They say never go back...

[irishregan]

A sort of local derby was our first game of the always hectic month of December, a home match-up with Leicester, who were struggling in 21st. Bowyer was back on the right side of midfield. The game was an atrocity, which we had the better of, yet I was so sickened by the pathetic standard of our performance that I didn’t talk to the team at all during the game. We never looked like losing, against a team so inept that this was actually about as well as they could play, yet I was more worried by the fact that we seemed to have sunk to their level.

Forest 0-0 Leicester Att: 30585

Commons was a casualty, out 1-2 weeks with a rib problem, while Pidgeley joined him for the same amount of time, after taking a blow to the face (not from me I might hastily add, although I certainly felt like it). We had now gone 7 games without a win. Several draws in there couldn’t disguise the fact that our level of play had been a disgrace to this famous club. Once again though, whilst I was depressed about that part of it, I was still utterly determined to be at the helm when we returned to glory.

On the 6th, I decided with a slightly heavy heart to sell Doriva to Genoa for 40K. A number of factors combined to make it the right move. He was 34, out of contract at the end of the season, and I felt it was time to move on. Whilst his supreme ability from free kicks had provided a welcome boost to our goal tally, he had become something of a one-trick pony, and I needed more in that area of the pitch. The answer to goalscoring problems was to find people who scored goals. Not persist with a brilliant but ageing exponent of dead balls who contributed little else to the team.

Three days later we were at Norwich which is one of those teams I can never remember having had any decent results against in all my time in management. Pedersen and Foy replaced our injured starters, and our recalled keeper picked the ball out of the net twice in the first 14 minutes. Jansen pulled one back in 1st half injury time, yet I had no doubt that we had no chance whatsoever of turning it around. We didn’t, and Foy’s sending off 10 minutes from time rubbed salt in the wound.

I had been angry at half-time, then at full-time I really let the players have it. I was calling them all sorts (shower of s***e, disgrace to the club, worthless excuse for a footballer etc). The lads actually looked like they were hurt for a change. We’ll wait and see if we get a reaction, though I was pleased to hear Foy quoted in the media that the team had been taken aback by my fury and that things had to change.

The opportunity to make amends arrived on Wednesday at The City Ground, against Brentford, who were living down to expectations in 16th place. Jansen had picked up a knock, and was replaced by Weir-Daley, whilst Commons returned in place of the injured Foy. This didn’t prevent the time honoured rancid performance, except this time we finally went in front, a weak shot from Tyson jammily deflected past their keeper, which was about the only way we looked like scoring. I told the lads to keep it going. They defended without many alarms, and we hung on deservedly for a win at the 9th attempt. The relief around the ground was palpable.

Forest 1-0 Brentford Att: 17356

The win having dampened my rage somewhat, I took Brecks, Commons and Tyson off the transfer list. It was a shock tactic that hadn’t worked anyway, though it made me feel a bit better at the time.

Another home game, this time against Sheffield Wednesday was scheduled for the Saturday. The visitors sat 5th, which didn’t augur well the way we were playing, and they duly took the lead after 5 minutes. There was more fight and confidence in our lot this time though, and Murphy drove in an excellent equalizer on 14 minutes. Three minutes later another deflected shot gave us the lead courtesy of an own goal. We were suddenly on fire, and 10 minutes after that, Weir-Daley latched on to the end of a fabulous move to head his first senior goal. Another fine move after 33 saw Tyson apply the finish, and a delirious crowd couldn’t quite believe the 4 goal blitz they had just witnessed in 20 minutes. They weren’t the only ones. I had the pleasant formality of telling the lads just to keep it going, then the equal pleasure of telling them after the match that they had been quite sensational. Something of a roller coaster ride lately, but it’s amazing what a couple of wins can do for morale. The lads were laughing and joking and taking the p*** out of my bad temper just like old times.

Forest 4-1 Sheffield Wednesday Att: 30593

On the Monday I sold van de Velden to Hartlepool for 325K, representing a good profit for a player I had taken a mad punt on, and who quite palpably hadn’t worked out. On that same day Jeffers didn't turn up for training. I gave him a warning, which he accepted, and that was the end of it. If he hadn’t already been sold, I’d have come down on him like a tonne of bricks. Since he was on his way out, his bad behaviour was no longer my problem.

Two days before Christmas, we had the unenviable task of a visit to Spurs. I prefer glossing over days like this, except to say that we were thoroughly thrashed and totally humiliated, to the tune of 4-0. I wasn’t too hard on the players for the simple reason that we were outplayed and outclassed from the first whistle, and there’s not a lot you can do about that.

Tottenham 4-0 Forest Att: 36208

I was back up the motorway like a shot that evening, as I was anxious to start my second Christmas with Kelly as soon as possible, bearing in mind that we had a game on the 26th that would cut it short by a day. It was every bit as good as last year’s installment, though different in one respect. Last year I had just been dreaming of pulling her, now we were an item, though rather amazingly no-one seemed to know about it, or maybe they just didn’t care. It helped that we were both pretty busy, so we weren’t hanging off eachother’s arm every day of the week. It worked very nicely that way, although we had discussed bringing it out into the open soon.

I had to drag myself away for the Boxing Day game at home to Doncaster. I only arrived at 1:30, which was disgracefully unprofessional, though I pretended I’d been in my office for a while beforehand. I had trouble getting to the game, because we’d been up half the night drinking and carrying on. There was no way I was in a fit state to drive even the short distance to the ground, and getting a taxi on Boxing Day was like trying to get an audience with the Pope. The lads laughed when I said I had the flu, and Brecks asked, â€do they sell the flu in a bottle at the off-licence now then boss?â€

I never objected to a bit of good-natured ribbing in the dressing room. Everyone went out with a smile on their face, but I’d forgotten to get serious before the start, and we were caught out with their first shot of the game, going behind 6 minutes in. Six minutes after that, the returning Jansen bent in a cracker, then halfway through the half, a nice move and cross by Perch was clinically headed in by Tyson. A fine comeback was capped by a Murphy penalty 3 minutes before the interval. We shut down the game from there quite easily, until one of our unbiased refereeing friends decided to make us sweat, giving a ludicrous penalty with 4 minutes left, and a free route for the visitors back into the game. We held on, quite deservedly so. All of a sudden we had 3 wins in a row, and were playing well enough to win despite regular injuries and all of our games being officiated by total and utter w***ers.

Forest 3-2 Doncaster Att: 19857

Our last game of the year was the tortuous trip to Plymouth. An unexpectedly lively start from our travel-worn team resulted in a 13th minute opener for Tyson. I felt we only had to play up to our potential to win this game, only for the lads to concede a s***e goal defensively straight after half-time. I was seething on the touchline, then Commons broke down the left and pinpointed Bowyer on the back post, who emphatically headed home. With half an hour left there was still potential for more calamity, though as I suspected, the home side weren’t really good enough to come back twice. Job well done.

Plymouth 1-2 Forest Att: 11513

Four wins in a row meant I could wind down into the New Year quite nicely, though Mark Wright the manager of Derby tried to embroil me in a war of words before the derby game on New Years Day. I wasn’t to be baited, and if we won he’d get both barrels.

[Guest]

Great job irishregan, I'm loving the story! Keep it up

[Guest Roy Race]

Good work, I like the choice of name for the solicitors too Even though I would have chosen Kelly as well, it seems to be a bit boring to just settle down with her, make Jenny pregnant or something

[irishregan]

Thanks Dur Lennart! Thanks also Roy Race, don’t worry, I am trying to keep the personal side of my life spicy enough for the readers. Developments to follow later in the story. The name of the solicitors gave me a laugh. David Baddiel on Fantasy Football years ago mentioned that the Norwich side of the 90s all had names that sounded like solicitors firms, so I resurrected that and threw in Mike Whitlow from Leicester.

As the transfer window opened, business was all in an outward direction. Speroni, Finnan, Jeffers, Van de Velden and Doriva made their exit. Reading’s fans immediately registered their displeasure at the arrival of Jeffers. I doubt they’ll be proved wrong.

The game against Derby was one-way traffic too, yet we couldn’t put a finish to our domination. I was very tetchy at half time, not only since this was a derby, but because their gaffer had mouthed off during the week. That really annoys me. Past the hour I went all out attack, determined to win. With 13 minutes left, Bowyer made it down the right, crossing for sub Clingan to score. A very similar move, this time down the left, and involving Commons feeding Tyson secured the points, and gave me an aura of smug satisfaction as I looked over at the opposition bench. The lads had done well, now I could go after Mark Wright.

Forest 2-0 Derby Att: 30563

I told d***head that I outclassed him in the match, and it’s clear which one of these two rivals is on the up. He didn’t take the bait, and I was satisfied to have the last word.

The day after I moved into the transfer market, securing the services of Stoke left winger Peter Sweeney for the very reasonable price of 110K. He was a player I had been interested in for some time. Masses of potential and skill, though at 3 grand a week, his wages demanded performance sooner rather than later.

The same could be said of another Scottish winger we signed two days later. Chris Burke was a highly regarded prospect at Rangers, whom it appeared they actually wanted to keep, though he had messed them about over a new contract. They were reluctant to let him go, though settled for 375K plus a 25% sell on clause. Our scouts had raved about him, and Frank was convinced that 5.5K/week was not an unreasonable amount to be throwing at this largely unproven player. So I did.

Both started the game at home to Mansfield in the FA Cup. It was a relative walk in the park against an opponent struggling in League Two. Burke scored a debut penalty, and though they fought well, a 2-0 scoreline was not a reflection of the comfort with which our team of reserves prevailed.

Forest 2-0 Mansfield Att: 17330

Reporters were full of questions about our debutants and I agreed that they had performed very well, and had no doubt they had a big future here.

An unusually busy Sunday (by my standards) began with my reaction to the news that our next cup opponent would be Liverpool away. Ker-ching! The next order of the day was to tie up the signing of Inigo Diaz de Cerio, an exciting young striker from Real Sociedad B. Sadly, we wouldn’t see him in action till next season, this one being a Bosman. At 7.75K till 2010, it had potential as a costly mistake, though I had no doubts.

