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 77 | 40 | +37 | 73 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | Northampton | 34 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 49 | 27 | +22 | 64 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Boston Utd | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 55 | 36 | +19 | 61 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Bristol Rovers | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 51 | 36 | +15 | 61 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Rochdale | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 59 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Cheltenham | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 58 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Cambridge | 34 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 54 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Chester | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 53 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Wycombe | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 53 | 41 | +12 | 51 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Notts Co | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 46 | 43 | +3 | 50 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Macclesfield | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 52 | 48 | +4 | 49 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Rushden | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 44 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Bury | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 46 | 47 | -1 | 44 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | Oxford | 34 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 36 | 37 | -1 | 44 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | Yeovil | 34 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 45 | 53 | -8 | 40 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Mansfield | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 41 | 50 | -9 | 40 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | Darlington | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 44 | 49 | -5 | 39 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | Leyton Orient | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 48 | 66 | -18 | 38 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Grimsby | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 43 | 56 | -13 | 36 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Scunthorpe | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 42 | 57 | -15 | 36 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |21st | Southend | 34 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 44 | 56 | -12 | 35 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |22nd | Shrewsbury | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 36 | 56 | -20 | 33 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |23rd | LINCOLN | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 29 | 60 | -31 | 30 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |24th | Kidderminster | 34 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 41 | 64 | -23 | 29 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Our opponents would be as follows: Northampton (H) – currently 2nd Rochdale (A) – currently 5th Oxford (H) – currently 14th Bury (A) – currently 13th Wycombe (A) – currently 9th Cambridge (H) – currently 7th Darlington (H) – currently 17th Kidderminster (A) –currently 24th Yeovil (H) – currently 15th Leyton Orient (H) – currently 18th Scunthorpe (A) – currently 20th Mansfield (H) – currently 16th It wasn’t the greatest of starts for my tenure. Basically I had six games against team in the top half of the table and then six games against teams down in the bottom half. The plan of attack would be fairly straightforward. Firstly, we’d look to do as well as we could in those first six matches and hopefully pick up a win or two from them. Secondly, we’d then target six wins from six matches against those sides that were around us on the table. It sounded so simple when I broke it down like that, but I knew that in reality it would be far more complicated than that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartley_m Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Good Luck with this one Spa... Spa... Spav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 23, 2005 Author Share Posted June 23, 2005 Watch that stutter, bartley. ================================================ Having gazed at the table and our fixtures until my brain hurt, I decided to have another read of the player dossier that Gary Simpson had prepared for me. Someone had gone to the trouble of collating the ratings for all the players from the various media sources and giving each player an average out of ten. The player stats for the season to date were also supplied. Goalkeepers: Alan Marriott – 26 – GK (23 apps / 43 goals conceded / 6.74) Former Tottenham youngster who is now in his 6th season at the club where he has been the number one for the previous four seasons. Very good keeping skills, but not the strongest or toughest of keepers. Simon Rayner – 21 – GK (16 apps / 24 goals conceded / 6.93) A young Canadian who has shared the keeping duties with Marriott so far this season. Physically he is more than up to the job, but he needs to work on his handling and reflexes. Defenders: Matt Bloomer – 26 – D RC (34 appearances / 6.85) Steady and hard-working player who will spend most of the time in the right-back spot as he is the only senior player for that position. Ben Futcher – 23 – D C (34+2 appearances / 1 goal / 7.14) A dominating central defender with great aerial ability and fierce determination. I will be handing him the captain’s armband for my time in charge. Paul Morgan – 26 – D C (36 appearances / 1 goal / 7.11) A good quality defender for this level and the Northern Irishman should partner Futcher in the heart of my defence. A leader as well as a good all-around player. Simon Weaver – 27 – D C (27 appearances / 1 goal / 6.70) Brave and determined player currently out with an arm injury. Will need to improve to be one of my starting centre-halves. Gareth McAuley – 25 – D C (27+6 appearances / 2 goals / 6.48) Northern Irish centre-half in his first season in England. Another who will need to step up a notch to gain a berth in my team. Peter Folkes – 20 – D C (3 appearances / 7.00) Young reserve team central defender who will probably be left in that squad to continue his development. Jamie McCombe – 22 – D C (18+11 appearances / 6.90) Another young defender who shows some promise, but is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury. Kevin Sandwith – 27 – D L (0+13 appearances / 6.38) The only senior left-back at the club, but he fell out with the previous manager and is currently on the transfer list. Tough and determined, but lacking in skill. He will play for me if he can show me something positive. Midfielders: Tom Cooke – 18 – D/M C (0+4 appearances / 6.75) A young utility player who won’t figure in my plans this season. I will see if he develops in the reserves. Steve Thomson – 27 – DM C (5 appearances / 7.00) Hard working team player signed from Peterborough in January for £3K and he fits perfectly into the system that I want to play. Richard Butcher – 24 – M C (32+2 appearances / 3 goals / 6.94) A key player for the club over the previous two seasons and so far this year as well. I will be looking for him to carry the team in midfield and get forward in attack as well. Ciaran Toner – 23 – M C (12+7 appearances / 1 goal / 7.32) The club’s only international with 2 caps for Northern Ireland earlier in his career. Has the skill to succeed, but his fitness, stamina and lack of pace go against him. Andrew Toyne – 16 – M C (6+15 appearances / 6.81) A highly-skilled youngster who has seen plenty of first-team action already. However he is already showing the effects of his exertions and may be too inexperienced to cope with the battle ahead. Definitely one for the future. Lee Frecklington – 19 – M C (8+4 appearances / 2 goals / 6.92) Another prospect for the future, though not as promising as Toyne. Will probably stay in the reserves for the remainder of the season. Peter Gain – 28 – M LC (28 appearances / 2 goals / 7.14) Another long term Lincoln player, the Republic of Ireland midfielder has been here 6 years after leaving Tottenham. His form has been very good before my arrival and I expect him to team with Butcher and run my midfield. Tom Wilkinson – 19 – AM R (0+1 appearances / 7.00) Young right-winger who will probably stay in the reserves after he recovers from the groin injury that he is currently suffering from. Chris Cornelly – 27 – AM RL (0 appearances / 0.00) Back-up winger who was out of favour with the previous manager, but will probably be a bench player for me. Could work himself into a starting place if he improves. Forwards: Francis Green – 24 – F RC (15+17 appearances / 2 goals / 6.63) Pacey forward who’s finishing is not as good as it could be. May well be more suited as a wide player and will probably start in a position like that for me. Simon Blackwood – 25 – F LC (0 appearances / 0.00) A left-side attacker who has seen several clubs in his short career. Yet to start at Lincoln, but may get a chance under me in a wide role similar to Green. Simon Yeo – 31 – F LC (25+14 appearances / 4 goals / 6.87) Striker suffering a bit of a drought in front of goal after his good start last season. Reasonable skills, but lacking in stamina. Gary Taylor-Fletcher – 23 – S C (17+12 appearances / 10 goals / 6.86) Last season’s top scorer and is leading the charts again this year. Hard-working, agile and a good runner off the ball, he will shoulder the responsibility for getting the goals we need to avoid relegation. Marcus Richardson – 27 – S C (0+3 appearances / 7.00) Joined from Hartlepool last season and started well like Yeo did, but has not really had a chance this season. Isn’t likely to get much of a chance under me either. Oliver Ryan – 19 – S C (0 appearances / 0.00) Young striker with good aerial ability. Raw, but promising and may get a chance from the bench. Will Hoskins – 18 – S C (on loan from Rotherham) (5 appearances / 1 goal / 6.60) A quality young striker on loan from League Championship side Rotherham, but currently out with a foot injury. I was initially going to terminate his loan, but he may be required in the final few games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 24, 2005 Author Share Posted June 24, 2005 Saturday 26th February 2005: I’d worked with the players over the last couple of days trying to get my tactical plan across to them. This wasn’t the time to be too technical though – we just had to pick up enough points through whatever means were possible. I laid out my formation to the squad and then took aside the 16 players that I intended to use for my first game at home to Northampton to go though it with them. The formation could best be described as a 4-5-1, though at times I hoped that it was going to act more like a 4-3-3. Stopping goals going in was definitely the first priority. After that we could think about getting one or two of our own. I had decided that Alan Marriott would be my starting keeper, but he had not returned to full fitness following a shoulder injury. As a result Simon Rayner would start the first match and he would have the chance to impress me more than he had done so far. Matt Bloomer would start at right-back and Kevin Sandwith at left-back. Although Sandwith wasn’t the greatest player he was a natural left-footer and he was far more at ease than the right-footed McAuley who had recently been playing in that position under the previous manager. In the centre of defence Gareth McAuley would start today, although I was looking to Simon Morgan as the first choice. Unfortunately for Morgan he was out for at least another week with an arm injury. Ben Futcher would be the other centre-half and he would wear the captain’s armband as well. In midfield Steve Thomson would play as a holding midfielder in front of the back four to give us added protection. The key midfield roles went to Richard Butcher and Peter Gain who were charged with running the play and getting forward where possible to support the attack. Both Francis Green and Simon Yeo were given wide roles on the right and left of midfield respectively, but they were to play advanced where possible and support the main striker. That role went to Gary Taylor-Fletcher, the club’s top scorer so far this season. I stressed to Green and Yeo that they had to make sure that Taylor-Fletcher wasn’t left too far up field on his own or otherwise our attack would be basically toothless. Lincoln v Northampton – Sincil Bank, Lincoln With my first Lincoln team selected and the players sent down the tunnel in the company of my assistant Gary Simpson, I took a moment to compose myself in the dressing-room. It was tough first match for me. Northampton were second on the table and looking to consolidate their hold on one of the automatic promotion places. With Swansea being nine points ahead and seemingly close to securing at least an automatic promotion berth, our opponents needed the three points that they would clearly have expected to get from a team in the second-to-last spot as we were. I decided that a point today would be a more than welcome start to my tenure at Sincil Bank. I propelled my wheelchair out of the dressing-rooms and out into the corridor. I was heading down towards the pitch via the tunnel when a voice spoke behind me. “Are you right there, sir? Just let me give you a push to help you down to the disabled areaâ€. I turned and looked at the man who had taken up a position behind my wheelchair and was now about to place his hands upon the handles at the rear. He looked about fifty and he wore an orange bib over his jacket which indicated that he was one of the club’s stewards. I wasn’t prepared to be wheeled out on my first appearance before the home fans. “No thanks, I’m fine, I can look after myself, thanks anywayâ€. I put my hands down and continued to roll my wheelchair down the tunnel. “Oh no, sir. Please let me help you. I know all the regulars around here and I’ve not seen you before, so it would be much easier if you let me show you the way to the disabled viewing areaâ€. He took the handles of my wheelchair and slowed my travels down to a pace that he was happy with. There wasn’t much I could do with the steward holding the back of the chair, so I reluctantly relented and allowed him to push me at his speed. He continued with his friendly ramblings. “We pride ourselves here at Lincoln in looking after all types of football fans, not just those who can walk and make their own way to their seatsâ€. I rolled my eyes up at that comment, but I decided that he was just trying to be helpful and his heart was in the right place. “Look, thanks for your help. What’s your name?