The rest of the week was extremely busy, with little time for anything outside of football. On the 12th I swooped for Juventus reserve team hitman Giuseppe Sculli, and this was a real can’t-miss signing. This guy was top class, and was only sidelined at Juve due to the exceptional quality of those ahead of him. Another Bosman, and a bargain at that, his 4 year deal came in at a mere 5.75K/week. Next season was shaping up nicely.

For the present, I added ex-Brazil striker Amoroso on a free transfer from Milan, in an 18 month deal at 7.75K/week. He arrived just in time for our game at Millwall on the 13th, and took a seat on the bench.

Sadly, the bad old version of us had resurfaced, a diabolical 1st half excuse for a performance in which we were lucky to only be one down at the half. I unloaded on the team at half-time, yet things got little better. Breckin got sent off, and Tyson missed an absolute sitter that would have gotten us a draw, which just summed up the day. I gave the team another furious dressing down afterwards, as revealed by Bignot after the game (I left without comment to the media).

Millwall 1-0 Forest Att: 11104

Not for the first time, I thought the sending off was grossly unfair. As expected though, the spineless w***ers at the league HQ backed the moron ref. Coupled with Bignot’s injury, our resources at the back were stretched to the limit for the home game with Wolves on the 20th.

Turner, Perch and Amoroso came in, and at the risk of boring readers we gave our usual performance. One down after 7 minutes and heavily outshot, I changed approach and went easy on the lads, if for no other reason that I was getting sick of ranting and raving. My restraint was rewarded straight after the break, Tyson crossing for Jansen to head in from almost on the goal-line. It was even from then on, and we probably deserved what we got. Just about.

Forest 1-1 Wolves Att: 30588

We had a nice long rest till we faced Liverpool on the 31st. In that time, I managed to secure an important signing. Ben Thatcher joined up from Man City on an 18 month deal at 5K/week, for just 160K transfer fee. He would certainly add some much needed steel and quality to the defence. In the lead up to the game I praised Rafa Benitez, saying what a good manager he was, and he completely and utterly ignored me, which I suppose showed how seriously they were taking us.

We were expecting a hammering of course, and with them 2 up at half time that’s what we got. The anticipated 2nd half bludgeoning never materialized though, and despite the sending off of Turner, Murphy capped a fine fightback at his old club with a penalty 10 minutes from time. It certainly restored some pride, and seeing them struggle a bit against our 10 men certainly put the wind up Benitez, the ill-mannered c**t. I told the lads it was a fine effort, which improved their morale.

Liverpool 2-1 Forest Att: 34263

A 70K profit for the month was slightly misleading, since (by our measly standards), we had spent heavily on new signings.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Tottenham | | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 57 | 15 | +42 | 75 |

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| 2nd | | Crystal Palace | | 31 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 52 | 27 | +25 | 61 |

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| 3rd | | Blackburn | | 31 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 39 | 27 | +12 | 54 |

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| 4th | | Fulham | | 31 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 45 | 30 | +15 | 52 |

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| 5th | | Preston | | 31 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 56 | 43 | +13 | 51 |

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| 6th | | Norwich | | 31 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 50 |

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| 7th | | Wolves | | 31 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 49 |

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| 8th | | Sheff Utd | | 31 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 40 | 34 | +6 | 44 |

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| 9th | | Sheff Wed | | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 44 |

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| 10th | | Nottm Forest | | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 44 |

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| 11th | | Cardiff | | 31 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 32 | 36 | -4 | 43 |

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| 12th | | Millwall | | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 33 | -4 | 39 |

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| 13th | | Ipswich | | 31 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 33 | 48 | -15 | 39 |

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| 14th | | Coventry | | 31 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 44 | 43 | +1 | 38 |

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| 15th | | Derby | | 31 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 37 |

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| 16th | | Doncaster | | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 44 | 48 | -4 | 37 |

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| 17th | | Brentford | | 31 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 30 | 36 | -6 | 36 |

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| 18th | | Reading | | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 29 | 36 | -7 | 35 |

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| 19th | | Crewe | | 31 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 27 | 45 | -18 | 32 |

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| 20th | | Q.P.R. | | 31 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 29 | 48 | -19 | 32 |

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| 21st | | Luton | | 31 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 24 | 46 | -22 | 32 |

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| 22nd | | Hull | | 30 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 26 | 32 | -6 | 30 |

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| 23rd | | Leicester | | 31 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 25 | 34 | -9 | 29 |

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| 24th | | Plymouth | | 31 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 25 | 39 | -14 | 26 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

We're just treading water now, and I'm waiting for the end of the season to regroup and get some new faces in. we still need to finish strongly though to keep myself in good odour with the board.

[irishregan]

A tough game at home to Fulham was the first fixture in February. They scored on their first three shots, spanning 27 minutes, which was either quite pathetic or quite brilliant, depending on your point of view. Jansen pulled one back straight away, then another with 19 minutes left, but there was to be no miracle comeback. As so often, we were undone by incompetent defending. I went back to Mr Angry afterwards, and Morgan this time revealed my tantrum to the press. I would have to stop that. It was happening so often it was getting embarrassing, and I had to be careful about the players tuning me out.

Forest 2-3 Fulham Att: 29408

Happier news on the 9th, as building for next year continued apace. Shaun Maloney agreed a Bosman move from Celtic for 4.5K/week. It was hardly a mouthwatering signing, though he was well capable of producing the goods at this level.

Next day we made the trip to west London, to face QPR It was an atrocity of a match, during which they put us under some pressure. For once we had some luck. Jansen cleverly played in Tyson who smashed home the opener in the 42nd minute. I was full of encouragement for the lads, though a similar pattern in the 2nd half tested my patience. That was all forgotten about when Tyson was played in again and smashed home a 2nd with 15 minutes left, to provide us with a desperately overdue 3 points.

QPR 0-2 Forest Att: 14358

Midweek saw us on the road again, this time at Coventry, and a return to our usual standard of performance. Down by two at half-time, I just sat in the dugout and waited for the 2nd half. Keystone Cops defending gave them a 3rd after 66, and a Murphy free-kick 10 minutes from the end didn’t salvage anything in my mind. The players were knackered and looking for the bench in the 2nd half, but I refused to make any substitutions as punishment for an inept and cowardly performance. I left the ground at the final whistle, took a taxi to a car rental place, and drove home without the useless w***ers.

Coventry 3-1 Forest Att: 31409

Ipswich at home on Saturday promised another fiasco after they took the lead on 18 minutes. I could feel the restlessness in the crowd, and if this went on much longer, my position in all of this might come into question. Three minutes before half-time Murphy shot in to give us some hope. They had a player sent off on 44 minutes, which was greeted around the ground as if we’d just won another European Cup. Even we couldn’t f**k it up from here, especially when Tyson finished a neat move on the stroke of half time. Then on 64 minutes, them and the ref cheated themselves a penalty and you could hear the air go out of the crowd. I went all out attack, and sub Grant Holt spared our blushes, racing through twice in the 67th and 81st minutes to seemingly secure the win. Our fallibility was evident when we conceded another soft as s***e goal in injury time, and I told the lads that despite the win they were awful, and they knew it.

Forest 3-2 Ipswich Att: 27364

I was enraged on Sunday when I read Nathan Tyson’s comments about me being too heavy-handed with the team, and that the squad was unhappy with the way I spoke to them on match day. On Monday morning I had a quiet word with the lads, but in a very menacing demeanour. If there were any criticisms of me, or anyone else for that matter, they would be kept in-house. Anyone running to the press would be in trouble from now on. For my part, I told them I took what they said seriously, but they had to take responsibility and stop playing like twonks.

Great news before our midweek trip to Hull. Bignot had torn his groin and would be out 1-3 months. We’d just have to soldier on. The home side looked like what they were, relegation strugglers, and Murphy found the net with a rebound after a sustained pressurized opening. Then it all turned to s**t as we conceded two pitiful goals before half-time. I told the lads they better buck up, and with the last kick of the game, Jansen blasted in a free kick to save our blushes, yet not really cover for the fact that once again we were desperately poor.

Hull 2-2 Forest Att: 18789

Pedersen had tweaked his ribs and was another injury casualty for the next game at home to Sheffield United. In the interim, I did some more transfer business. Sherman Andres Cardenas was the prodigy of the Colombian national team, just 17 years old, whom we could snipe in and get because he wasn’t old enough yet to sign a professional contract. I’d seen him by chance on some scouting videos I watched, and the more we looked into the kid, the more he seemed like a star in the making. It cost us 700K compensation to his club, and he wouldn’t arrive until next season, but the squad was starting to look a lot more powerful for the future. Here was a man with the potential to be a world star.

The game against the Blades was unmitigated crap, the only highlight as such being Lee Bowyer missing an open net, in front of a crowd that seemed utterly dumbstruck by the complete lack of ability and entertainment on show.

Forest 0-0 Sheffield United Att: 30563

The board were still pleased with my performance, though that probably had more to do with the 300K profit for the month. I just had to gut out this season; next year promised so much more.

[irishregan]

We’d now fought our way into March, beginning with a tough away game at Crystal Palace. Pedersen and Amoroso were recalled to the side, and the latter gave us a great start, heading in a corner after 4 minutes. Predictably, the lead didn’t last very long, eight minutes to be precise. From there, the home side were surprisingly lacklustre. Yet with 3 minutes separating us and a very creditable point, we gave away a penalty. Resigned to defeat, I looked on glumly, only to see Amoroso played in by Murphy, and our recent acquisition provided a deadly finish. An absolutely deserved point, and full credit to the lads.

Palace 2-2 Forest Att: 25388

Three days later, we entertained 20th placed Crewe at home, and again Amoroso gave us a flier, this time in the 8th minute. It lasted till the half hour, a typically sloppy goal pegging us back. Despite dominating, and outshooting them 12-5, they stole a point. I was too drained to bother ranting at the lads, though did find time to tell them that the result was an embarrassment.

Forest 1-1 Crewe Att: 19945

Luton had slipped into 20th place now, and on the 11th of the month they provided us with our next home opposition. Quite why they had decided to feature it on TV only they could answer. I had enough trouble dragging myself to the ground, and I was the manager. I can’t imagine it engendered much anticipation in living rooms up and down the country.