†“I’m Terry. I’ve been helping out here at the Bank for the past twenty-five years. Aye, the club’s in my blood, follow them through thick and thin I doâ€. “Terry, I’m Willie. Pleased to meet youâ€. “Likewiseâ€. “How do you think the club will go under this new manager?†“I don’t know much about him, to be honest. Managed in the Conference, if I heard right. Did alright with a couple of teams, so they sayâ€. “Do you reckon he can lift the club out of this position?†“Well, there a good bunch of lads at this club and I don’t rightly know why we are in the position that we are in. If the new boss can get their confidence, then I reckon he could save us from relegation this seasonâ€. By now we had reached the pitch and Terry was wheeling me towards the right where I could see the enclosure for any wheelchair-bound spectators. This was also the side on which the home dugout was situated. I smiled and gave a wink to Gary Simpson as he gave a puzzled look at Terry and me as we went past. Moments later we were at the disabled enclosure. “Terry, what else do you know about the new manger?†“Name’s Willie Murphy, but not much more, to be honestâ€. “Did you hear about his problem?†“No, can’t say I didâ€. “Apparently he’s wheelchair-bound, just like me, the result of a car accident a couple of years agoâ€. “You don’t say. Do you think he ..…†Terry stopped mid-sentence and his jaw dropped as the realisation of who I was dawned on him. “Mr Murphy, I’m sorry that I didn’t know who you were. I feel like such a fool, yabbering on about myself and not even thinking about asking about youâ€. I held my right hand up and offered a handshake to him. He took my hand and shook it slowly. “Terry, the name’s Willie, not Mr Murphy. And thanks very much for your assistance; it’s been interesting to hear what a long-time fan like yourself thinks about thingsâ€. With that, I returned my hands to the wheels of the chair and propelled my way back down to the dugout for the start of the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 24, 2005 Author Share Posted June 24, 2005 I was pleased with the start that the players made to the match. It was Butcher who took the first shot after 3 minutes following a good move between Gain and Yeo, but it flew a couple of feet wide. After 9 minutes we caught Northampton a man short on our left side and Yeo released Taylor-Fletcher for a clear run at goal. The striker’s shot was firm and low to the keeper’s left, but Harper got down well to push it away for a corner. As the 17th minute mark was reached, all Northampton had to show for themselves was a couple of very wayward headers. On the other hand, I felt that we were playing quite well. This was underlined when Bloomer’s cross from the right was nodded down by McAuley for Green to dink a short cross to the near post. Butcher had arrived unmarked, but his header smacked against the post. However luck was on our side because the ball simply bounced back to Butcher who whacked it past Harper to put us 1-0 up. McAuley was playing at centre-half but he was proving dangerous for us when he went forward for set-pieces. After 31 minutes he picked up a loose ball on the right and crossed it to the far post where Yeo had a free header, but his problems in front of goal showed as his effort just flicked the top of the cross bar instead of finding the net. Moments later Green was lucky to escape with only a yellow card when he lashed out with his boot at Dolan. In the 39th minute Northampton bought off an injured Smith and replaced him with Youngs. McAuley failed to pick up the new player from the restart and Youngs was immediately sent free by a long pass. Rayner came out and narrowed the angle, forcing Youngs to shoot quickly. The ball struck our keeper’s body and rebounded loose, but Rayner scrambled across his goal to fall on the ball before Carruthers could latch onto it. That was the last significant action of the first half and we took our 1-0 lead into the dressing-rooms. Northampton started the second half in a more determined mood and pressed us back into our own half for the first ten minutes. That pressure culminated in an equaliser as a sweeping move opened up our defence and freed Carruthers on their left. His low cross was met by Rowson with a first-time shot from 12 yards and the ball flew into our net via the post with Rayner fixed to his line. With the score now at 1-1 we needed to respond or risk letting Northampton take full control of the match. Thankfully the players picked it up again, but twice poor finishing robbed us of a go-ahead goal. Firstly Butcher wastefully skyed Green’s knockdown from Yeo’s cross after 62 minutes and then secondly Yeo prodded a loose ball just wide of the post after 69 minutes. We paid for those misses in the 73rd minute when Northampton scored a second goal courtesy of some woeful defending. Sandwith failed to pick up his opponent Amoo from a throw-in and the winger crossed towards the far post. The cross was way too long and Carruthers backtracked to retrieve it. Suddenly Rayner was charging from his goal out onto the right side in an attempt to win the ball from Carruthers. He was never going to make it and he suddenly realised it. Desperately Rayner turned and ran back towards the middle, but Carruthers simply chipped the ball over our keeper and Rowson was there to head home into an empty net to put Northampton 2-1 in front. I couldn’t believe that Rayner had done that. I sent on Toner for a tiring Butcher as I urged the players into one final effort to find another equaliser. It was the 86th minute when the best chance came. Yeo beat his man on the left and whipped in a low cross which saw Taylor-Fletcher slide in at the near post. He got his toe to it, but Harper was diving on it at the same time and the Northampton keeper managed to smother the shot. That was that – a couple of minutes later the final whistle sounded and my first game in charge had resulted in a 2-1 home defeat. Lincoln 1 Butcher 17 Northampton 2 Rowson 55, 73 Rayner – 6, Bloomer – 7, Futcher – 7, McAuley – 7, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 7 (Toner – 7), Thomson – 7, Gain – 7, Green – 7, Taylor-Fletcher – 7, Yeo – 7. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted June 24, 2005 Author Share Posted June 24, 2005 Sunday 27th February 2005: Back at home on Sunday I read through the newspaper reviews of the match against Northampton. There was nothing in the way of praise or approval for the effort that the team put in against second-placed Northampton. A typical report was to be found in the Lincoln Standard where Tony Cunningham – the reporter I had mocked at my introductory press conference – had this to say about my first match in charge. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Lincoln Standard – 27th February 2005 ‘WHEELIE’ FAILS TO PUT BRAKES ON SLIDE By Tony Cunningham New Lincoln manager Willie ‘Wheelie’ Murphy returned the club to the bottom of Nationwide Two yesterday when his team lost 2-1 at Sincil Bank to promotion-chasing Northampton. This result, coupled with Kidderminster’s 3-0 win over Rochdale, has seen Lincoln slide into last place with a four-point gap now opened between themselves and the safety of 22nd place. A promising start by the Imps was capped by a goal to Richard Butcher after 17 minutes, but a lack-lustre second half saw a double by David Rowson in the 55th and 73rd minutes give the Cobblers a 2-1 win. In fact, Northampton’s winning goal was a comedy of errors and naïve defending of the highest order and one wonders if new manager Murphy has the ability to turn around such a wretched performance. It seems that Murphy has not been able to provide the spark that Chairman Rob Bradley will have hoped for. Questions must now be raised as to the wisdom of appointing a wheelchair-bound cripple as first-team manager at Lincoln. It is entirely possible that the players may even feel insulted by the appointment of a paraplegic and that far from inspiring them, Murphy may in fact be draining the last of the enthusiasm from the team as they struggle to survive this horrendous season. Sources at the club tell me that several players have openly questioned the appointment of Murphy. One source quoted a senior player as stating that ..... </div></BLOCKQUOTE> It was at this point that I flung the newspaper to the floor before driving my wheelchair back and forth over it several times. I’d make Tony Cunningham eat his words by the end of the season, no doubt about it. Monday 28th February 2005: There was good news for me today when physio Michael Wait declared that keeper Alan Marriott was fit to resume full training following a shoulder injury that had ruled him out for the previous two months. After Simon Rayner’s howler against Northampton, I had decided that Marriott needed to go straight back into the team when he was given the all-clear. Our other physio Keith Oakes had been tending to Paul Morgan’s arm injury and he too was given the all-clear to resume full training with a view to starting this weekend’s match against Rochdale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 Enjoying this one Spav - nice idea and well executed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 Thanks for the support Bob. ================================================ Wednesday 2nd March 2005: A series of phone calls on Monday between Lincoln chairman Rob Bradley and the editor of the Lincoln Standard had began the battle between the two organisations after Tony Cunningham’s article was posted in Sunday’s edition. I had reacted to the journalist’s use of the terms ‘wheelchair-bound cripple’ and ‘paraplegic’, not because of any offence against political correctness, but simply because they were inaccurate. The editor stood by his writer and refused to retract the statements or offer an apology. On Tuesday the threat of a media ban on the Lincoln Standard and a sternly worded letter from the club’s solicitors were sent to the newspaper. Finally, after consultation with their solicitors on Tuesday evening, the newspaper agreed to publish a correction in Wednesday’s edition. At home this evening I looked through the Lincoln Standard and found the ‘correction’ five pages in from the back page, buried amongst the horse-racing results. It said: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Lincoln Standard – 2nd March 2005 CORRECTION In the edition of Sunday 27th February 2005 in an article entitled “Wheelie Fails To Put Brakes On Slideâ€, the writer incorrectly referred to Lincoln City Football Club’s manager Willie Murphy as a ‘wheelchair-bound cripple’ and a ‘paraplegic’. The newspaper accepts that Mr Murphy is not a paraplegic or a cripple, but is in fact suffering from severe injuries received in a car crash and is expected to make a full recovery. The newspaper apologises for any hurt that this has caused Mr Murphy and the Lincoln City Football Club. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I put the newspaper down and allowed a thin smile to cross my face. Round one to the newspaper maybe, but round two to me, I thought. Saturday 5th March 2005: I met the players and coaching staff outside the Sincil Bank stadium for the trip to Rochdale. Everyone milled around and chatted while we waited for the bus to show up. I talked with Gary Simpson about the fitness of the squad since we had stepped up the intensity of the physical training during the week. He indicated that everyone seemed to be handling it okay at the moment. Just as we finished our discussion the bus pulled up in the car park next to us. The driver disembarked, nodded hello to Gary and went down to the side of the bus to open up the luggage compartment for the player’s bags. I pushed my wheelchair over towards the door of the bus and immediately encountered a problem. I had mastered the art of sliding from the wheelchair into my car and then pulling the chair inside, but getting up the four steps from the ground to the front seat of the bus was something entirely different. I could sense that everyone was watching me and I needed to do something quickly. “Boss, do you want a hand up into the bus?†It was Steve Thomson who had made the offer. However I wasn’t going to let anyone lift me up or carry me around like a big baby. “No thanks, Stevie, I’ll manage. But if someone can collapse and fold the chair and stow it with the kit, then that will be greatâ€. With that, I rolled over next to the open door of the bus and forced myself to my feet. I turned to the side and let my backside fall onto the first step. I then reached up with hands and took hold of the guide-rails, pulling myself up onto the next step. I repeated the process for each of the steps and finally hauled myself into the front seat on the passenger side of the bus. When I had settled into the seat, I looked out the window. All the players and staff were still standing as they had been. God, I hope that I didn’t look like a fool doing that, I thought. Maybe I should have let someone help me, but I know that my pride would not have allowed that. I leant around to the open door and called out to everyone. “If you think that was funny, you should see me trying to board a bloody 747 at Heathrowâ€. There was outbreak of laughter from the group. “Now c’mon you lot, we’ve got a game of football to playâ€. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Rochdale v Lincoln – Spotland, Rochdale Just as I had planned all week Allan Marriott was the new starting keeper in place of Simon Rayner who was relegated to the bench. Paul Morgan was given a start in the centre of the defence with Gareth McAuley dropping down to the position of substitute. After the lads left the team bus and had a bit of a stretch Simon Yeo reported that the hamstring injury that he had been carrying had flared up again. There was no choice but to give Michael Blackwood his Lincoln debut on the left of midfield with orders to support the attack as Yeo would have done. It was Green who was prominent early on as he had our opening two chances. Debut boy Blackwood found space for a cross from the left and it reached the far post where Green caught it on the half-volley, but from 10 yards out he rattled the ball against cross bar. Bloomer sent Green away in the 10th minute, but just as he was about to put the ball under the keeper the referee noticed a very late offside flag from the linesman and blew his whistle. I was very pleased that we were holding 6th placed Rochdale like we were. They still hadn’t had a decent chance when Taylor-Fletcher created yet another one for us in the 29th minute as he battled his way past Burgess and fired in a shot which Price tipped around the post for a corner. I sensed that we had it in us to take the lead as we just kept pounding away at the Rochdale defence. The breakthrough came in the 38th minute when Taylor-Fletcher again surged past Burgess and looked to get in a shot from the edge of the area. Gallimore slid in from the side to knock the ball away from our striker, but that merely put it in the path of Gain who was presented with a gaping net into which he rolled the ball to put us 1-0 in front. It was no more than we deserved and we carried that lead into the half-time break. The second half began with Taylor-Fletcher testing Price with a 25-yarder which the Rochdale keeper handled well. After 54 minutes another good move started on the right wing following an intelligent throw-out from Marriott. Green advanced with purpose and played a ball inside to Gain whose control let him down slightly. As Gain stretched out to regain control of the ball Clarke poked a boot at it and the ball suddenly arced up and over Price from 20 yards out for the flukiest own-goal that I had ever seen. It didn’t bother either the players, supporters or myself how the ball went in though as we celebrated our 2-0 lead. Just 2 minutes later we had the chance to wrap up the game when Gain surged into the box from the left and sent an inviting low ball across the Rochdale six-yard box. Butcher had timed his run well and he arrived on the far post perfectly, but somehow managed to sky the ball over the cross bar from an almost unmissable position. With both Butcher and Taylor-Fletcher tiring, I sent on Toner and Richardson as their replacements. It seemed that we lost a bit of impetus at that point, but we were two goals up so I wasn’t too worried. Cornelly made his Lincoln debut as he replaced the influential Gain with about 12 minutes to go. It was then that Rochdale created their two clearest chances all day, but Brisco shot straight at Marriott after 82 minutes and substitute McGivern curled a 15-yarder into the side-netting after 87 minutes. In the end we registered a fine 2-0 win against a team looking to secure a play-off berth, so I was extremely happy. Rochdale 0 Lincoln 2 Gain 38, Clarke o.g. 54 Marriott – 8, Bloomer – 7, Futcher – 9, Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 8, Butcher – 7 (Toner – 8), Thomson – 9, Gain – 9 (Cornelly – 7), Green – 7, Taylor-Fletcher – 6 (Richardson – 7), Blackwood – 7. My joy at our 2-0 win was tempered somewhat when I heard the remainder of the Nationwide Two results after the match. Kidderminster, Shrewsbury, Scunthorpe and Southend – the four teams above us – had all picked up a point each with draws in their respective matches. That put us level with Kidderminster on 33 points, but with a -30 goal-difference to Kidderminster’s -20 we were still sitting in 24th and last position. The gap to safety was now two points and there were ten matches still to play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonh1979 Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 A few donughts in the club car park from 'wheelie' after that result no doubt! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Mmmmm, donuts!! Oh wait, I see what you mean now Simon. ================================================ Tuesday 8th March 2005: Lincoln v Oxford – Sincil Bank, Lincoln There was little time to consider any major changes to the team as the games just kept coming. It was three days after my first win at Rochdale and we already had our next match against 12th placed Oxford at Sincil Bank. Simon Yeo’s hamstring hadn’t improved after he had pulled out of the team just before last Saturday’s match, so Michael Blackwood remained on the left side of midfield after his reasonable debut. As a result, the team was unchanged from the weekend’s match. After some early jousting between us and Oxford, we went ahead in the 11th minute with a goal created by the best passage of play that I had seen the team put together so far in my tenure. Morgan cut out a pass deep in defence and played it out to Sandwith at left-back. He sent a long ball down the wing to Blackwood who nodded it inside to Gain. The Irishman used the run of Taylor-Fletcher to gain some space and then played a lovely one-two with Butcher. When Gain got the return pass from Butcher, he found that Taylor-Fletcher had lost his marker, so he slid the ball into the penalty-area for our striker. Taylor-Fletcher took a steadying touch and then placed the ball wide of Hurley to put us 1-0 up. As the first half moved on Taylor-Fletcher and Gain both fired 20-yard efforts just over the cross bar while it took until the 28th minute for Oxford to have their first chance as Quinn curled a free-kick a few feet wide of Marriott’s goal. As the half wiled away headers from Futcher and Taylor-Fletcher continued our search for goals, but both efforts went just wide. The fourth official had signalled 3 minutes of injury-time and that was surely up when Oxford launched one final attack for the half. Bloomer was caught badly out of position and Morgan got in behind him on Oxford’s left wing. The rest of our defence wasn’t well-placed either and Morgan crossed quickly to the near post where Bradbury had outpaced Futcher to arrive in time to head past Marriott and make the score 1-1. I gave the team a mouthful of abuse at half-time, particularly the defenders, after they had carelessly given away our lead so late in the first half. When the second half kicked off it seemed that my advice was not heeded as Mooney got free in similar circumstances to those at the end of the first half and Bradbury again met the cross at the near post. Thankfully this time the Oxford striker headed just wide of our net. Wolleaston curled a shot just wide after 52 minutes and things went quiet for twenty minutes until Taylor-Fletcher rifled a free-kick just wide of the post in the 72nd minute. A corner by Butcher after 76 minutes saw Futcher send his header crashing onto the cross bar as we came close to regaining the lead. Both sets of players seemed to tire badly in the final ten minutes and the game ended up limping through to a 1-1 draw. Lincoln 1 Taylor-Fletcher 11 Oxford 1 Bradbury 45 Marriott – 7, Bloomer – 8, Futcher – 8, Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 8, Thomson – 7, Gain – 8, Green – 7, Taylor-Fletcher – 7, Blackwood – 7 (Cornelly – 7). Despite the point we had picked up we remained on the bottom of the table as Kidderminster had also had a picked up a point at in a 0-0 draw at Bury. At least Scunthorpe, Southend and Shrewsbury had all lost, so now the gap between us and Kidderminster on 34 points was only one point to that of Shrewsbury in the safety of 22nd place on 35 points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 8, 2005 Author Share Posted July 8, 2005 Saturday 12th March 2005: With a win and a draw in our last two matches, I hoped that we were starting to get that losing mentality out of our heads. I had been at Lincoln for three weeks now and when I had arrived there was certainly an air of doom about the place, particularly in the minds of the players. This was hard for me to fathom as the club’s actual position on the Nationwide Two table was by no means a forgone conclusion as far as relegation was concerned. However with just a couple of games where things started to go our way, I can sense that the players have a new resolve. Our opponents today are 14th placed Bury and they have drawn their last six consecutive matches which mean that they have not tasted victory since late January. I reckon that they are ripe for the picking and Gary Simpson and I have been working hard the last couple of day to get the player’s minds focussed on the fact that we are the form team (a little stretching of the truth there) and that Bury can be beaten at Gigg Lane. Bury v Lincoln – Gigg Lane, Bury Skipper Ben Futcher has been bothered by fluid on his left knee, so he is unable to take his place today and Simon Weaver comes in at centre-half in his place. Simon Yeo returns to the left wing in place of Michael Blackwood who has done nothing wrong in his two appearances except that he is lacking in first-team match fitness. Peter Gain will captain the side in the absence of Ben Futcher. As instructed by me, the players ensure that we don’t get off to a poor start by concentrating on the defensive side of our game for the first 15 minutes. Consequently we keep Bury from creating a single scoring opportunity whilst our own confidence grows at the same time. Butcher has own first chance after 17 minutes as he controls Gain’s short free-kick and fires in a 20-yarder which clips the top of the Bury cross bar. Taylor-Fletcher is the next to threaten as his curling free-kick after 26 minutes hits the outside of the post with the Bury keeper well beaten. Morgan has been dominating in the air in his central defensive role and a towering headed clearance from just outside our box in the 39th minute sends Yeo racing away down the left. A quick one-two with Taylor-Fletcher gives Yeo more room to pick his cross. He drives a low ball across the penalty area where Butcher has arrived unmarked and the midfielder thumps a first-time shot past Garner from 12 yards to put us 1-0 up. Gary and I yell at the players to keep it simple for the remainder of the first half and not get carried away with our lead. Consequently we maintain an orderly grip on the remaining few minutes and take a one goal lead into the half-time break. Yeo’s hamstring has gone again, so Cornelly comes on for him at the start of the second half. Straight from the kick-off our pressing forces Bury back and Swailes plays a back-pass to keeper Garner under heavy pressure. The close presence of Taylor-Fletcher causes Garner to scuff his clearance badly and it only goes as far as Gain who attempts to chip the retreating keeper. I watch as the ball floats towards the top corner, only for Garner to make it back and tip the ball away with a miraculous diving save. From the resulting corner Morgan heads just over the cross bar. Our defence is totally dominating Bury as the second half progresses and the only serious threats on goal are coming from Lincoln. Taylor-Fletcher run clears and shoots over the bar after 53 minutes and Green does something similar after 57 minutes. With Butcher and Taylor-Fletcher tiring, I bring on Toner and Richardson after 70 minutes. Richardson almost scores with his first touch when a loose falls at his feet, but he hits his shot straight at Garner. There have been 76 minutes played when Bloomer takes a long throw on the right wing. It reaches Morgan who has come up to join the attack and centre-half controls the ball on his chest before turning his marker and driving a low ball across the six-yard box where Cornelly slides in to stab the ball home. As the substitute joyfully celebrates his first-ever goal for the club with his team-mates, I bask in the fact that we now have a 2-0 lead with just 15 minutes remaining. Cornelly’s confidence is sky-high now and he responds with a superb jinking run down the left wing and a cross which Toner volleys into the body of Garner in the 82nd minute. There is just time for Cornelly to cut in from the left in the 89th minute and shoot across the Bury goal with the ball grazing the post on its way. A couple of minutes later and the sweet sound of the referee’s whistle ends the match with a 2-0 victory for Lincoln. Bury 0 Lincoln 2 Butcher 39, Cornelly 76 Marriott – 7, Bloomer – 7, Weaver – 7, Morgan – 9, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 8 (Toner – 8), Thomson – 7, Gain – 8, Green – 8, Taylor-Fletcher – 7 (Richardson – 7), Yeo – 7 (Cornelly – 7). Our 2-0 win takes us off the bottom of the table and puts us in 23rd place on 37 points. Although Kidderminster picked up a point with a 1-1 draw at Darlington, they now only have 36 points and are therefore in last place. Of the teams above us Southend lost, but Scunthorpe won 4-0 at Rochdale and Shrewsbury impressively beat the league leaders Swansea by 3-0 at home. Safety is now only goal-difference away as we are tied with Southend on 37 points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pn75 Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 C'mon the mighty imps, cracking story Spav, KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 Cheers pn75, you're a Lincoln fan perhaps? ================================================ Thursday 17th March 2005: The mood around the club was starting to turn from gloom and doom to one of a more optimistic note. At the training sessions I had attended in the first week of the job there had been a distinct sense of impending failure and a lack of banter between the players. However I now noted that things had turned for the better. The players now joked with each other as well as the coaches and their general attitude to training had markedly improved. As a result of that I had the first practical joke played on me today. When I arrived at the training ground I found that the parking space designated for the manager was already taken. Sitting in the space was a ride-on lawn mower. I parked my car in a position close by instead and then pulled my wheelchair from the back before settling myself in it. I wheeled over to the mower and noticed that there was a sign attached to the seat. It said ‘Boss, we thought you could use this and give your arms a rest’. I had a chuckle to myself. It was good to see that the players were prepared to have a bit of a joke with me instead of bagging me behind my back. Well, if they thought I could use it, then bugger it, I would. I saw that the key was still in the ignition, so I dragged myself from my wheelchair over onto the seat of the mower. I started it up and backed out of the parking space before heading in the direction of the training pitch. As I came around the corner of the dressing-sheds I saw that Gary Simpson already had the first-team squad arranged in a semi-circle and doing some warm-up exercises. I gunned the engine up to the maximum speed using the hand-throttle and headed in their direction. The lads heard me coming and turned in my direction. There were several loud cheers as they realised that it was me. “You cheeky sods, I’ll bloody show youâ€, I yelled as I motored on towards them. When they realised that I wasn’t going to stop they scattered. I sped through the group and swung around again towards them. I’d already noted that