We dominated possession, which of course meant they scored after 9 minutes. I questioned the lads’ passion, when I had no right to really, since I didn’t have any myself right at that moment. This time though, we got a positive reaction. Clingan was left alone in the box and half volleyed home just before the hour, then 6 minutes later, Sweeney won a penalty which Murphy duly converted. I was wary, though dismissive of the visitors’ true ability. They threatened little, and in injury time, a sweeping counter attack was finished into an open net by Murphy for his second of the night. A more emphatic result, and one that our performance actually deserved, despite the time honoured soft goal we conceded.

Forest 3-1 Luton Att: 21248

Saturday the 17th saw us on the road at 5th placed Preston, with Brecks and Morgan returning to supposedly stiffen the defence, though they had been culpable on many occasions themselves this season. A spectacular volley from Amoroso gave us a 5th minute lead, only for Preston to equalize immediately. We were very competitive, and it wasn’t an injustice when Jansen escaped and ran through to score four minutes before half-time. I told the lads to keep it up and not drop their level of performance, and was slightly surprised at the ease with which we held on against a side supposedly gunning for promotion. A very pleasing result, in which the team played to something like their real top-six potential.

Preston 1-2 Att: 20487

I headed for London to do some analysis on England’s game against Sweden, which they somehow managed to lose 1-0, despite dominating the game. The studio was full of recrimination, especially from ex-striker Gary Lineker. I was tempted to say that I see that every week watching our team play, but I didn’t bother. For once I didn’t have anything witty or interesting to say, which reflected my general mood. I was fed up with this season and just wanted it to end. Our league position was more or less settled, and we were just playing out the string.

The players displayed the same attitude on the last day of the month away at Blackburn. We were 2 down after 41 minutes, and two late goals extended the scoreline to the level of humiliation. We were totally outplayed, outshot and outclassed. No excuses. I said nothing to the team, apart from the unpleasant task of making a trip to the local infirmary to commiserate with Peter Sweeney, who had broken his leg, and was facing 4-7 months on the sidelines. The poor lad was distraught, and it put my self-absorbed moping into context. So from an entirely selfish point of view, I got something positive out of it.

The board were still very pleased with our efforts, although I wasn’t the only one who was shocked by the financial performance. We’d copped a loss of 440K for the month, which made for ugly reading at a club where money always seemed to be in short supply, especially when it came to transfer budgets.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Tottenham | | 41 | 32 | 8 | 1 | 81 | 19 | +62 | 104 |

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| 2nd | Pl | Crystal Palace | | 41 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 77 | 38 | +39 | 83 |

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| 3rd | | Blackburn | | 41 | 20 | 13 | 8 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 73 |

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| 4th | | Fulham | | 41 | 20 | 9 | 12 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 69 |

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| 5th | | Wolves | | 41 | 18 | 12 | 11 | 59 | 52 | +7 | 66 |

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| 6th | | Norwich | | 41 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 50 | 39 | +11 | 65 |

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| 7th | | Preston | | 40 | 18 | 8 | 14 | 69 | 59 | +10 | 62 |

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| 8th | | Cardiff | | 41 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 50 | 47 | +3 | 61 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Sheff Utd | | 41 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 53 | 44 | +9 | 60 |

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| 10th | | Nottm Forest | | 41 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 60 | 61 | -1 | 60 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Sheff Wed | | 41 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 49 | 52 | -3 | 56 |

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| 12th | | Doncaster | | 41 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 59 | 60 | -1 | 54 |

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| 13th | | Millwall | | 41 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 38 | 42 | -4 | 53 |

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| 14th | | Reading | | 41 | 14 | 10 | 17 | 42 | 46 | -4 | 52 |

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| 15th | | Coventry | | 41 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 51 |

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| 16th | | Ipswich | | 41 | 14 | 7 | 20 | 60 | 73 | -13 | 49 |

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| 17th | | Derby | | 41 | 12 | 10 | 19 | 46 | 51 | -5 | 46 |

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| 18th | | Crewe | | 41 | 11 | 11 | 19 | 41 | 60 | -19 | 44 |

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| 19th | | Leicester | | 41 | 8 | 19 | 14 | 42 | 51 | -9 | 43 |

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| 20th | | Brentford | | 41 | 12 | 7 | 22 | 43 | 61 | -18 | 43 |

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| 21st | | Luton | | 40 | 10 | 8 | 22 | 29 | 61 | -32 | 38 |

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| 22nd | | Hull | | 41 | 7 | 16 | 18 | 36 | 51 | -15 | 37 |

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| 23rd | | Q.P.R. | | 41 | 10 | 7 | 24 | 36 | 61 | -25 | 37 |

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| 24th | | Plymouth | | 41 | 8 | 8 | 25 | 31 | 58 | -27 | 32 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

[irishregan]

With a 7 day break till our next fixture, away to Reading, I discovered some new vigor for life, if not for football. Kelly and the local pub were the main beneficiaries, as I gave vent to my passion for my beautiful girlfriend and my passion for a pint. We did boyfriend/girlfriend stuff as well, which was nice. Roles had reversed. Previously I had chaos in my personal life and harmony on the pitch. Now it was the other way around, although perhaps chaos would be overstating the situation at the club. We just needed a shot in the arm that would come with a raft of signings in the off-season.

Reading took the lead in the 46th minute of a most tiresome game, enlivened only by Amoroso’s spectacular lobbed equalizer with 17 minutes left. There was really nothing more to say than that.

Reading 1-1 Forest Att: 17194

The bank holiday game two days later featured Cardiff at our place, and after Amoroso had tallied in the 15th minute, their lot had 2 quite deserved sendings off, the referee backing us up for once. Weir Daley finished the contest with as simple a goal as he’ll ever score, and I had no hesitation in praising the lads afterwards. The two dismissals made it a hell of a lot easier, yet we were good enough on the day to have won anyway.

Forest 2-0 Cardiff Att: 26474

I was feeling pretty satisfied with life, yet our performance on the 14th at Leicester was an immediate return to the bad old days. It was made all the more annoying by their manager Kevin Blackwell mouthing off beforehand, which only exacerbated the 3-0 scoreline. I ignored the players afterwards and p***ed off without them, to a pre-arranged dirty weekend with Kelly at a sprawling hotel in the Leicestershire countryside. I certainly wasn’t going to let that useless performance spoil my plans.

Leicester 3-0 Forest Att: 32482

The season closed out with a handy win at home to Norwich, and a turgid draw at Brentford, both of which were too tiresome for me to bother going into great detail about. It was nice to get a strong finish to the campaign, both for next season’s optimism and to bolster my own job security. Though we registered a mammoth loss again, to the tune of 238K. Very worrying, especially with the transfer season approaching. I was expecting my budget to be a pittance: this would squeeze it even further.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Tottenham | | 46 | 36 | 8 | 2 | 99 | 22 | +77 | 116 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | P | Crystal Palace | | 46 | 25 | 17 | 4 | 86 | 45 | +41 | 92 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | Pl | Fulham | | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 72 | 51 | +21 | 84 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | Pl | Blackburn | | 46 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 79 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | Pl | Norwich | | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 70 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | Pl | Wolves | | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 67 | 62 | +5 | 70 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Preston | | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 76 | 67 | +9 | 68 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Nottm Forest | | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 66 | 66 | 0 | 68 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Sheff Utd | | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 60 | 53 | +7 | 67 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Sheff Wed | | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 58 | 56 | +2 | 67 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Cardiff | | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 65 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Reading | | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 52 | 51 | +1 | 62 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Ipswich | | 46 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 71 | 75 | -4 | 62 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Doncaster | | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 65 | 71 | -6 | 59 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Coventry | | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 67 | 69 | -2 | 55 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Millwall | | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 39 | 49 | -10 | 54 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Derby | | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 50 | 59 | -9 | 51 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Brentford | | 46 | 14 | 8 | 24 | 51 | 69 | -18 | 50 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Leicester | | 46 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 49 | 59 | -10 | 49 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Luton | | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 40 | 74 | -34 | 48 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Crewe | | 46 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 48 | 76 | -28 | 47 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | R | Hull | | 46 | 9 | 16 | 21 | 42 | 60 | -18 | 43 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | R | Q.P.R. | | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 40 | 65 | -25 | 42 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | R | Plymouth | | 46 | 10 | 9 | 27 | 40 | 66 | -26 | 39 |

| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

8th place and 2 points out of the playoffs might look flash, but it didn't have champagne corks popping in my house. At least the board and the fans were pleased, which was all that mattered.

What worried me was the goal difference of 0. 66 goals conceded was far too many for the way we play, and 66 scored was not enough. It was a major concern heading into next season, where the bar of expectation was sure to be raised.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Form | Con | Apps | Gls | Av Rat |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Danny Murphy | AM C | Okay | 7-8-6-7-7 | 85% | 45 | 14 | 7.04 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| S4 | Unh | Nathan Tyson | ST | Poor | 9-7-8-7-7 | 64% | 34 (3) | 16 | 7.00 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Ross Gardner | M C | Okay | 7-7-8-7-7 | 98% | 0 (1) | - | 7.00 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MR | | Abdeltareck Sakali | AM RL, ST | Poor | 7-7-6-8-6 | 75% | 6 | 1 | 7.00 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | Inj | Wes Morgan | D C | Okay | 7-6-7-9-7 | 80% | 31 | - | 6.97 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DR | | James Perch | D RC, DM, M R | Very Good | 7-8-7-7-7 | 85% | 40 | - | 6.95 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DL | | Ben Thatcher | D LC | Okay | 8-8-6-7-7 | 69% | 17 | - | 6.94 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MC | | Sammy Clingan | M C | Very Good | 7-7-7-8-7 | 81% | 11 (4) | 3 | 6.93 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Matt Jansen | AM LC, F C | Okay | 7-7-6-8-6 | 71% | 38 (2) | 14 | 6.90 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| DC | | Ian Breckin | D C | Good | 7-7-6-7-8 | 87% | 41 | - | 6.88 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| S1 | Wnt | Paul Bignot | D RLC | Okay | 7-7-8-6-7 | 88% | 7 (3) | - | 6.80 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| S5 | Slt | Lenny Pidgeley | GK | Poor | 6-7-6-7-6 | 93% | 10 (3) | - | 6.77 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Michael Turner | D C | Good | 6-7-6-6-8 | 100% | 21 (1) | - | 6.73 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| S2 | | James Beaumont | M C | Okay | 6-7-7-6-7 | 94% | 8 (2) | 1 | 6.70 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Gino Padula | D/WB L | Okay | 6-7-7-7-6 | 96% | 30 (2) | - | 6.69 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Peter Sweeney | AM L | Okay | 6-7-8-7-5 | 37% | 10 (2) | - | 6.67 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| FC | | Amoroso | ST | Poor | 7-7-5-7-7 | 77% | 11 (1) | 6 | 6.67 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| ML | | Kris Commons | AM LC | Good | 7-8-6-7-7 | 63% | 23 (2) | - | 6.64 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| GK | | Rune Pedersen | GK | Okay | 6-8-7-7-6 | 63% | 36 | - | 6.61 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Eugen Bopp | AM RC | Okay | 6-8-6-7-7 | 69% | 10 (4) | - | 6.57 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Grant Holt | ST | Poor | 7-8-7-6-5 | 96% | 7 (8) | 4 | 6.53 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Robbie Foy | AM RL | Okay | 4-10-9-7-9 | 94% | 9 (8) | - | 6.53 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| S3 | | Chris Burke | AM R | Okay | 7-7-5-7-5 | 97% | 14 (1) | 1 | 6.40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Murphy and the other players with an average rating of 7 or above were a big success. However, the rest of them are average players, and that's pretty much how the played. In fact, I think they played above themselves this year, which is a warning shot for next season. We're not good enough to be promoted, and our league position this year may well have flattered us.

[irishregan]

May was a remarkably quiet month on the footballing side. All that occurred were a few contract extensions. Jansen added a year to his deal, till 2009, Clingan signed till 2010 along with Beaumont and Bopp. I spent some good time with Kelly, although she was occasionally busy reporting on the cricket season and the fortunes of Nottinghamshire. The fact that we both shared a love of cricket didn’t make that much of a problem. In fact, I am obsessed with the game, and it is my number one sport. I have always been one of those people who would stay up all night watching England Test series abroad. I wasn’t so keen on the county stuff, though I would get myself down to Trent Bridge if Kelly was reporting on a game there. It was around now that people started noticing we were an item. I was pleased to see no-one thought it was a big deal, and that was how I wanted it to stay.

The board saw fit to re-iterate at the end of May that they were very happy with things, although another hefty loss of 913K certainly hit the bank balance hard.

June was a far more eventful four weeks. England had two more Euro qualifiers in the first week, and yours truly headed down to the BBC in London to provide my idea of expert analysis.

On Saturday the 2nd, Malta were demolished 3-0. Lineker was moaning about missed chances again, saying that they should have “ground them into the dustâ€. I said “steady on, you don’t want to alienate the Maltese for the next time you go out there to work on your suntan.†He took it as a barb, and to be honest, that was exactly how I intended it.

I don’t know why we went to the Ministry of Sound instead of Tramp that night. Hansen and Stubbs were too old for that, and I almost was too. Stubbs was convinced that their “club anthems†night would be “great fun, with plenty of skirtâ€, which was enough to get Hansen on board. I had a couple of E’s and a line or two of coke, which sounded dangerous, yet I was on surprisingly safe ground if I was found out. A few weeks earlier, Nigel had received a police caution for possession of cocaine, after his car was pulled over on the M6. Apparently, they’d mistakenly thought it was stolen, and before the misunderstanding was cleared up they’d found the offending powder in the glove compartment. It was a storm in a teacup, but it meant he couldn’t get all high and mighty about any misdemeanours I might happen to fall into.

We were all on the dancefloor when it happened. Heads turned in the distance, then the revelers in front of us parted, as the cause of the commotion moved closer. Every male pair of eyes in the room seemed to follow her, yet once we saw eachother, she had eyes only for me. The music summed up the moment perfectly.

â€Lady, hear me tonight

Cause my feeling, is just so right

As we dance, by the moonlight

Can’t you see, you’re my delight.â€

I didn’t need drugs to be intoxicated by those sultry brown eyes, silken ebony skin, gravity-defying breasts (or “lungs†as Hansen preferred to call them) and stunning face. It didn’t matter why she was here, it was just fate that she was.

Jenny moved against me, never taking her eyes away. Without saying anything, we left the club, with Stubbs and Hansen looking on, eyes bulging, and not just because of the coke they’d snorted. We returned to her flat, and had a supercharged night in the sack.

â€Is it possible to be in love with two people at the same time?†I asked at about 4 in the morning.

â€No. You don’t love me,†she laughed. â€You just can’t keep your hands off me. And I’m just a fool for you. I know you’ve no intention of ever getting serious with me. But I can’t help it either.â€

“I don’t think that’s true. You asked for more than I could give at that time. It was just bad timing, that’s all.â€

“It always is,†she sighed. â€Just stick with Kelly. I’ll get over you eventually.â€

“How the hell did you know it was Kelly?â€

“I could see that night in the restaurant there was something there between you two.â€

“I never was unfaithful to you though!†I insisted passionately, even though that was a complete lie. â€Nothing happened until after we were through.â€

“I know,†she smiled.

I was stuck in London until Wednesday, when England disposed of Ukraine, again 3-0. I was introverted on the panel, and had nothing to offer tactically or in terms of smart remarks. Hansen knew what was up of course, and took me out that evening to get smashed, regaling me with tales of the women he’d bedded since Saturday night. If the tales were true, then he really had been busy.

I returned to Nottingham on Thursday in self-centred mood. Kelly was on assignment, which was perfect. I wasn’t feeling guilty or anything, since there was a time when she had been “the other womanâ€. I just felt uncertain about things. A chance meeting in a nightclub, and Jenny had gotten under my skin again, so to speak. Where was this all going to end? When was I going to have the spine to make a choice and stick to it?

On my return, I got some work done. Swiss DM Johannes Djorou joined up from Arsenal on a Bosman. It was a move both for the future and the present, and at 550 quid a week, wasn’t exactly a gamble for a guy who was a very promising player.

I found more relaxation when Frank, myself, and a couple of lads from the corporate office took ourselves off to attend the Test Match at Trent Bridge.

Another booze up followed on the 20th, at the annual club dinner. Tyson won the player of the year award again. Then it was down to business, and a board meeting that closed out June on a very acrimonious note…

23rd June – Budget and Strategy Board Meeting

â€You are joking me aren’t you Nigel?†I blurted out.

“In all the time you’ve known me, have you ever known me to joke about money?â€

“No.â€

“There’s your answer then.â€

“Well you can answer me something else. How the hell do you expect me to win the title, with an average squad and a pathetic transfer budget of 325K?â€

“You told me when you signed those guys on Bosmans that they would be the difference between success and failure.â€

“Yeah but I didn’t say that means we’re going to win the f***ing title. You’re just setting me up to fail because you want to get rid of me aren’t you?â€

“Don’t be so f***ing paranoid. I’m giving you what I regard as an ambitious goal, and the fact that you’re in the last year of your contract has nothing whatsoever to do with it.â€

“I’m going to win this title then you’ll have to keep me on.â€

“Regan, I’d be delighted if you did, believe me.â€

After I’d stormed out, I felt that maybe I’d over-reacted somewhat. Still, it was a hell of a tough ask. If it went pear-shaped, or even semi pear-shaped, I’d be looking for another job by this time next year. Maybe a lot sooner.

[irishregan]

It was hello to my new signings Diaz de Cerio, Sculli, Cardenas, and Djorou. And if these lads weren’t as good as I thought they were, it might be cheerio to me before too long.

My paranoia led to a furious scouring of all possible transfer targets. I sifted through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and slowly started to come up with some gems (if you’ll excuse the mixed metaphors).

I didn’t think we honestly had a prayer of signing Steven Reid after he left Blackburn on a free transfer. He hadn’t shown any inclination to come to us before, but unemployment can be a wonderful motivator. I went all out, offering 8.25K/week and a 400K signing on fee, and managed to snap him up on the 7th of July while the competition were still dithering. It was a terrific signing, not that I was all that big a fan of his. I just knew he was well capable at this level.

On the 12th, another signing I could hardly have anticipated fell into our laps. The spectre of unemployment had led David Dunn to lower his expectations after he left Birmingham, and despite his dodgy injury history, he would look damn good in our midfield, if he could actually get on the park now and then. I didn’t hesitate to offer him a similar deal to Reid, and suddenly these two signings, combined with the exciting young Bosmans, had given our squad a rather more menacing look to it. A nice blend of outstanding prospects and recent Premiership players.

On the 15th I signed Wigan’s Nicholas Bendtner on a season long loan. He looked good and had a great pedigree, and it was a no risk deal really. Four days later I finally sold Amoroso to Santos for 150K. He’d done a really nice job actually, but at 33, I couldn’t be sure that his legs hadn’t gone, and we couldn’t afford any passengers this year. He also seemed a bit injury prone, a situation that could only get worse as he advanced in age.

Our friendlies were highly encouraging. First came an efficient 6-0 win over Glentoran from the Irish League, then a fantastic 3-2 home success against a very strong Arsenal side. We were perhaps a teeny bit fortunate to win, yet we slugged it out toe to toe with them, and certainly merited a draw. Aftet the game, Shaun Maloney arrived from Celtic on a curiously delayed Bosman, like finding money in your jeans when you’re emptying the pockets before washing them. I’d completely forgotten about him, and he would be a useful addition to the squad over the season. The board were delighted with the 727K profit for the month, and now it was into the hard work, a season in which much was expected, and I was far from certain I could deliver.