Francis Green tended to be the joker of the group and the one that was always ready with a smart comment, so I homed in on him. Francis saw me coming and took off in the direction of the dressing-sheds. I pursued him to the loud cheering and applause of his team-mates behind me. I was slowly catching up to Francis, but he had a head start on me and he made it inside before I could catch him. I was then forced to suddenly swerve away from the building when I realised that I couldn’t operate the brake with my foot. The wheels shot up gravel from the path and I made a large skid mark as I swung away from the dressing-sheds. That got me more cheers from the players behind me. Now that I had clear ground ahead of me, I wound back the hand-throttle and slowly came to a halt. I sat there grinning to myself – it had been quite an enjoyable ride. Francis made his way out of the dressing-sheds. “It weren’t me. Honest, bossâ€, he said. “Yeah, no problems, Frannyâ€, I replied. I looked at the players standing around and laughing amongst themselves. “Alright you lot, that’s enough of taking the pîss out of this cripple for today. We’ve got some serious training to do, so let’s get back to work with Garyâ€. Just as the team was starting to make progress, so was I when it came to my attempts to walk unaided again. At my physiotherapy session with Caitlin today I had been able to take several steps using a set of parallel bars as a support and a guide. There was not as much pain as there often was, but as usual the frustrating thing was that my body would not do what my mind was quite clearly telling it to do. When I had first started working with Caitlin there had been fits of rage when my frustration had got the better of me. However I was gradually learning to contain that anger and channel it into the physical side of my recovery. Back home that evening I combined my regular set of strengthening exercises with a more detailed look at the history of the team. I looked back over the results of the entire season to date and I was surprised to note that the three game unbeaten run that we currently having was in fact the best run of the season so far. Then again, I thought if the club had had any better string of results they wouldn’t find themselves in the situation that they currently were in. Saturday 19th March 2005: Wycombe started the day in 8th place and were yet another team situated in the top half of the table that we had to play as these final games came upon us. Ben Futcher returned in place of Simon Weaver in the only change to the team. That gave me what I considered to be the strongest team that we could put out on the park at the moment. Wycombe v Lincoln – Adams Park, High Wycombe Our new-found confidence saw the players come out and take the opening of the match by the scruff of the neck. Butcher and Gain were playing a dominant role in the centre of the midfield and both were getting forward to support the attack as well. Butcher broke into the box after 5 minutes and hit a low shot towards the far post, but Wycombe keeper Talia pushed it away for a corner. A few minutes later and Gain cut in from the left and produced a shot that flew inches past the post. Wycombe weathered our opening storm though and they started to hit back. A 12th minute corner was met by Abbey with a powerful close range header, but Marriott somehow got his arms up to block it and Morgan scrambled it away. Our keeper did even better in the 25th minute as a Philo cross from the right was headed by the unguarded Abbey towards the far post. Marriott dived full length to his left to miraculously palm it away. As the first half moved past the half hour the tide had turned and it was Wycombe who were controlling the match. Stonebridge shot just over our cross bar and Abbey had yet another effort which flew inches wide of the post. The last chance of the first half though fell to Lincoln as Wycombe’s offside trap failed badly and let Taylor-Fletcher through. As our top scorer ran in on goal I willed him to put it away, but Talia managed to get his legs in the way of the shot and it rebounded away, keeping it locked at 0-0 at the break. The opening of the second half was very similar to that of the first. The lads came out fighting and produced several decent chances. Butcher and Gain spurned the best of them when they both shot wide from inside the penalty area when they only had the keeper to beat. I was beginning to worry that we were wasting our best chances and that we would pay the price for that as the match went on. Sure enough, the tide turned like it did in the first half and Wycombe started to get on top. Anya missed an open goal in the 73rd minute and Faulconbridge drove a shot into the side-netting as the defence came under increased pressure. Thomson was doing his best to defy them with a superhuman performance in the midfield, but the inevitable blow arrived in the 80th minute. Tyson made the goal with a surging run down the left and when he crossed low into the box Stonebridge was perfectly placed to sidefoot the ball past Marriott from ten yards and Wycombe led 1-0. Three minutes later and Tyson beat Bloomer again to pull the ball back for Easton, but luckily for us the midfielder hammered his shot into the cross bar. Frustratingly for us Wycombe then played a game of possession and they kept us from getting the ball to launch any final attacks on their lead. The tactic worked and Wycombe held on to record a 1-0 victory. Wycombe 1 Stonebridge 80 Lincoln 0 Marriott – 8, Bloomer – 7, Futcher – 7, Morgan – 8, Sandwith – 8, Butcher – 7, Thomson – 9, Gain – 7 (Toner – 7), Green – 7, Taylor-Fletcher – 7 (Ryan – 7), Yeo – 7 (Cornelly – 7). After the match our now usual routine took place where we gathered around the nearest radio to hear the final scores from the matches of the other team around us. It had turned out that all the teams in the bottom five had lost, so there was no change to the placings on the Nationwide Two table. We were still in 23rd place on goal-difference from Southend in the safety of 22nd place. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Nationwide League Two - Saturday 19th March 2005: |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Scunthorpe | 39 | 11 | 7 | 21 | 48 | 65 | -17 | 40 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |21st | Shrewsbury | 39 | 10 | 8 | 21 | 40 | 59 | -19 | 38 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |22nd | Southend | 39 | 10 | 7 | 22 | 48 | 69 | -21 | 37 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |23rd | Lincoln | 39 | 10 | 7 | 22 | 35 | 64 | -29 | 37 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |24th | Kidderminster | 39 | 9 | 8 | 22 | 47 | 71 | -24 | 35 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj2k Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Got me gripped already Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puedlfor Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 This is a fantastic story. Come on Lincoln City! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUFCfovever Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 OK, great story and all that, but if you even think about getting Southend relegated I'm not going to be a happy chappie. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 Thanks for you comments aj2k and Puedlfor. I don't have a game against Southend SUFCforever, so their safety is up to themselves. ================================================ Sunday 20th March 2005: The fixtures for Nationwide Two gave all teams a free weekend without any games being scheduled for Saturday 26th March. Therefore with a two week break before our next match at home against Cambridge I had to make a decision on how we would handle the gap. I told the players that we would work hard during the first week as I still didn’t think that they were fit enough, but the pay-off would be that they could have the ensuing weekend off. That would give them from Friday lunch-time till Monday morning without any training and I asked them to use the time productively and relax. Needless to say, I expected that many of them would be hitting the pubs on Friday and Saturday nights. When they returned from their break I told them it would be back to training as usual. The exception would be the Tuesday when we would have a ‘wheelchair day’. I left them wondering as to what that meant. Tuesday 29th March 2005: Tuesday morning was usually the time that we went to the indoor training complex and played five-a-sides. However for today I had organised for a dozen office chairs on wheels to be delivered to the complex. The lads were wondering what was going on when they saw that floor-space had been cleared and a ‘track’ had been laid out around the outside of the room using orange cones to signify the edge of it. “Righto lads, first up we are going to have ‘wheelchair’ race. Split into pairs with one in the chair and one behind doing the pushing. Do five laps of the track as that combination, then quickly swap over and do another five laps with the opposite combination. There’s twenty of you here, so we’ll do two races with five pairs in each. The first pair to finish in each race sits out the next one and the rest of you will race again. We’ll carry on like that until everyone is knocked out and we have you all rated as pair #1, pair #2 and so on. The two top pairs will then race off for the title and so on. Lads, to make this worth doing, there will be a prize for the winners whilst there will just be more work for the losersâ€. The players got themselves sorted out quickly into pairs, although there was a bit of a bundle to see who was in the chair first. Finally everything was organised and we had our first five pairs ready. Gary Simpson gave a blast on his whistle and they were off. Now I don’t know if you’ve seen the speed-skating at the Winter Olympics before, but it was very similar to that. Everyone tore off down the first straight, but when it came to the first corner the chairs didn’t turn as quickly as anticipated and there was a bunch-up as they crashed into the wall. No-one tumbled from their chairs, but the pair at the rear used the pile-up to skip past and into the lead. The lads watching from the centre of the room were giving plenty of encouragement and there was plenty of good-natured abuse hurled at their team-mate’s racing attempts. Anyway, on it went as I had directed and finally the first race finished with Kevin Sandwith and Chris Cornelly as the victors. The guys in the second race then went out and gave it their all as well with Richard Butcher and Francis Green being the winners. We went through all the heats after that and then got ready for the big final itself. Cornelly and Green started in the chairs with Sandwith and Butcher pushing. A toot from Gary’s whistle and off they went. Now if this was a horse race the stewards would have had plenty to complain about and there would have been protests lodged left, right and centre. Both the ‘riders’ were tugging on their opponent’s chairs and the ‘pushers’ were shouldering and elbowing all the way around the course. It was neck and neck as they swapped roles after five laps and continued on their way. Eventually they came down the back straight for the last time and approached the final corners. Both pairs of players wanted the all-important inside running and the shoving reached a peak as they both went for it. Suddenly the ‘pushers’ Cornelly and Green got tangled up in each others legs and they both went crashing to the floor together. The chairs rolled on under their own steam with Sandwith and Butcher in them. The spectators were screaming for the ‘pushers’ to get up and they both got to their feet and raced for their now stationary chairs. Reaching them, they grabbed a hold of the backs and down the final ten yards they went, neck and neck before crossing the finishing-line. Gary signalled it a dead heat. The finalists were puffing and panting and laughing all at the same time whilst the rest of the lads were similarly having a good time as well. As a team-building exercise, it had been a great success. After that we completed a more typical session of ball-work and then I took all of the players to their reward. Just outside Lincoln there is a go-kart track. For the next ninety minutes I let the lads regress to their childhoods and dash and dart around the track to their heart’s content. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 15, 2005 Author Share Posted July 15, 2005 Saturday 2nd April 2005: Our opponents Cambridge are in 8th place on the Nationwide Two table and are looking for the points they need to clinch a play-off berth with just seven games to play. Their form has been inconsistent of late as they have been winning at home, but losing on the road. In Daniel Chillingworth they have one of the division’s most lethal strikers and our defence will have to pay special attention to him. Lincoln v Cambridge – Sincil Bank, Lincoln After the two week break everyone is fit and healthy and raring to go. There are no difficulties with selections and I am able to use the same team that took the field in our 1-0 loss to Wycombe two weeks ago. Skipper Ben Futcher gives the lads an inspirational pre-match speech, but Francis Green has to have the last word as usual. “Where are the office chairs, boss?