[irishregan]

We lost Cardenas to a short term injury prior to our first fixture, an away game in Cardiff on the 4th of August. The following team took the field: Pedersen Perch Thatcher Morgan Breckin Dunn Reid Murphy Sculli Tyson Jansen. It was shaping up as an impressive start too, an 11th minute penalty by Murphy giving us a lead that we comfortably held until a ludicrous goalkeeping error gifted them a late equalizer. Another one of those draws that felt like a defeat, though still a useful point.

Cardiff 1-1 Forest Att: 16198

Pedersen picked up an injury in the game and would be out 1-4 weeks, though if he kept making errors like the one he made in that game he wouldn’t be missed. I was buttonholed by a journalist who informed me that Ladbrokes made us 5-2 for promotion. I didn’t give a toss about oddsmakers, I told him, but I was pretty confident we had the right stuff.

On the 7th, we began our home campaign against Crewe. I always felt confident against them, though with injury forcing me to play Shane Redmond in goal, there was potential for disaster. Tyson was dropped in favour of De Cerio.

Sculli opened the scoring early on, bagging his first for the club, and when Murphy blasted in a great free kick before half-time we felt a certain comfort level. Too much comfort as it turned out, as we conceded two utterly undeserved goals. I was really p***ed off and immediately went all out attack, and in the 52nd and 67th minute, Sculli displayed his predatory instincts with two sharp finishes, prompting the commentators to dub him an “assassinâ€. There was no way the visitors were coming back from that. I told the lads well done, though I was angry about the defensive lapses. It looked like we would be plagued by them yet again this season.

Forest 4-2 Crewe Att: 21962

Saturday had us on the road again, a difficult trip to our rivals Derby. Thatcher had done a groin and had to be replaced by Padula. We got a great start when Reid broke powerfully down the right, cut inside and buried a sublime cross shot. Then it all threatened to go pear-shaped in the space of two minutes. First Murphy missed a penalty, then Brecks was sent off for a professional foul right on half-time. I rallied the troops and circled the wagons, yet surprisingly we held on with little trouble. I knew the home side were no great shakes, yet their performance against our ten men must have had their manager reaching for the Valium. A deserved win after a sparkling 1st half.

Derby 0-1 Forest Att: 33557

â€What the f**k is going on?†was what I was left shouting in the physios room that Monday morning. Perch and Murphy had both picked up injuries in the win, and would miss a few weeks, maybe longer in the case of our dynamic midfielder. We were being swamped by injury, ahead of a tricky home game with Preston on the 18th.

It turned out to be a very poor game, which we had the better of, though this time it was our turn to unimpress against 10 men. Even all out attack yielded absolutely nothing, and the less said about this game the better.

Forest 0-0 Preston Att: 30170

Our usual injury centred around Murphy’s replacement Shaun Maloney whose ankle knock would keep him out for up to a month.

A midweek League Cup game away at Bury was won 1-0 in unimpressive fashion, by a team of reserves. There was plenty of wasteful finishing, and it was left to Djorou to score the winner from midfield.

A day later, I had somehow managed to persuade Crewe to pay 500K for Spencer Weir-Daley. It seemed like I had certainly got the better end of that deal, although he was a useful prospect. I just didn’t see him as anything special. He might have a decent career, I don’t know. I’d certainly swap him for 500 grand any day of the week.

On the 25th we visited recently relegated Everton and things looked fine and dandy after a beautiful chip from De Cerio staked us an early lead. From there we got absolutely pulverised, and were lucky to come away having been tanned only 4-1. Now I was worried. Ok they were a big club, but their team wasn’t frightening, yet here we were being absolutely mauled. I didn’t see how we could win the title this year, nor how I could do anything to improve our situation, given the sad state of my transfer budget, and the renowned cheapness of the board.

Everton 4-1 Forest Att: 40533

The usual injuries saw Morgan out 1-2 weeks with a rib problem and Holt out 3-8 weeks with ankle ligaments.

On the 27th we were at home to somebody, but I forgot to mention their name in my notes. We did win 3-0 though, with an early opener from the increasingly impressive De Cerio and two fine strikes from David Dunn, one a scorching 25 yard free kick in the 88th minute that really put the cap on a terrific team performance. 21201 were in attendance and Cardenas put in a man of the match display, which was very exciting for the future.

The transfer deadline was upon us, and I wanted to make a big splash. The question was how. It was like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. I offered Jansen around in a desperate attempt to raise a few bob; unfortunately there were no takers. He was angry about it, but to be honest I was past caring about egos. Our squad wasn’t good enough, and that included him.

In the end I did what I could, which was not much. I brought in two defenders, both on free transfers. Zurab Khizanashvili was very available from Rangers, which was a little surprising since he was still young and had some upside. A slightly more desperate signing was that of Pascal Cygan from Arsenal. The way I saw it, they had both played in the Champions League, so they couldn’t be any more dodgy than the defenders we had at the minute. Combined, they added 10 grand a week to the wage bill, though Cygan’s contract was only till the end of the season.

It was an uninspiring end to the month, although the board were delighted with a profit of 985K. It would have been nice if they could have invested that in the team, though I had long since realized that was a forlorn hope.

[fatious]

Brilliant!!!!

Please don't lose heart

[Guest]

Great stuff m8...

[irishregan]

Thanks fatious and Greg 1234 as long as I keep getting kind remarks like that, I’ll keep plodding along in the face of my rather tight-fisted chairman!

I asked to be excused from the panel for England’s rather dull single-goal victory over Hungary, citing a variety of real and imagined commitments. I spent the few days off meditating on the problems at Forest without actually doing anything about it. I spent some time with Kelly which was marvelous. My guilt had quickly disappeared, and Jenny was out of sight, out of mind. Until the next time.

On the 8th we traveled to 12th placed Ipswich, which saw the debut of Cygan at centre back. My apprehensiveness at a new signing had never been greater, fortunately the forwards certainly took the pressure off the defence with a devastating display. After 21 cagey minutes, De Cerio powered his way through to finish emphatically, and pulled off a similar manouevre 11 minutes later to double our lead. I told the lads to keep it up, but we took some heavy fire after the break, although both sides were unlucky not to score. In the 80th minute Cardenas made a nice run, picking out Sculli at the back post for a perfect finish, and a performance that was nothing short of sensational. Job done.

Ipswich 0-3 Forest Att: 21699

Cygan did well, as I said when asked by a journalist about it after the game. Tougher tests than that will surely lie ahead though.

Millwall were now in 12th, and provided our opposition four days later. Dogged as ever by inconsistency, we put in a dreadful 1st half performance, stifled by the visitors’ plainly obvious desire for a point. I was extremely irritable at half-time, since it was obvious they were here to defend we simply had to try harder and attack more. It took something really special to break down their wall. Reid picked up the ball at the corner of his own box, ran the full length of the field, cut in, then slammed it left-footed into the top corner. It nearly took the roof off the stadium, and I was just standing on the touchline applauding and shaking my head. It was always going to win the game, and Sculli’s goal 8 minutes from time, a diving header with the goal at his mercy, confirmed the win.

Forest 2-0 Millwall Att: 23087

Games came thick and fast as usual, and on the 15th we were at Coventry. Stan Ternent tried to wind me up before the game, which I hate, but as usual I held my tongue. Sculli did the talking in the 19th minute, pouncing on a defensive mistake to race in and score. After De Cerio headed in a corner 5 minutes before the break, Ternent had suddenly gone quiet. Cygan let them back in the game with a wretched mistake, allowing a simple tap-in with 10 minutes left to give us a quite unnecessary scare. Luckily we held on for another deserved 3 points.

Coventry 1-2 Forest Att: 33231

Naturally I went after Ternent with the usual rub-it-in comments, and he had nothing to say in return. I just hope these type of cretins get fired, since I have no interest in mind-games bulls**t. It’s just a waste of time, and who do these people think they are anyway, Sigmund Freud? I can’t see how it makes any difference to the outcome.

After another four day interval, we bowed out of the League Cup at Middlesbrough. We’d been in front for much of the game courtesy of 2 sensational moves, only to be pegged back and lose via an own goal from Cardenas with just minutes left. A good effort against a 5th placed Premiership side.

As always, our only focus was on the league, and on Saturday, we entertained 19th placed Sheffield Wednesday. It was as bad a 1st half as I had ever seen, especially given that they were kicking lumps out of us. I got angry with both that and our performance, and went all out attack. A long hopeful ball from Brecks finally broke the deadlock, sending De Cerio in the clear, and he did the rest (57). Late on, Thatcher crossed for Reid to thump a header off the post, leaving Sculli an easy tap-in. A deserved win, made all the more satisfying by their dirty play. They should have had two sent off for diabolical fouls, yet as usual, the same referees who are all too happy to send our players off let them away with it.

Forest 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday Att: 30594 (record high attendance)

No sooner had I finished saying that than a referee sent off Pascal Cygan in our next encounter away to Wolves. I was outraged. He wasn’t even the last man. I was convinced it had cost us the game, and that referees up and down the land had it in for us, since I was always in the press and on the TV mouthing off about how incompetent they were. Instead Sculli went on a blistering run that was ended by a bad tackle in the box, and a penalty converted by Murphy for a 1-0 lead. I was surprised Sculli wasn’t booked for diving. I encouraged the lads at half-time, not seriously expecting to hold on, only for Sculli to produce a quite amazing goal. With his trademark searing pace, he totally outflanked Joleon Lescott and chipped in from an impossible angle. That seemed like the killer, and although they scored with the last kick of the game, our ten men were the better side. It was a positively Churchillian performance. Not only a man down, but we ended up with 4 carrying injuries at the end. I told the lads I was proud of them and that they should go home and get drunk, which raised a huge cheer.

Wolves 1-2 Att: 29376

Victory came at a heavy price, with Clingan out 1-2 weeks and Murphy having pulled a hamstring and out for anywhere up to a month.

Still I was confident we could triumph at home over Luton to finish the month, since they were dead last in the table. Khizanashvili and Maloney replaced our unavailable players, and blended in seamlessly against a poor side. De Cerio volleyed us in front after 29. Four minutes later Reid beautifully controlled a cross and smashed home to seal an easy win. We coasted from there, and the players had plenty in hand.

Forest 2-0 Luton Att: 25326

Seven straight wins saw me deservedly win Manager of the Month, while Reid scooped the players’ gong. The board were delighted with just about everything, including the profit of 189K, and I sat back determined to enjoy another lengthy international break.

[irishregan]

After heading down to London for England’s 3-0 win over Luxembourg, the BBC decided to do something a little different. The panel traveled to Iceland for the midweek game. It was a Godsend to be honest. On the Saturday night, I had had a few drinks with Hansen and Stubbsy, and was desperately fighting the urge to call Jenny. It was more than just lust too. I missed her. I felt bad about the way things had worked out between us too, but in a rare moment of clarity, I realized that the biggest favour I could do for that lovely girl was to keep my worthless arse as far away from her as possible.

In Rekjavik the panel included a mate of mine Tomas Thrainson (sorry no Icelandic keyboard) otherwise known as Axeman on this forum. The former Derby and Wolves boss was taking a break from the game to look after his triplets, and was available to provide the Icelandic point of view. The fact that they pulled off the Mother of all shocks to win 2-1 had him jumping around in his seat like a jack in the box.

Authors note: Axeman hasn’t been doing much story activity of late and his contributions are missed, so I put this in the story to give him a little nudge. Hope he’ll be back around soon, I bet when the new release comes out he will.

Unfortunately I forgot to mention in my notes who exactly we were playing on the 13th, but we were 2 up by half-time through Sculli and Tyson. Sculli and Maloney put us 4 up by 57 minutes, and after they replied with one, Tyson headed another. They pulled another one back before the end, but it was a sensational 5-2 result over somebody anyway, in front of another huge crowd of 30583. Sadly, De Cerio dislocated his jaw during the match, and would miss 3-4 weeks.

On the 16th we visited playoff contending Norwich, a side we rarely prosper against at their place. Sure enough, we were 2 down at the half hour, and I dismissively told the lads that I was expecting a win. Tyson took it to heart, scoring after 49, yet we never looked totally at the races, and predictably went down to defeat. I told the lads it was disappointing, but on the back of a 7 game win streak, I wasn’t going to be too hard on them, even though the performance irritated me.

Norwich 2-1 Forest Att: 26016

Equally irritating was the constant run of injuries. Bignot and Dunn would be out of contention for up to 2 weeks, although good news came in the form of me persuading the former to extend his contract till 2011. I moved to sign Man United reserve team defender Phillip Bardsley on a month’s loan as emergency cover, ahead of a potentially difficult trip to Fulham on the 20th.

It was very even until they scored in the 41st minute, though I definitely had a bad feeling about the game. We looked out of sorts, and I gave the lads a half-time dressing down. Not much point really since we deteriorated even further, conceding two more goals in the 2nd half. It was a pathetic show, and I really gave the players a horrible earful afterwards. Defeat with effort was tolerated. This was unprofessional capitualation. The players were left in no doubt as to my assessment of their performance. I warned them that heads may roll.

Fulham 3-0 Forest Att: 28525

As if that wasn’t bad enough Sculli was the latest injury victim, and would be sidelined 1-2 weeks with a rib problem.

We entertained promotion hopefuls Reading on the 27th, and I threw in a half-fit Sculli. Cardenas delivered a great cross for Tyson to give us a flying start after 4 minutes. I tried my best to motivate the lads at half-time with some positive vibes, and Tyson responded well again, winning a penalty in the 66th minute that Murphy easily converted. It was a nice performance and a terrific result, yet I wondered aloud to Frank as the game wound down, â€how the hell are these in 2nd place in the division? They looked rubbish today and we’ve beaten them easilyâ€. He nodded in agreement…like every good assistant manager should.

Forest 2-0 Reading Att: 24899

The last game of the month was a rotten draw at home to Doncaster. We gave away a cheap goal to their first kick of the game, and although Tyson equalized soon afterwards and we effectively dominated the game the rest of the way, we got nothing more than a point. That was disappointing, and I had to tell the lads they weren’t good enough. That was a game that should have been won, and won well.

Doncaster 1-1 Forest Att: 23763

We lost Tyson to injury for a couple of weeks. Many more of them, and me and Frank would have to make a playing comeback. As it was, we were still sitting where we needed to be, and the board got their profit. Only 27K, but they were still happy.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Nottm Forest | | 17 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 17 | +15 | 36 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Wolves | | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 33 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Bolton | | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 17 | +13 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Everton | | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 17 | +11 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Reading | | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 17 | +8 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Fulham | | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 17 | +12 | 31 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Charlton | | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Preston | | 17 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 22 | 17 | +5 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Leicester | | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Doncaster | | 17 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 27 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Norwich | | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 26 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Cardiff | | 17 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 24 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Ipswich | | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 24 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Sheff Utd | | 17 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 26 | 25 | +1 | 23 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Derby | | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 23 | -1 | 22 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Coventry | | 17 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 22 | 26 | -4 | 22 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Brentford | | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 23 | -5 | 22 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Millwall | | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 19 | -1 | 19 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Burnley | | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Lincoln | | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 29 | -8 | 16 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Sheff Wed | | 17 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 22 | -7 | 14 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Crewe | | 17 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 16 | 38 | -22 | 8 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Colchester | | 17 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 34 | -23 | 8 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Luton | | 17 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 34 | -30 | 4 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

[irishregan]

We were in action again on the 3rd of November, away to Colchester. Near the bottom of the league, I was confident of victory, even with a side severely weakened by injury, so much so that the outcast Matt Jansen started up front. Reid put Sculli in the clear, and the Italian finished with a delightful chip (32). I emphasized that the game was far from in the bag, and full credit to the lads, they were professional after the break. Dunn extended our lead with a scorching 25 yard free kick into the top corner (54), and from there it played out into an easy win.

Colchester 0-2 Forest Att: 4421

Another 14 day break for internationals ensued, and I headed for the BBC in good heart. I was really full of myself on the panel, and it was panic time for England as they lost 2-0 at home to Sweden. Following on from the debacle against Iceland, the crowd was very restless, and Lineker looked like his Mother had just died. I didn’t hold back from criticizing the players and management, saying that they had “bottled it†and that “if this set of players and management couldn’t do the job, then they had to get people that would. Nowâ€. “These are professional players,†I continued, “supposedly the best this great country has to offer. If they played like that for me, I’d send them into international retirement with a flea in their ear.†Apparently my provocative comments really went down well with the viewers. The switchboard was bombarded with supportive calls for myself and Hansen. We celebrated with several drinks afterwards.

The next day I was getting lots of phone calls to do interviews, and give my opinion on the footballing “crisisâ€. I gave the media what they wanted, lots of provocative, controversial, quotable stuff. Three other calls came my way. Nigel, ever the jealous killjoy, called to say that I should “cool itâ€. He thought I was attracting negative publicity to the club, and apparently the FA had been on the phone complaining that I was too critical, and that I’d hurt Steve McClaren’s feelings. Ooh that poor boy. Apparently he’d mentioned me by name in a rant about “negative people who want to see us fail†at a press conference earlier that morning. I went straight ahead and did an interview on the ITN lunchtime news and gave some caustic comments about him being a “hyper-sensitive pansy†who should “take his criticism on the chin like the rest of us had to. If he did his job properly he wouldn't be getting criticism from me. He'd be getting praiseâ€.

Straight away, The Mail on Sunday were on the phone offering me a lucrative newspaper column, which I unfortunately had to turn down. We had a simple agreement, Nigel and I. No more media work outside of the club. It was a shame but I could see his point, and a deal is a deal.

The third phone call knocked the stuffing out of me. Jenny never called me. This time she just said, in her totally irresistible way “let’s have lunchâ€, and I was hooked in straight away. We went to Langan’s a restaurant in Central London that I think was still owned by Michael Caine, although the great man himself wasn’t in evidence.

With all the media attention I had brought on myself, I decided to escape to Sevenoaks with her for a few days. It was fantastic, and for a while I wondered if I was ready to reverse the decision to be with Kelly. Right now I just didn’t know. They both gave me a great feeling, and I was just too selfish to let either one go.

I returned to Nottingham a few days later, saw Kelly as though nothing had happened, then got ready for the trip to Leicester. Their gaffer, Kevin Blackwell, mouthed off a load of old rubbish before the match which I of course ignored. It was a crap 1st half, though we looked better and didn’t deserve to go behind to a 42nd minute penalty. Glory be we got a penalty of our own on the stroke of half-time, which Murphy converted. I tore strips off the lads, telling them this was a game they should be winning easily, and they came out all business after the break. Cardenas crossed and Sculli had enough time to take 3 stabs at it before scoring. With time winding down, Tyson broke away and delivered a clinical finish to secure a deserved win, and allow me to hammer Blackwell in the press conference afterwards.

Leicester 1-3 Forest Att: 32328

A huge game now followed at home to Charlton on the 28th. It was very tense and dull. For the most part we dominated, and should have won, but against a major club, and a competitor for promotion, a point was perfectly satisfactory. I sympathised with the lads, who seemed a bit surprised that I wasn’t annoyed that we hadn’t forced the win.

Forest 0-0 Charlton Att: 30587

It was certainly an interesting month on so many fronts, and we were still in prime positon. A loss of 776K was a bit of a blow, though with so few games played that was to be expected.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Nottm Forest | | 20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 18 | +19 | 43 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Reading | | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 37 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Preston | | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 17 | +9 | 37 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Charlton | | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 33 | 18 | +15 | 36 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Everton | | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 19 | +11 | 36 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Bolton | | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 19 | +13 | 35 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Wolves | | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 35 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Fulham | | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 22 | +9 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Norwich | | 20 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 31 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Ipswich | | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 34 | 31 | +3 | 31 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Coventry | | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 31 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Doncaster | | 20 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 36 | 23 | +13 | 30 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Leicester | | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 33 | -1 | 29 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Sheff Utd | | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Brentford | | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 26 | -4 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Cardiff | | 20 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 26 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Derby | | 20 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 24 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Millwall | | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 26 | -4 | 21 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Burnley | | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 32 | -9 | 21 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Lincoln | | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 23 | 35 | -12 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Sheff Wed | | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 26 | -10 | 15 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Crewe | | 20 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 22 | 41 | -19 | 14 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Colchester | | 20 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 40 | -28 | 9 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Luton | | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 10 | 43 | -33 | 7 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

[gil]

Good to see this is still going. Keep it up

[Spav]

Lovely to see you 6 points clear at this stage of the season. Great work with the entire story, mate. Bravo

[irishregan]

Thanks Gil and Spav, there’s plenty more to come. Though I hear there’s only 57 days to go till the Ashes starts, and I won’t get much play or updating done then

December was always a trying month, especially in the lower divisions, where clubs are inundated with fixtures and usually don’t have the squad to cover for the endless amount of injuries. On the 2nd we received Sheffield United at home. The struggling side’s manager John Gregory knocks us before the game, saying he doesn’t want us promoted, which is a shame because I’d always liked him.