†he asks. “With a couple of those we’ll have no trouble beating this lotâ€. There is a sense of excitement around the stadium today that can only be exuded by a crowd that is confident of their team’s prospective performance. I’m sure the players feel it too and they respond by taking charge of the match early. Only 2 minutes have gone when a scramble on the edge of the box sees Gain prod the ball into Taylor-Fletcher’s path. There is no time to line up a shot, so our striker just belts it, but it flies off the shoulder of Cambridge keeper Marshall and rebounds to safety. The team keeps the pressure on our opponents as Yeo and Butcher have a couple of long range shots at goal. Around 12 minutes have gone when Cambridge gets their first serious spell of pressure on our goal, but it is great to see my player throwing themselves desperately in front of shots. Morgan and Thomson are particularly to be credited in this regard. After 18 minutes Gain orchestrates a break on the left and Yeo gallops away. Everyone is flooding forward and Yeo has plenty of options. He curls a magnificent deep cross to the far post where Green arrives to power a header past Marshall and put us 1-0 up. The team is combining well, but there is an interruption after 29 minutes when Bloomer picks up a thigh strain and must be replaced by Weaver at right-back. Weaver is still coming to grips with his new role when he loses track of his opponent Mongin and the winger dives in to send a header goalwards. Luckily Marriott is alert and he parries the effort with a fine diving save, leaving Futcher to hack the rebound away. A continuation of our tight defensive display means that we go into the interval leading 1-0. The first ten minutes of the second half sees the ball regularly in the midfield with little in the way of chances for either side. After 56 minutes a free-kick against Chillingworth deep in our defence is taken by keeper Marriott. The Cambridge defence try to push up to catch us offside, but the trap fails and Taylor-Fletcher is left free to chase down the free-kick and complete the job by nutmegging Marshall to put us 2-0 up. The crowd roar their approval of their hero’s effort and Gary Simpson and I give each other high-fives. Another goal should kill off Cambridge and we don’t have to wait too long for it. A 68th minute corner by Butcher is cleared by the Cambridge defence and Morgan picks up the ball near the halfway line. His chipped pass towards Green is flicked on delightfully by our forward and he now has space to run into the penalty area. Marshall comes out to narrow the angle, but Green chips the ball over the sprawling keeper and it bounces into the net to make it 3-0. As the game winds down into the final ten minutes Cambridge throw themselves forward into one last series of attacks. Walker shoots wide from a good position and Guttridge forces Marriott into another great save following a scramble in front of our goalmouth. The last chance of the day is left to Taylor-Fletcher as he surges onto Thomson’s through-ball in injury-time, but this time Marshall refuses to be nutmegged and his kicks the shot away with his legs. The miss is of little consequence though and I’m sure the 3-0 win has gone a long way to saving us from relegation. Lincoln 3 Green 18, 68, Taylor-Fletcher 56 Cambridge 0 Marriott – 8, Bloomer – 7 (Weaver – 7), Futcher – 8, Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 8, Butcher – 8, Thomson – 7, Gain – 8 (Toner – 7), Green – 8, Taylor-Fletcher – 8, Yeo – 7 (Blackwood – 7). I’m hopeful that today’s win will be coupled with defeats for some of the teams around us. If we want to ease the pressure on ourselves we’ve got to start pulling away from the bottom two spots. The first news we get is that bottom-placed Kidderminster have beaten Yeovil 1-0, so we haven’t shaken them off yet. However Shrewsbury has lost 2-0 at Cheltenham and Southend has been beaten 1-0 at home by Rochdale. A 3-0 win for Scunthorpe over Darlington moves them further away from danger. As a consequence of those results we have moved into 21st place and out of the bottom two relegation places for the first time since 6th November 2004. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Shaping up to be quite a battle down there Spav - good luck! Come on Lincoln!... and Kidderminster Wheelchair racing \o/ Good team bonding there. Hope the crash and burn scenario doesn't allude to a more serious failure on the football pitch Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 Big game coming up against Kidderminster shortly, BoN. ================================================ Saturday 9th April 2005: Darlington were in 15th place and were probably just playing out the season by now as they were 9 points clear of the relegation zone. Their results in the past month or two had been reasonable, although a 3-0 defeat at Scunthorpe last week wouldn’t have done much for their form or confidence. Lincoln v Darlington – Sincil Bank, Lincoln Thankfully we were now managing to steer clear of any long term injuries. Sure, there were the usual little niggles and twinges that everyone had to put up with this close to the end of the season, but non-one was being forced to miss any of the matches. As a result I was able to name an unchanged side for the fourth match in a row. The starting eleven were now working together really well as a unit and they were displaying confidence in their team-mates that came from consistency and confidence. It wasn’t the greatest of starts for Lincoln when Bloomer gave away a penalty after just 7 minutes. Fleming’s long ball down our left side had caught Sandwith out of position and allowed Armstrong to run free. He drove the ball across the box but it was too far ahead of Calliste who had to turn and chase it down. Calliste caught the ball just before it left the box, but in his enthusiasm to get to the striker Bloomer barged into the back of his man. Calliste fell to the ground rather quickly, but it was still enough for the referee to award Darlington a spot-kick. Close made no mistake from the spot as he drilled the ball past Marriott to put the visitors 1-0 up. There had been 14 minutes gone on the clock when we equalised. Bloomer made up for his earlier error with a fine interception in defence and a great outlet pass to Yeo who nodded the ball inside to Gain. The midfielder slipped it into the path of Taylor-Fletcher who advanced into the box. Before he could shoot, Hutchinson dived it to hook the ball away, but he only succeeded into turning the ball past Turnbull for an own-goal. Sandwith and Yeo had struck up a good understanding on our left side and they combined in the 37th minute to give us the lead. The goal was scored by Butcher who arrived on the far post perfectly on time to half-volley Yeo’s cross past Turnbull from ten yards out. As half-time approached Taylor-Fletcher broke the Darlington offside trap and ran onto Gain’s through-ball, but Turnbull denied him with a sprawling save to keep the score at 2-1 in our favour. It was Marriott’s turn to make a vital save when he blocked Clark’s shot just two minutes after the restart. The team built up control from there and a lovely set of passes between Butcher and Gain moved the ball through the midfield. The Irishman played a pass into the feet of Yeo who thrashed the ball past Turnbull from 14 yards to put us 3-1 up after 51 minutes. Having given us a two goal lead, Yeo then contributed to Darlington pulling one back. Clark took a short free-kick on the edge of the box and rolled it square to Close who fired it goalwards. Marriott probably had it covered, but it nicked off Yeo’s knee and diverted past our keeper with Close claiming the credit for making it 3-2 in the 59th minute. However a minute later Marriott wasn’t fooled as he made a vital save from Armstrong’s header to deny Darlington an equaliser. It was real end-to-end stuff at the moment. The pendulum swung back our way in the 63rd minute when Butcher collected Sandwith’s free-kick and played an astute ball into the penalty area. Darlington’s defender Clarke and his keeper Turnbull collided as they both attempted to reach the ball and Taylor-Fletcher was left free to poke it in the empty net to make it 4-2. I yelled at the lads to keep things tight now that we were two goals ahead again. Bloomer was having trouble with his thigh again, so Weaver came on for him after 74 minutes. A few minutes later the exhausted Butcher came off to be replaced by Toner. Darlington’s substitute striker Alexander tested Marriott in the 82nd minute with a 20-yard shot that our keeper was forced to batter down before gratefully falling on the loose ball. Our resolve to hold onto the two goal lead was strong though and when the referee ended the match we had registered a solid 4-2 victory. Lincoln 4 Hutchinson o.g. 14, Butcher 37, Yeo 51, Taylor-Fletcher 63 Darlington 2 Close 7 (pen), 59 Marriott – 7, Bloomer – 7 (Weaver – 6), Futcher – 7, Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 7 (Toner – 7), Thomson – 7, Gain – 10, Green – 7, Taylor-Fletcher – 8, Yeo – 8. Today’s win had taken us four points clear of relegation with five matches still to play. Southend were the side in those most trouble as their 2-1 home loss to Notts County left them 2 points adrift in bottom place. Kidderminster and Shrewsbury had both picked up a point in a 2-2 draw with Wycombe and a 0-0 draw at Macclesfield respectively. Yeovil were being drawn into the struggle as their poor form continued with a 4-0 hammering at Cambridge. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Nationwide League Two - Saturday 9th April 2005: |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Yeovil | 41 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 51 | 71 | -20 | 44 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |21st | Lincoln | 41 | 12 | 7 | 22 | 42 | 66 | -24 | 43 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |22nd | Shrewsbury | 41 | 10 | 9 | 22 | 40 | 61 | -21 | 39 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |23rd | Kidderminster | 41 | 10 | 9 | 22 | 50 | 73 | -23 | 39 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |24th | Southend | 41 | 10 | 7 | 24 | 49 | 72 | -23 | 37 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 18, 2005 Author Share Posted July 18, 2005 Tuesday 12th April 2005: Apart from my early run-in with Tony Cunningham of the Lincoln Standard, I’d had little to do with the media. However they chose to print the comments of Kidderminster manager Jan Molby in the lead-up to our game on the weekend. It was obviously a direct challenge to me, but it was one that I couldn’t ignore at this stage of the season. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Lincoln Standard – 12th April 2005 ‘KIDDY’ WILL CRIPPLE IMP’S SURVIVAL CHANCES By Tony Cunningham In the lead-up to this weekend’s crucial relegation clash with Lincoln the Kidderminster Harriers boss Jan Molby stated that he believed his side would definitely triumph in Saturday’s vital ‘six-pointer’ at Aggborough. “Willie Murphy has got a couple of good results with the Imps since he has taken over, but I don’t believe that he has in any way, shape or form come to grips with management at this levelâ€, Molby stated. “You need to be tough and disciplined with players at this level, but Murphy has already positioned himself as ‘one of the lads’ instead of as their bossâ€, Molby continued. “It may well make ‘Wheelie’ [as he likes to be called] feel comfortable, but this will only be to the detriment of his team and the ultimate disappointment of the Lincoln fansâ€, the tough-talking Dane concluded. With Lincoln holding a four point lead over Kidderminster and with just five matches to play, the three points on offer this Saturday will be of vital importance to both sides. Although Lincoln has registered some excellent results since Murphy took over, Molby has also turned around the performances of his Kidderminster team in recent weeks and they too have been racking up the wins. Kidderminster will start as slight favourites for this game as they hold the home ground advantage. Whatever the outcome on Saturday, it is sure to be a very hard-fought match. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Having read Tony Cunningham’s article I sat down and drafted a reply. I rang the Lincoln Standard and asked for the journalist, but apparently he was out. I told person on the phone at the newsroom that I would fax over my statement and that I expected to see it in the paper the next day. I told the person that any failure to print my right-of-reply would result in a very heated call to the editor himself. Wednesday 13th April 2005: I picked up my copy of the Lincoln Standard as I left for training this morning and turned to the sports pages. My reply had been given centre-stage right on the back page. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Lincoln Standard – 13th April 2005 ‘WHEELIE’ NOT PARALYSED BY MOLBY’S COMMENTS By Tony Cunningham Lincoln manager Willie Murphy reacted strongly to comments made by Kidderminster boss Jan Molby on the eve of their vital Nationwide Two relegation clash this Saturday. In a strongly-worded statement, Murphy accused Molby of making inflammatory remarks merely to bolster the confidence of his own players. “Jan Molby is an old hand at this game and he knows that he needs to lift his team prior to this weekend’s match, so it’s easy for him to rattle off a few comments at my expense in the hope that it will gee his side upâ€, Murphy stated. “However Jan knows full well that his side wouldn’t be in the predicament that they are in if his team had performed better earlier in the season. As for my position at Lincoln, I can only comment on the period in which I have been in charge of the club. During that time we have recorded four wins and a draw in seven matches and that form has seen us move off the bottom of the table and into a position where we are four points clear of the final relegation place. If I’ve achieved those results through being ‘one of the lads’, then roll on that style of management because it obviously achieves the right resultsâ€, Murphy concluded. This war of words has inflamed what is an already highly-competitive atmosphere prior to Saturday’s match at Aggborough in Kidderminster. Lincoln fans will hope that their manager and his team can back up his words with the right result, for anything less than that may doom this proud club to non-league football next season. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I was satisfied with what they had written apart from the wrap-up at the end, but I knew that a loss on the weekend would surely give Tony Cunningham more ammunition for which he could continue his battle against my managership. Well, I had no intention of letting him get anywhere near that and I was confident that the players would ensure that that was the case too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 Saturday 16th April 2005: After the build-up to the match with the comments in the press between Jan Molby and me, it was just pleasant to actually get to the big day and get this match decided one way or the other. Yet again I was able to name an unchanged line-up for this vital match. I was sure that the consistency we had been able to generate over the past few weeks was certainly due in part to the fact that the same eleven were playing together week-in, week out. Kidderminster v Lincoln – Aggborough, Kidderminster Mother Nature decided to make things a bit trickier for both sets of players by introducing a swirling wind and misty rain into the proceedings. Coming down the tunnel before the match my wheelchair slid on the wet concrete. I skidded into the wall, scrapping the skin from the knuckles on my right hand. I cursed to myself as I wrung my hand to ease the pain. I had to get my handkerchief out and wipe the thin film of blood that oozed from the grazes. Let’s hope that I won’t be feeling any pain in just less than two hours time when the match ended. Kidderminster had us under plenty of pressure right from the start of the match. The outfield players managed to protect Marriott from any direct shots, but we gave away a series of corners in the first 15 minutes. Just as I thought we were weathering the storm, disaster struck in the 21st minute. Bloomer and Morgan did well on the right to break down a couple of attacks and we finally got possession of the ball. Morgan played it to Thomson who turned and rolled it back to Marriott. With the Aggborough pitch being quite cut up this late in the season, the ball took a bobble and Marriott decided to take an extra touch before sending a clearing kick downfield. That gave the pursuing Varney the chance to close the gap and make a lunge for the ball. Meanwhile Marriott had launched his kick, but he only succeeded in striking the ball against the shin of Varney from where it flew over our keeper’s head and into the net for a total fluke of a goal to give our opponents a 1-0 lead. Kidderminster had the bit between their teeth now and they poured forward in search of a second goal. Foster broke past Sandwith on our left and crossed to the far post where Christiansen half-volleyed from 12 yards out, but Marriott redeemed himself with a quality save by tipping the ball over the cross bar. Finally we started to weather the storm and Butcher and Gain were able to get a bit of time on the ball. After 37 minutes Yeo and Gain worked a good move on the left and Yeo crossed for Green to head for the top corner, only to see Jones pluck it out of the air with some style. At last we had got a shot on target. Just a couple of minutes later Marriott made a routine save from a weak Foster shot and launched a quick kick upfield. Centre-half Sall completely missed his header and Taylor-Fletcher was away and in the clear in a flash. As Jones came out to the edge of the area, Taylor-Fletcher took his shot early and it slid under the keeper’s body to put us level at 1-1 after 39 minutes. My relief was plain to see and Gary Simpson gave me a pat on the back, indicating that he felt we had survived the worst of it. The 1-1 half-time score-line was very pleasing, all things considered. Thankfully the second half was more of an even contest. We’d certainly clawed our way back into this match. The best chance to take the lead came in the 63rd minute when Yeo broke past the Kidderminster defence on our left wing and sent a swirling cross towards the far post where Butcher lunged to get his head to the ball, but sent his header just inches wide of the post. Our opponents had their chances too. A right wing cross from Foster after 72 minutes bounced across our penalty area and Bloomer failed to pick up Appleby arriving behind him. As a result the midfielder was able to stoop and send a header back across the goalmouth, but Marriott reacted well to punch it away for a corner. It seems as though the real contest of the match had been the first half because both teams seemed to run out of ideas and energy the longer the second half went on. In the last five minutes both sides traded efforts from free-kicks as Appleby of Kidderminster and Gain of Lincoln both put curling left-footers over the cross bar from just on the edge of the penalty area. In the end, a match that was much publicised as a must-win relegation ‘six-pointer’ turned into a 1-1 draw that probably did us more favours than it did for Kidderminster. Oh, by the way, I never did notice any soreness in my grazed knuckles after the game either. Kidderminster 1 Varney 21 Lincoln 1 Taylor-Fletcher 39 Marriott – 7, Bloomer – 8, Futcher – 7, Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 7, Thomson – 7, Gain – 7, Green – 8, Taylor-Fletcher – 8 (Richardson – 7), Yeo – 7 (Blackwood – 7). Southend have found themselves deeper in trouble with a 3-1 loss at Oxford and they are now anchored to the bottom of Nationwide Two on 37 points. Kidderminster are 23rd on 40 points after their 1-1 draw with us. Shrewsbury are next in 22nd place on 42 points and are starting to draw clear of danger, but their 1-0 win at Yeovil has drawn the Glovers into the relegation battle. We are still in 21st place on 44 points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 Tuesday 19th April 2005: Another big clash today as Yeovil visited Sincil Bank on the back of some very poor form that had seen them drop into the relegation battle. They had regularly been sitting around 14th place for much of the season, but a run of six consecutive defeats meant that they started today in 20th position on 44 points and just ahead of us on goal-difference. Lincoln v Yeovil – Sincil Bank, Lincoln The rigours of the past few weeks had taken their toll on one of my key players. Butcher was badly in need of a rest, so I dropped him down to the bench and bought Toner into the starting eleven. Other than that it’s my regular starting line-up and a win today will go a long way towards ensuring our safety. There was no question that the lads were up for it today. They got straight on with the business by quickly settling into Yeovil’s half of the pitch and playing the ball around intelligently. The pace of Green made the opening chance after 11 minutes as he sprinted down the right wing and sent over a low cross which found Gain sliding it at the far post. Our midfield master got his toe to the ball, but Yeovil’s Weale spread himself well to block the shot with his body. A short corner by Gain found Toner on the edge of the area and he hit a shot through a crowd of players and into the side-netting. The pressure continued in the 27th minute as Yeo ran forcefully down the left and crossed deep to his right sided team-mate Green. The forward’s shot from 15 yards was goal-bound until Weale stretched out an arm and tipped it over the cross bar. I was getting toey wondering if we would ever break the deadlock. Morgan’s long pass after 34 minutes sent Taylor-Fletcher away on the right and his quick cross was going directly onto Yeo’s head until Weale manhandled our winger in his attempt to reach the ball. It was a penalty and we had the chance to finally open the scoring. Taylor-Fletcher was the designated spot-kick man and he calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner to give us a 1-0 lead. From the restart we quickly won the ball back and it was rolled back to keeper Marriott. A long clearance found Green and his header found Taylor-Fletcher whose first time lay-off was rolled perfectly for Gain. At this point Gain took a touch to kill the ball and from 25 yards he produced a sublime chip which beat Weale all ends up and nestled in the top corner of the Yeovil net. It was 2-0 after 36 minutes and the Lincoln fans had jus witnessed one of the goals of the season. I had been enjoying our form so much that I was disappointed that the half had come to an end, but the 2-0 lead more than made up for it. As the Yeovil players came out for the second half it looked they were condemned men walking towards their executions, so poor was their confidence and manner. Another nail was quickly hammered in the Yeovil coffin as Taylor-Fletcher ran into space on the left and rolled a pass inside to Gain. He quickly moved it on to the right side of the attack where Green was unmarked and he had time to drill a low shot past the keeper to make it 3-0. A lull in proceedings kept the score at 3-0 for over 20 minutes before we managed to add another goal. In similar circumstances to the first half, Gain took a short corner towards Toner whose powerful low shot was heading towards Weale until a hefty deflection off Guyett sent it rocketing into the roof of the net instead. It was now 4-0 after 71 minutes. At this point the lads probably took their foot off the pedal and I’m couldn’t really blame them. It had been a long season and they were starting to tire easier. It allowed Yeovil to create their first serious chance of the match when Gall was allowed to advance down their right and cross for Caceres to nip in front of Futcher and prod a shot goalwards. Luckily Marriott was still alert and he bundled the ball way. After 78 minutes we got our second penalty of the game – a rather generous ruling by referee Andy Woolmer that Skiverton had climbed all over our substitute Hoskins at a corner. With Taylor-Fletcher already subbed off, Gain took the kick and buried it with a fierce low shot to make it 5-0. In the final minute Yeovil got a consolation goal when Caceres controlled Terry’s free-kick and turned to fire a shot under Marriott from close range. The 5-1 final score-line had the fans at Sincil Bank singing our praises long after the players had left the field. Lincoln 5 Taylor-Fletcher 34 (pen), Gain 36, 78 (pen), Green 47, Toner 71 Yeovil 1 Caceres 90 Marriott – 7, Bloomer – 8, Futcher – 8, Morgan – 8, Sandwith – 8, Toner – 8, Thomson – 8, Gain – 10 (Butcher – 6), Green – 8, Taylor-Fletcher – 8 (Hoskins – 7), Yeo – 7 (Cornelly – 7). Today’s victory means that we are now seven points clear of Kidderminster in the first relegation spot with only three matches left to play. A victory at home against Leyton Orient on Saturday will clinch our Nationwide Two status for another season. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Nationwide League Two - Tuesday 19th April 2005: |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Lincoln | 43 | 13 | 8 | 22 | 48 | 68 | -20 | 47 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |21st | Shrewsbury | 43 | 12 | 9 | 22 | 44 | 62 | -18 | 45 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |22nd | Yeovil | 43 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 52 | 77 | -25 | 44 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |23rd | Kidderminster | 43 | 10 | 10 | 23 | 52 | 77 | -25 | 40 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |24th | Southend | 43 | 10 | 8 | 25 | 42 | 77 | -25 | 38 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Looks like you're safe then more or less Good win against Yeovil too - this Taylor-Fletcher chap, not a bad player! good luck getting the three points - even if Kiddy look buggered Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 Thanks for following this story so closely BoN. Taylor-Fletcher is the only decent out-and-out striker that I've got at the club. He misses a lot of chances, but at least he gets in the right spot to be able to take them in the first place. I'm hoping to save Lincoln and get a shot at a full season with them in 2005/06. If I can bring in another decent forward, then I hope to see even better things from Taylor Fletcher. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 Thursday 21st April 2005: Just as Lincoln were making great strides in their quest to remain in Nationwide Two for another season, so was I in my quest to eventually rid myself of the need for a wheelchair. My physiotherapist Caitlin had got me to the stage of walking several steps at a time with me using a set of parallel bars to support myself. It was so encouraging finally having my brain tell my legs to do something and then being able to see that my legs responded as I wanted. I’d been doing lots of muscle-strengthening work in the gym and swimming in the pool at the rehabilitation centre and I felt that the time was right to start moving around with the aid of crutches. As it was, I now only had just over two weeks until our final game at Sincil Bank against Mansfield. I’d told Caitlin of my desire to start using crutches at my previous session and she had agreed that I could try it. So today I got myself to my feet at the end of the parallel bars and turned myself around to face the open room. Caitlin had arranged a set of sturdy aluminium crutches with supports that fitted around my forearms and handles part of the way down. I slipped my hands through the supports one at a time and stood ready to go. It was a really big moment – my first real attempt at regaining mobility without the use of a wheelchair in just under three years. Caitlin stood a few feet in front of me in case I toppled and she had an assistant stand behind me for just the same possible contingency. I put the right-hand crutch forward about ten inches and moved my right leg forward and watched it come down next to the crutch. I did the same with my left crutch followed by my left leg. Then I repeated the process with the right side, then the left again. I looked up beaming at Caitlin. “I’m doing this; I’m actually bloody doing thisâ€. “Slowly now Willie, don’t get overexcited and take a tumble, okay?†“No, I’m okay, but it just feels so natural. I’m not even having to try too hardâ€. I’d walked about a dozen steps by now, so I thought that I’d try to turn around and walk back to the parallel bars where I had started. It was necessary to take several small steps as I manoeuvred my body around to face the way that I had come, but I managed it okay. All the time Caitlin and her assistant hovered around me in case I lost my balance or my strength gave out, but I wasn’t going to let that happen. Crutch, step, crutch, step, over and over again I went as I got myself back to my starting point. I noticed that my arms were beginning to tremble because I’d been taking a lot of my weight on them and the crutches to compensate for my legs. I made a mental note to do some more upper body work in my gym sessions as I’d completely overlooked that side of my rehabilitation. The assistant pushed my wheelchair in behind me and I lowered myself back down into it. I looked up at Caitlin. “Thanks for getting me so far, Caitlin. You don’t know how happy I feel right nowâ€. “Yes, it is wonderful Willie, but you’ve just entered a new phase now. There’s still a bit further to go yetâ€. “Oh, I know that, but I can see finally see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I know for certain now that I’ll be able to get rid of this bloody wheelchair some day soonâ€. Saturday 23rd April 2005: Lincoln v Leyton Orient – Sincil Bank, Lincoln The players had a quieter week in terms of training as I looked to rest up several of them – Butcher, Gain, Taylor-Fletcher and Yeo in particular. Butcher was definitely better off for the lighter workload and he was able to resume his place in the centre of the midfield with Toner returning to the bench after his good performance last Saturday. So with a win today confirming our Nationwide Two status for next season, I was able to send out my strongest side to hopefully achieve just that. I couldn’t have wished for a better start to the game than the one we got. Only 4 minutes had elapsed when Green played Bloomer’s throw-in back to the full-back and he whipped a chest-high cross into the near post where Butcher stooped to head past Morris. The team kept up the pressure as we searched for a second goal that would start to make it harder for Orient to comeback. Gain put his free-kick into the side-netting in the 18th minute, Butcher shot over from 20 yards in the 21st minute and Thomson strode forward from his defensive midfield position to fire in a rare shot which skidded inches wide of the post after 24 minutes. Just a minute later and the clearest chance yet fell to Gain after he burst into the penalty area to run onto Green’s enticing low cross. Gain hit it powerfully on the half-volley from 12 yards, but Morris stretched brilliantly to his left to tip it over for a corner. As often happens after something like that, the tables were suddenly turned and we found ourselves all square instead. A quick throw from Rosenior went to Lee on the right and he sent over a cross which Scott headed past Marriott and the score was now 1-1 after 27 minutes. Thankfully the players have more confidence nowadays and they shook off the disappointment of the equaliser and went in search of a second goal again. Butcher came mighty close after 33 minutes when his goal-bound shot from Gain’s corner was headed off the line by Orient forward Alexander. The striker then threatened us at the other end after 39 minutes when he ran onto Scott’s through-ball, skipped past the tackle of Sandwith and hammered a low shot goalwards. Marriott got his body in the way to block the shot, but it rebounded back to Alexander. With his second attempt though, Alexander could only poke the ball into the side-netting. When the half-time break arrived, I felt that we were slightly hard done by to be going in at 1-1. For some reason the spark went out of our play in the second half. Thankfully for us Orient carelessly butchered the two clear-cut chances that they created. Two long range shots from Green and Thomson were all that we could muster over the 45 minute period. Orient’s best chance fell to their substitute Ibehre who ran free of our defence after 70 minutes, but panicked when it came time to shoot and dragged his shot well wide with only Marriott to beat. My heart was also in my throat in the 85th minute when Alexander got himself free on the right and cut inside Futcher to again face Marriott one-on-one, but his low shot went into the side-netting much to my relief. That second half was probably the most disappointing part of any match that I had seen since I had taken over. A win today would have guaranteed our survival in Nationwide Two for this season, but when it came to the players making that happen, they just weren’t capable of it. Still I shouldn’t be too harsh – we’ve come a long way in recent weeks and I’m confident that we’ll get the points we need to ensure our safety. Lincoln 1 Butcher 4 Leyton Orient 1 Scott 27 Marriott – 6, Bloomer – 7, Futcher – 7, Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 7, Thomson – 7, Gain – 7, Green – 7, Taylor-Fletcher – 7, Yeo – 7. With only two rounds still to play, none of the relegation issues have yet to be resolved. Our 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient means that we remain in 20th place on 48 points. However Kidderminster’s 4-3 win over Scunthorpe takes them to 43 points and keeps them in the final relegation slot of 23rd place. That puts us 5 points ahead of danger with 2 matches remaining. Southend kept their faint hopes alive with a 1-1 draw at Darlington, but they are in 24th place with 39 points and will be relegated if they don’t win next Saturday. Yeovil’s terrible form extended to eight consecutive defeats with a 3-2 home loss to Chester and they remain in 22nd place on 44 points whilst Shrewsbury’s 2-1 loss at Grimsby leaves them in 21st place on 45 points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted July 27, 2005 Author Share Posted July 27, 2005 Thursday 28th April 2005: It was a mixed day for me today as skipper Ben Futcher injured his wrist in training and has been ruled out for Saturday’s vital match at Scunthorpe. Simon Weaver will take his place in the starting line-up. I was then contacted by the media and asked for my reaction to Scunthorpe manager Brian Laws earlier comment that he was looking forward to his side beating Lincoln in the big derby match and helping to contribute to our impending relegation. I fired a remark back to the journalist stating that I was extremely confident of victory at Glanford Park on Saturday and that Brian Laws comments had no affect on me or my team. In fact I was so confident of our form at this stage of the season that I predicted that we would finish above Scunthorpe on the table come the final round. Friday 29th April 2005: Just to ensure that things didn’t go too smoothly for our big match, fate decided that further confusion should be thrown in when Chris Cornelly broke his collar-bone in a accident at training and he will be out of action for at least the next month. Young winger Tom Wilkinson has been drafted onto the bench as a result. Saturday 30th April 2005: So here we were at the penultimate match of the season at Scunthorpe. We were five points clear of the final relegation place and there were two matches remaining to play. Our survival was in our own hands. A win today and we were safe; a draw or a loss and we might need a result next week at home to Mansfield. There was just one change to my regular starting eleven with Weaver in for Futcher at centre-half. Gain would wear the captain’s armband. Scunthorpe v Lincoln – Glanford Park, Scunthorpe Scunthorpe’s early pressure led to the first corner of the match in the 4th minute. Shilton curled it in and Green and Baraclough both struggled to reach the ball before Baraclough went to the ground. Incredibly referee Brian Curson gave Scunthorpe a penalty and showed Green the yellow card. Honestly, there was nothing in it and I couldn’t believe the decision. Centre-half Crosby took the spot-kick, but it was poorly hit and was too close to Marriott who was able to grasp the ball in both arms and clutch it to his chest. Even though the penalty-kick had been saved, the lads were rattled and nervous. Scunthorpe continued their pressure and we were having trouble getting the ball out of our own half. Baraclough curled a free-kick into the side-netting after 15 minutes and Holmes shot just over from close range after 18 minutes as our opponents searched for the opening goal. The Lincoln defence were standing too far back and the midfield was having trouble covering the spaces as a result. Hayes sent a skidding shot just past Marriott’s post after 27 minutes and Holmes found the side-netting again in the 33rd minute as the home side’s fans roared them on. Finally we registered our first shot in the 35th minute when a misplaced pass was intercepted by Taylor-Fletcher who feed the ball to Butcher who shot wide from the edge of the area. It was a start anyway. From the resulting goal-kick Green won the ball and found Taylor-Fletcher and our striker whistled in a shot which flicked the post with the keeper well-beaten. We were back on track now and further shots from Green and Butcher tested Scunthorpe’s goalie Evans as we made up for lost time. Injury-time was just about to begin when Bloomer broke up an attack and released Green on the right. A beautiful interchange of passes between Green, Taylor-Fletcher and Butcher moved the ball downfield. The final pass was to Gain and from 18 yards he sent a scorching drive rocketing high into the Scunthorpe net to put us 1-0 in front. The goal had soothed the player’s jangled nerves and their confidence was restored as I spoke to them at the half-time break. A second goal would make things very healthy and it took only 5 minutes for it to come. Weaver cleared a corner with a towering header, Yeo picked it up on the left and ran with it and Taylor-Fletcher provided the run to receive the killer-pass. Just as he was about to shoot, Jackson hooked it away but it fell to Yeo out on the left again. This time his measured pass found Butcher and from 12 yards out the midfield dynamo hit a first-time shot under Evans to make it 2-0. Our travelling fans were in full voice now and giving lots of stick to the home supporters. There was a bit of a panic when Crosby’s header was only half-saved by Marriott after 55 minutes, but Bloomer bravely threw himself in front of the rebound shot from Holmes and charged it down. After 60 minutes Green’s pace saw him skip past Sharp and send a dangerous low cross skidding across the Scunthorpe box. It was a touch too long for our forwards, but Gain chased it down and quickly crossed it back into the box again. Taylor-Fletcher had completely lost his marker and he was able to slide in at the near post to divert the ball home for his 15th goal of the season and a comprehensive 3-0 lead to us. My assistant Gary Simpson slapped me on the back in joy – clearly he felt that we were safe now. However there was still 30 minutes to go and anything could happen. The Lincoln players weren’t about to let Scunthorpe back into the match though. I freshened things up with gradual substitutions as Toner replaced Gain, Ryan replaced Taylor-Fletcher and young Wilkinson replaced Yeo. As the linesman signalled 2 minutes of injury-time remaining, I allowed myself to believe that we had done it and made good our survival. With the Lincoln fans cheering crazily and the Scunthorpe fans heading for the exits, I took myself and my wheelchair down to the section where most of our supporters were. I gave them a wave and turned around to watch the final few seconds. The referee’s final whistle sent the noise from the fans up another notch and sent the players running together into a jumping, heaving mass of celebration and relief. I turned and faced the fans. I stood up from my wheelchair and took a couple of tottering steps forward. I raised my arms in triumph. We were safe and I had helped make it possible. What a brilliant moment!! Scunthorpe 0 Lincoln 3 Gain 45, Butcher 50, Taylor-Fletcher 60 Marriott – 8, Bloomer – 7, Weaver – 9, Morgan – 8, Sandwith – 8, Butcher – 8, Thomson – 7, Gain – 9 (Toner – 7), Green – 6, Taylor-Fletcher – 8 (Ryan – 7), Yeo – 8 (Wilkinson – 8). 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Spav Posted July 27, 2005 Author Share Posted July 27, 2005 Sunday 1st May 2005: At home on Sunday morning after a night of celebration on Saturday evening, I made myself a strong cup of coffee and took in the roundup of the weekend’s games in the newspaper. As usual Tony Cunningham had the lead article on Lincoln’s latest match, but he displayed a bright and cheerful demeanour most unlike his usual belligerent self. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Lincoln Standard – 13th April 2005 IMP’S MIRACLE COMPLETED AS ‘WHEELIE’ WALKS AGAIN By Tony Cunningham Lincoln City Football Club secured their Football League status for another season with a fine 3-0 derby win over local rivals Scunthorpe yesterday. In doing so, the previously wheelchair-bound manager Willie Murphy added credence to the notion that a miracle had been performed when he rose from his wheelchair and walked for the Imp’s faithful after the final whistle. Murphy’s appointment as Lincoln manager may have been with scepticism by many people in late February, but chairman Ron Bradley’s decision has proved to be very wise indeed. That decision was given further kudos when the popular ‘Wheelie’ was named Mirror Manager of the Month for April 2005 after leading the club to safety with four wins and two draws from their six matches. Yesterday’s 3-0 win at Scunthorpe was secured with goals from what were probably Lincoln’s three most inspirational players under Murphy’s managership – Peter Gain, Richard Butcher and Gary Taylor-Fletcher. He has revitalised the club after its disastrous start to the season and given fresh hope to the supporters that they may see a far more competitive side in action next season. Just as Lincoln secured their survival, so the other clubs at the foot of the table were having their fates decided. Southend’s 2-2 home draw with Wycombe sealed their fate as the first relegated team. Southend find themselves in 24th and last place on 40 points, 4 points behind 23rd placed Kidderminster on 44 points after their 1-1 draw at Mansfield. Shrewsbury still faces the drop after a 2-1 home loss to Notts County and they remain in 22nd place on 45 points. Yeovil finally cracked it for a win when they picked up three vital points with a 2-0 victory at Leyton Orient. That puts them in 21st place on 47 points. Although Scunthorpe lost 3-0 at home to Lincoln, they are safe in 20th place with 48 points. Next weekend’s final round of matches will therefore see either Kidderminster, Shrewsbury or Yeovil join Southend in the Conference next season. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I put the paper down and relaxed back into my armchair. There was just one more match remaining this season against Mansfield, but it would be the first game that I had been in charge where there was no necessity to get a win. I could send the players out to just enjoy the day and I could do the same. Enjoy it while you can, I thought to myself. Next season is just around the corner and you’re going to have to go through it all again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 Wednesday 4th May 2005: With the pressure off now that we had secured our place in the Football League, I eased down on the training before our final match against local rivals Mansfield. Unfortunately it wasn’t toned down enough to stop a couple of injuries occurring. Right-back Matt Bloomer picked up a grain strain in a game of five-a-side and top scorer Gary Taylor-Fletcher injured his right foot when he twisted it in a pot-hole on the training field. With Ben Futcher not quite fit enough to start in defence Gareth McAuley will play instead whilst the promising young striker Oliver Ryan will get a chance to play up front. After the players took the afternoon off, I went up to the offices to see Lincoln chairman Ron Bradley as he asked me to do. We’d not really discussed my future since our win at Scunthorpe had clinched our Nationwide Two survival last Saturday, but I was sure that was the subject that he had on his mind. Ron was already waiting for me in the boardroom when I wheeled myself in. After a brief greeting and a shake of my hand, he took a seat and got straight down to business as usual. “Willie, you know I don’t like to waste my time in idle chit-chat, so let’s cut straight to the point. When we first met here ten weeks ago, I told you that if you could save this club from relegation I’d consider your tenure on a long-term basisâ€. I nodded in agreement at his recollection of the events surrounding my hiring. “Well, you’ve certainly kept your part of the bargain, so now I’ll keep mine. I’d like to offer you a contract for the next two years as Lincoln manager with the option of an additional year to be negotiated dependant on the results that we can achieve next season. Why do you say?