More of a shame for him because we dominated this game. From a Thatcher cross, the recalled Gary Holt headed in to give us the lead after 31 minutes. A similar move, this time involving Cardenas and Tyson doubled the advantage after 42. With half-time encouragement ringing in their ears, the lads went out and did us proud again, Danny Murphy getting us on the scoresheet with a 46th minute free-kick thunderbolt. We could have won about 10-0, but I’ll certainly settle for 3.

Forest 3-0 Sheffield United Att: 30548

I had a bit of a half-hearted go at their gaffer afterwards. Though business is business, and I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I didn’t put him in his place.

The following Saturday we visited Brentford, a similarly struggling side. Despite the return of De Cerio we produced an utterly baffling performance, going down 2-0, and deserving to. I said nothing to the team at any stage during the debacle, and left London without them. I went straight to Nottingham, since I was in a foul mood and fighting the urge to visit Jenny. I had a similar urge to see Kelly, and so I decided to follow that instead. It was a lot less trouble that way, for all concerned.

Brentford 2-0 Forest Att: 9268

Three days later we entertained yet another of the division’s strugglers, Burnley. We were dominant from the outset, yet totally profligate in front of goal. I went spare of course, still feeling the heat after our atrocious performance on Saturday, and when the 88th minute rolled around with still no breakthrough, I feared the worst. Just as our all out attack policy seemed to be going nowhere, a relatively innocuous move saw De Cerio get on the end of a cross to grab three priceless points. Pricelss because these were the sides that promotion chasers had to beat. The performance was crap, the result was all that mattered.

Forest 1-0 Burnley Att: 23419

Saturday saw us on the road again,at 10th placed Cardiff. It was an awful game, and when they got a stupid penalty I feared there would be no comeback. Fortunately Dunn headed in a deserved equalizer just after the hour, then was left all alone to finish a cross just 3 minutes later to give us an unlikely, though not undeserved lead. It held until the 84th minute, which was a bit annoying. Still, the result was acceptable.

Cardiff 2-2 Forest Att: 24552

Following his two goal exertions, Dunn had injured his leg, and with Cardenas already out with ankle ligaments, the midfield was thinning dramatically. With an impeccable sense of timing, Bopp decided to p*** me off by saying in the media that it was about time he played regularly. In juries or no injuries, he wouldn’t be considered when he mouthed off in the press.

Two days before Christmas we visited ever-glamorous Crewe, a thrilling enough prospect that the TV cameras were on hand to cover it. Breckin, Clingan and Sculli returned to boost us, and Clingan gave us a flyer when he volleyed home Reid’s cutback in the 2nd minute. Straight after I’d got through telling the lads not to be careless, we conceded a 25 yard goal in the 46th minute, basically the only thing their lot had done in the whole game. Fortunately De Cerio won us a penalty after 75, which dead-eye Murphy converted of course. A stupid handball gave him the chance to score a second penalty 3 minutes later, which he did. Two minutes after that De Cerio blasted in a useful cross from Thatcher, and our class was well and truly telling. Things got a bit farcical with a 3rd penalty for us just before time, and our man converted for a strange hat-trick of spot kicks. A game that could have gone sour was won in very emphatic fashion.

Crewe 1-5 Forest Att: 6561

It was Reid’s turn to suffer an injury, out 1-2 weeks with a knock to his shin. Not ideal preparation for our home grudge match with local rivals Derby, especially since it involved recalling that big-mouthed little creep Bopp. I was feeling in generous mood though, having enjoyed my third Christmas with Kelly. She was starting to make noises about getting engaged or married, which I was sort of receptive to, though I was careful not to act in haste, since that was what usually got me in trouble. Instead I fobbed her off till the end of the season, the old excuse that had worn so thin with Jenny. It was true though. There was no way I could focus on affairs of the heart when there was a promotion to be sorted out. My professional future was riding on it.

Diaz De Cerio gave us a nice start, scoring a straightforward finish after being released down the right. They hadn’t read the script though, and I was furious when we conceded a soft equalizer after 19. There was no mercy from me at half-time, and the lads went out with the proverbial rocket up their backsides. We got a dodgy penalty after 52, which Murphy of course slotted home, and with their player also getting sent off into the bargain, it looked like we were finally getting some payback from the referees. Weirdly enough we then got another penalty, and our ace from the spot now had 5 goals in 2 games, all from 12 yards. I wasn’t complaining. Neither were the fans, judging by the standing ovation we got as we left the field. The board were pleased too, congratulating me in the bar afterwards.

Forest 3-1 Derby Att: 30567

The toughest test of the month followed quickly on the 29th, a visit to 2nd placed Preston. Billy Davies sought to wind us up before hand, and he must have succeeded, because we were 4 down at half time. It wasn’t that they were better than us, it just seemed that every time they took a shot it went in. A 2nd half penalty completed the humiliation, and I got really angry afterwards. Not because of the defeat, these things can happen. More about the lack of pride and fight.

Preston 5-0 Forest Att: 20462

The board tucked away their 171K profit, and we still maintained a slightly reduced lead at the top. I suppose we were sitting pretty, but at the same time the pressure was on, since the price of failure had been made clear.

[irishregan]

New Years Day brought us the visit of Everton, and their manager David Moyes, a man whom I’d never had any time for. They were fighting for their promotion lives in 8th, and I was glad about that. The sooner he was fired the better.

Dunn, Reid and a half-fit Sculli returned, and the Italian striker made it down the right to deliver a cross that was powerfully headed in by Murphy after just 2 minutes. Imagine my face when they equalized about 10 seconds later. Fortunately, De Cerio was left with an open net after a Sculli shot was saved after 6 minutes. We had to hang on a bit in the 2nd half, then De Cerio blasted past his marker and delivered a sensational finish into the bottom corner (83). How sweet it was!

Forest 3-1 Everton Att: 30566

True to form, Moyes was moaning after the game about how they should have won. My terse response was that comments like that explained why they were in 8th place instead of first. I resisted the urge to gloat further, and sat back to quietly relish our defeat of his team.

I wasn’t relishing the injury news though. Murphy would be out 1-2 months with a fractured wrist. Losing such a pivotal player at a pivotal time was a real pain in the arse.

Saturday 5th saw a team of reserves comfortably triumph over Boston in the FA Cup, earning us a lucrative home draw with Chelsea. At least it had better be lucrative, since we had zero chance of getting through.

On the 8th I signed young Hungarian attacking midfielder Zoltan Stieber on a 3 month loan from Villa, as cover for the spate of injuries. He figured in the team for Saturday’s trip to Lincoln.

The home side’s three strikers approach caused us all sorts of problems, and they eventually scored in the 36th minute. Just on half-time Stieber scored a debut goal, an easy tap-in after a saved shot. We struggled again after the break, only to grab yet another penalty after 82 minutes. Bit of a pity that our back up spot-kick man Tyson missed it. He got another chance from the spot 3 minutes later. This time he didn’t miss, and we hung on under pressure, though we fluffed several breakaways that could have made it safe. A slightly undeserved but critical win.

Lincoln 1-2 Forest Att: 9061

I must be going soft, since I told the media afterwards that I was full of admiration for their boss Keith Alexander and that he was the man to save them from the drop. It was out of character and the players didn’t seem to like it, so I won’t be doing that again.

Reading came in on Monday morning with a 150K bid for Robbie Foy. He was still an interesting prospect, who’d been having an amazing season for the reserves. I asked for 1.5 million, and to my amazement they said yes. Next thing I know Moyes is on the phone offering the same fee. The conversation proceeded thus:

â€The price for you is 2.5 million pal.â€

“No way!! You’ve already accepted a lower offer from the other lot.â€

“Well cast your mind back to the start of the season when I asked for one of your reserves on loan and you wouldn’t have it. So what goes around comes around.â€

“This is ridiculous this is!!â€

“Look, if you don’t like it, don’t buy him. Cheerio.â€

I can’t deny it gave me an awful lot of satisfaction.

Before the home game with Ipswich on the 19th, Foy had departed for Reading.

The game had a lively 1st half, in which De Cerio volleyed in a 7th minute opener from Sculli’s cross. Sculli got his name on the sheet with a header after 15, and I was satisfied at the half. The visitors responded with a 52nd minute penalty, before Sculli restored our advantage on 58, following a game of pinball in the goalmouth. Things were well and truly settled three minutes from time, Sweeney crossing to the back post for Reid to volley home. A nice performance by the lads.

Forest 4-1 Ipswich Att: 30398

I pedalled Matt Jansen to QPR after the game for 100K. He had simply become surplus to requirements.

The home cup tie against Chelsea was a very entertaining 1-1 draw. We performed remarkably well to come from a goal down, and Tyson missed a 73rd minute penalty that almost certainly would have given us a shock win. I consoled myself with the record gate receipts of 850K, and the promise of a lucrative replay.

A midweek trip to Millwall finished our competitive action for January. It was a poor 1st half in which they had the better of things, though I told the lads we could win this one and I meant it. A much better 2nd half show ensued, and after several good chances, Sculli headed in a 91st minute winner. It was tough on the home side, but frankly I didn’t care. No-one shed any tears for us when we lost undeservedly.