†“Ron, nothing would give me more pleasure than signing on here for the next two years and taking this team on to bigger and better things. I really believe that the bulk of the players that we’ve got here are capable of more than they shown this season. So yes, I’d love to take up that offerâ€. “Right then, Willie, I’ll get the paperwork underway and you go out and get us a victory against Mansfield on Saturday. After we get that final game out of the way, we’ll discuss what needs to be done with regard to strengthening the team for next seasonâ€. So that was that – another quick handshake and I left the boardroom with the Lincoln managership for another two years. Saturday 7th May 2005: Lincoln v Mansfield – Sincil Bank, Lincoln It seemed like there was a carnival atmosphere around Sincil Bank as our relieved supporters looked forward to a game where there was nothing riding on the result. Mansfield didn’t appear to have too many attacking aspirations as the first half started and we were given free rein of the midfield. Butcher and Gain made themselves right at home as they had done for the previous eleven matches and set about creating some chances for us. Young Ryan was making the most of his start with some intelligent running and thoughtful lay-offs. He was presented with the first serious chance of the match after 14 minutes when Yeo set him up just inside the penalty area, but from 15 yards out he drove his shot straight into the body of Mansfield keeper Pilkington. The next chance didn’t materialise until the 35th minute when Butcher leapt high to meet Gain’s free-kick, but could only head the ball 12 inches over the cross bar. A Gain corner in the 42nd minute was met by the head of Green, but he was similarly wayward in his attempt as Butcher had been a few minutes earlier. As half-time arrived with the score locked at 0-0 I was pleased with the fact that we’d kept Mansfield from having one shot on our goal. All we needed now was to find the net ourselves. A series of corners around the hour mark was the first serious attacking pressure that we put on Mansfield’s goal in the second half, but our opposition managed to weather the storm. With Butcher tiring I bought on Toner with 20 minutes to go. He was immediately involved in the play as he won a tackle and fed Gain who sprayed a pass down the left wing for Yeo. The forward took a couple of touches before firing over a firm cross which Toner met with a powerful header, only to see Pilkington dive to his right to tip it away for a corner. With 10 minutes remaining I made my last two changes, bringing on Blackwood for Ryan and giving skipper Futcher a chance to finish the season on the pitch by replacing Weaver. As soon as the substitutions had been made Gain picked up a loose ball in the midfield and dribbled to 25 yards out before unleashing a shot that crashed against the cross bar and rebounded to safety. The ball just didn’t seem to want to go in the net for us, but we’d still kept Mansfield shotless to this stage of the match. As injury-time began I started to prepare myself for the send-off lap that we would perform. Time was up on my watch when Pilkington’s long free-kick found the head of Greenacre just inside our penalty area. He managed to divert it across our goalmouth for Asamoah to lunge in and prod the ball past Marriott to give Mansfield a last-ditch winner. I still hadn’t taken in the fact that we’d be caught cold on the final attack of the match by our opponent’s first goalscoring chance of the whole afternoon when the referee blew an end to the match just a few seconds later. Lincoln 0 Mansfield 1 Asamoah 90 Marriott – 7, McAuley – 7, Weaver – 7 (Futcher – 6), Morgan – 7, Sandwith – 7, Butcher – 7 (Toner – 7), Thomson – 7, Gain – 7, Green – 7, Ryan – 7 (Blackwood – 7), Yeo – 7. As the game ended, I had my helpful steward Terry bring me my crutches. Unlike last weekend at Scunthorpe where I had just stood up from my wheelchair and taken a couple of small steps, I planned to walk an entire circuit of the Sincil Bank pitch today. The players were already congratulating themselves in the middle of the park and then they made their way across towards the dugouts where I was waiting. I pulled myself up onto my feet and Terry held the crutches while I slipped my hands through the forearm supports. The crowd were cheering and loudly applauding us now. I set off at a slow pace, feeling somewhat like a drunken crab, but finding that I was managing it without too much difficult. It was one of the best moments of my footballing career. Unlike my playing days where I worked as one of a team of players, I was now responsible for a whole club and the way that it performed on the football field. To have turned around the fortunes of Lincoln City and thus be able to receive the thanks of the grateful supporters was such a great privilege. Of course the moment would not have been complete without a dash of humour from our resident funny-man Francis Green. As I made my way around Sincil Bank, stopping every now and then to wave to the fans or shake the hand of a happy supporter, Francis pushed himself up beside me in the wheelchair that I had left back at the dugouts. “I found this jalopy back there, boss. I hope you don’t mind me using it?†“Not at all, Franny. In fact, why don’t you’ll keep it – I don’t think I’ll be needing it much anymoreâ€. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Great stuff Spav - well done Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz the Imp Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 Our chairman's name is ROB Bradley. Minor detail, but I'm being a pedantic ******* because it's my club Well done on keeping us up, I look forward to a good season next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted August 5, 2005 Author Share Posted August 5, 2005 Thanks Bob - I will probably go to monthly updates for the new season. Cheers Daz - You (and FM2005) are correct, of course. I wrote that from memory and I was wrong. I hope you get some enjoyment from the new season. ================================================ Nationwide Two Promotion Playoffs – 2004/05 Season: Whilst the Lincoln players started their summer holidays and I had begun the task of reviewing the squad for next season, there was still the matter of the promotion playoffs for those sides lucky enough to have finished in fourth thru seventh places. The winner of the playoffs would join Swansea, Northampton and Boston United in Nationwide One next season. Saturday 14th May 2005: Playoff Semi-Final 1st Leg: Notts County 1 Cheltenham 1 Sunday 15th May 2005: Playoff Semi-Final 1st Leg: Bristol Rovers 6 Cambridge 2 Wednesday 18th May 2005: Playoff Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Cheltenham 1 Notts County 2 (Notts County win 3-2 on aggregate) Thursday 19th May 2005: Playoff Semi-Final 2nd Leg: Cambridge 1 Bristol Rovers 0 (Bristol Rovers win 6-3 on aggregate) Monday 30th May 2005: Playoff Final: Bristol Rovers 1 Notts County 0 (Bristol Rovers are promoted to Nationwide One) <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Nationwide League Two - Monday 30th May 2005: |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st P | Swansea | 46 | 29 | 4 | 13 | 91 | 56 | +35 | 91 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd P | Northampton | 46 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 71 | 41 | +30 | 87 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd P | Boston Utd | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 75 | 47 | +28 | 83 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th P | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 71 | 58 | +13 | 79 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Cheltenham | 46 | 19 | 19 | 8 | 84 | 61 | +23 | 76 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Notts Co | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 70 | 54 | +16 | 74 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Cambridge | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 68 | 50 | +18 | 73 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Rochdale | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 73 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Chester | 46 | 20 | 9 | 17 | 58 | 62 | -4 | 69 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Wycombe | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 67 | 57 | +10 | 67 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Oxford | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 67 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Bury | 46 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 63 | 60 | +3 | 62 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Rushden | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 56 | 53 | +3 | 62 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | Grimsby | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 65 | 72 | -7 | 58 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | Macclesfield | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 60 | 71 | -11 | 56 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Mansfield | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 53 | 63 | -10 | 55 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | Darlington | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 58 | 68 | -10 | 52 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | LINCOLN | 46 | 14 | 9 | 23 | 52 | 70 | -18 | 51 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Leyton Orient | 46 | 11 | 17 | 18 | 64 | 84 | -20 | 50 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Scunthorpe | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 61 | 77 | -16 | 49 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |21st | Yeovil | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 57 | 81 | -24 | 48 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |22nd | Shrewsbury | 46 | 12 | 9 | 25 | 47 | 68 | -21 | 45 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |23rd R| Kidderminster | 46 | 11 | 11 | 24 | 58 | 84 | -26 | 44 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |24th R| Southend | 46 | 10 | 11 | 25 | 56 | 81 | -25 | 41 | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Player Review – 21st February to 7th May 2005 – 12 games: As part of my review of the squad in readiness for next season, I have made the following notes about the performances of the players for the 12 games that I was in charge of at the end of the season. P-12 W-6 D-3 L-3 For-23 Ag-10 Pts-21 (from a possible 36) Goalkeepers: Alan Marriott – 26 – GK (11 appearances / 8 goals conceded / 7.27) A fine performer who imparted great confidence on his defence. A great shot-stopper, but slightly hesitant under the high ball. Simon Rayner – 21 – GK (1 appearance / 2 goals conceded / 6.00) Played the first game of my reign whilst Marriott recovered from injury, but a horrendous mistake ensured that he would only be my second choice. Defenders: Matt Bloomer – 26 – D RC (11 appearances / 7.27) Impressive at right-back and covered well when left-back Sandwith pushed forward. Ben Futcher – 23 – D C (9+1 appearances / 7.40) A colossal presence at centre-half and he led the team with the determination and influence that I expected. Paul Morgan – 26 – D C (11 appearances / 7.45) Complemented Futcher perfectly and was often the loose man so that his excellent positioning and anticipation could be put to good use. Simon Weaver – 27 – D C (3+2 appearances / 7.20) Probably the unluckiest player in the squad as he performed well when called upon, but I was loathe to break up the Futcher/Morgan partnership. Gareth McAuley – 25 – D C (2 appearances / 7.00) A good club man who played a backup roll as required and was unlucky not to play more. Kevin Sandwith – 27 – D L (12 appearances / 7.42) A real surprise. He came off the transfer list and played all 12 games. Solid in defence, but his attacking flair added another dimension down the left. Midfielders: Steve Thomson – 27 – DM C (12 appearances / 7.42) A fine purchase by my predecessor. He fitted perfectly into the defensive midfielder’s role, pressing opponents, tackling hard and distributing well. Richard Butcher – 24 – M C (11+1 appearances / 5 goals / 7.25) Hard working, hard running midfielder who let his stamina and fitness make up for any lack of skill. Often ghosted into the box to take up scoring opportunities. Ciaran Toner – 23 – M C (1+8 appearances / 1 goal / 7.33) My super-sub who made regular appearances when Butcher or Gain had run themselves into the ground. Performed consistently when called upon. Peter Gain – 28 – M LC (12 appearances / 4 goals / 8.08) The real maestro of the team. An impeccable performer who set up innumerable scoring chances as well as taking several himself. He would rate as my Player of the Season for the time that I was in charge. Tom Wilkinson – 19 – AM R (0+1 appearance / 8.00) Showed glimpses of potential in his only appearance, but will have to serve more time in the reserves before he is ready. Chris Cornelly – 27 – AM RL (0+5 appearances / 1 goal / 7.00) Like Wilkinson, he showed some potential, but he is injury-prone and inconsistent. Forwards: Francis Green – 24 – F RC (12 appearances / 3 goals / 7.25) Asked to work as an attacking right-winger and selflessly did the job whilst still finding time to score a couple of important goals. Michael Blackwood – 25 – F LC (2+3 appearances / 7.00) Covered for Yeo as an attacking left-winger, but did not perform at anything more than adequate. Simon Yeo – 31 – F LC (10 appearances / 1 goal / 7.20) Like Green, he was asked to curtail his striking instincts to play more as an attacking left-winger. Did a fine job, but his fitness needs improving. Gary Taylor-Fletcher – 23 – S C (11 appearances / 6 goals / 7.36) An excellent performer who took on his target man/holding role as requested and bought the wingers and attacking midfielders into the game. Still found time to notch a goal every second game. Marcus Richardson – 27 – S C (0+3 appearances / 7.00) Played only when Taylor-Fletcher needed resting and did not show anything that indicates he will be of much future use. Oliver Ryan – 19 – S C (1+2 appearances / 7.00) The potential is there, but he still needs some polishing up in the reserves. Did his future chances no harm though when he did play. 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