Millwall 0-1 Forest Att: 9806

As the transfer dealine approached, I was more focused on selling off spare parts than bringing anyone in. Clingan joined Hull for 800K. I felt he had found his level, and wouldn’t be Premiership class. It was a good bid, and I liked the look of Johannes Djorou as his replacement. The player himself told the media he was relieved to move, since he couldn't get in with us on a regular basis. It was a fair enough solution for both sides.

The board reaped a 2.6M profit for the month. Only about 60% of that was available to spend. It was an irritation I had come to live with. Besides which I was trying to hoard cash for the Premiership, having decided that I was sure we were going to make it, though not daring to tell anyone, not even Frank. That would have been suicidally complacent. There was no-one on the transfer market that we could either afford, or that got my juices flowing so to speak. So I decided to stand pat, and turn on to the home straight with the cards I had (mixing all sorts of metaphors in the process).

[Spav]

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

Though I hear there’s only 57 days to go till the Ashes starts, and I won’t get much play or updating done then </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Time won't be an issue, mate - the Aussies will wrap each Test up inside three days.

[irishregan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Time won't be an issue, mate - the Aussies will wrap each Test up inside three days. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Funny, that’s what they said last time wasn’t it…what was the result again?

On the 2nd February, a home game with Coventry got us underway for the month. Stan Ternent tried his usual mind-games crap, and I was very irritated when they got away with a 0-0 draw, by virtue of TWO missed penalties by Tyson, who was promptly removed from his role as back-up penalty taker.

Forest 0-0 Coventry Att: 26678

A week later we were outclassed in our cup replay with Chelsea which wasn’t that surprising. A 4-0 scoreline was made more palatable by the 750K payday we received, courtesy of a 40,000 crowd and the presence of TV cameras.

Three days later it was Wolves at home, and there was yet more mouthing off, this time from Glenn Hoddle, saying that we “had to winâ€. I don’t know why this qualifies as mind games, since I go in to every game as if I “had to win†it. Djorou replaced flu victim Dunn, though we welcomed back Cardenas and De Cerio. We were crap in the 1st half, so I gave out the hair dryer treatment. Straight after the break, Sculli won our usual penalty, and Maloney showed Tyson how it was done. It seemed so hunky-dory from there, until an entirely preventable equalizer was conceded with 10 minutes left, and we threw away another winning opportunity. I said nothing to the team afterwards.

Forest 1-1 Wolves Att: 30588

De Cerio had picked up a rib injury, and missed our next fixture on the 16th, away to 22nd placed Luton. Slightly forgotten man Nicklas Bendtner deputized. We were slightly the better side 1st half, frustratingly failing to turn it into an advantage. I told the lads we should win it from here, and sent them to all out attack. With time winding down Sweeney got down the left and crossed for Reid to head home. Nullifying their threat proved easy enough, and finally we got the win our recent performances merited.

Luton 0-1 Forest Att: 9362

It turned out to be a huge result. Preston had been pegged back from 2 up in their game, whilst Charlton had lost comfortably. It restored both our lead and our momentum.

On the 20th we visited Sheffield Wednesday, who were struggling near the foot of the table, and I certainly fancied us for the win. A goalkeeping error gave Bendtner a gift tap-in after 3 minutes, though they pegged us back 20 minutes later. Tyson came off the bench to score 2 minutes later with a neat finish, a low drive after being put clean through. I just told the lads to keep it rolling, they were the better side. They responded after 55 minutes, Sweeney crossing for a totally unmarked Reid to finish with a quite lovely header. I never doubted that we would hold on. We were just a lot better than them.

Sheff Wed 1-3 Forest Att: 19932

Before the crucial visit to Bolton on the 23rd, there was the distraction of reserve centre half Michael Turner moaning about selection and eventually requesting a transfer. I was short with him, peremptorily brushing off his whining and immediately agreeing to allow him a move. It wasn't that I didn’t rate him or anything, I just didn’t have time for that sort of s**t in the thick of a promotion race.

Murphy and De Cerio returned to the side, which should have been massive for us, except that the performance was a complete shambles. By the half hour we were two down, and though Reid replied with a 45th minute header, they scored again soon after. We were very poor, and I just told the lads I was so disappointed, in a quiet demeanour. They’d let everyone down.

Bolton 3-1 Forest Att: 28685

Despite that shambles, we had still managed to nurse our lead reasonably well. The board were delighted with a profit of 466K, a decent achievement for February, though attributable entirely to the cup replay.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Nottm Forest | | 37 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 68 | 37 | +31 | 79 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Charlton | | 37 | 21 | 10 | 6 | 62 | 30 | +32 | 73 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Bolton | | 37 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 67 | 35 | +32 | 71 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Preston | | 36 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 65 | 32 | +33 | 69 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Cardiff | | 37 | 17 | 15 | 5 | 62 | 39 | +23 | 66 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Ipswich | | 37 | 20 | 6 | 11 | 70 | 60 | +10 | 66 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Everton | | 37 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 61 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Reading | | 37 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 38 | +13 | 61 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Wolves | | 37 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 58 | 47 | +11 | 61 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Sheff Utd | | 37 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 56 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Coventry | | 37 | 16 | 6 | 15 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 54 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Fulham | | 37 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 48 | 43 | +5 | 52 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Norwich | | 37 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 46 | 44 | +2 | 51 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Derby | | 37 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 51 | 52 | -1 | 48 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Doncaster | | 37 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 64 | 63 | +1 | 47 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Brentford | | 37 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 44 | 57 | -13 | 46 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Leicester | | 37 | 12 | 8 | 17 | 56 | 65 | -9 | 44 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Millwall | | 37 | 12 | 8 | 17 | 37 | 47 | -10 | 44 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Burnley | | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 44 | 53 | -9 | 42 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Sheff Wed | | 37 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 37 | 54 | -17 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Lincoln | | 37 | 7 | 7 | 23 | 41 | 77 | -36 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Luton | | 37 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 37 | 68 | -31 | 24 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Crewe | | 37 | 6 | 4 | 27 | 38 | 79 | -41 | 22 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Colchester | | 37 | 3 | 8 | 26 | 20 | 75 | -55 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

Our performance this month would have a huge bearing on promotion, starting on the 1st, at home to mid-table Norwich, a team capable of playing spoiler.

After a tiresome opening, Dunn waltzed through their defence and placed a low shot to give us a 37th minute lead. From there, tension suddenly began to bite. Tension was pretty much all that happened though. It degenerated into a midfield scrap with absolutely no goalmouth action. A workmanlike and uninspiring win, but it was greeted with something approaching hysteria by our fans at the final whistle. Certainly, every point was vital at this stage, and a step closer to the top division came with every win.

Forest 1-0 Norwich Att: 25747

A trip to lower half Doncaster came the following Saturday. The game was heartstopping, ludicrous, and just about any other adjective you care to mention. Bad defending allowed them to take the lead 9 minutes in, then equally bad defending allowed Sculli to equalize (18). It seemed like that would be as good as it got when we conceded 2 more goals (28, 33), yet more abysmal marking allowed Sculli clean through to give us some hope with his second goal (39). I told the lads they could win this and I believed it, however the 2nd half was nothing in comparison to the 1st. Then just as time was running out, Diaz de Cerio produced a fabulous chip that looked like it had given us a point. I fancied the win though and went all out attack, resulting in a penalty that was dispatched by Murphy to snatch an amazing win, with just about the last kick of the game. I told the lads well done, even though the defending was rotten. A pulsating match which did little for my nerves, but everything for our promotion hopes.

Doncaster 3-4 Forest Att: 15459

During the week, I had a conversation with Tyson during which he revealed that he’d fired his agent. Without much ado, I offerd him basically the same contract as he’d snubbed two years ago, and he signed up. I wasn’t in a mood to gloat, I just told him not to listen to these gouging b***ard agents, since I would always make sure he wasn’t short changed. It was a hard lesson, though one that would certainly help him in future.

Another ridiculous game followed at Reading. We lost 5-4, but what ws galling was the performance of two of our former players. Jeffers scored a hat-trick, having done basically sod-all for them since he arrived, and Foy got one of the others, though that was less unexpected. I told the lads they were an embarrassment, and while that was more aimed at the defence, I’ve always maintained that we defend as a team.

Reading 5-4 Forest Att: 20174

Just before the following Saturday's engagement at home to rock bottom Colchester, I persuaded Thatcher to sign a 1 year extension at 6K/week. He’d been a rock for us, and by and large not culpable in our recent defensive debacles.

The game was more or less one way traffic, and after 16 minutes Sculli gave us the lead, heading in Thatcher’s cross. Just before half-time, Murphy doubled our tally with a tremendous 25 yd free kick. It was absolute plain sailing, and Sweeney rounded things off with his 1st ever goal for the club in the 95th minute. I said to the lads I fancied a performance like this every week, which was slightly high praise perhaps, considering the opposition. Still…another giant stride.

Forest 3-0 Colchester Att: 23935

Curiously enough, I heard back from Frank that some of the players had been moaning that I didn’t give enough credit. My assistant was something of a double agent of course, and I used him to send word back that all I wanted was what was best for the team, and to help the lads improve.

We were home again on the 24th, a tricky assignment against Fulham We produced a garbage 1st half, and I certainly didn’t give them much credit in the dressing room at the break. It seemed to work, as in the 50th minute Murphy’s shot was saved and Sculli netted the rebound. The visitors had the potential to rebound, yet I was very happy with the way the lads locked the game down, looking sturdy and uncompromising at the back, which always delights a manager.

Forest 1-0 Fulham Att: 23982

A huge game away to 3rd placed Charlton followed on the 29th, and this would go a long way to settling the promotion places if we could get a decent result. We had the better of the early going, and in the 18th minute, Sculli broke down the right, crossing for De Cerio to slide in a great finish. Given the game’s importance, I went ultra defensive straight away, only for them to fiddle a penalty on 22. Carson produced a brilliant save, and I had to keep my cool on the sidelines, while everybody else went nuts. I didn’t want to feed any complacency, and there was still a hell of a long way to go. Ten minutes later, Reid played in Sculli, who looked set to score, but his unexpected rebound was poked in by De Cerio. Seemingly set fair, they fiddled themselves another penalty on the hour, which was scored this time. Then despite offering little, they fiddled another penalty on 89, to deprive us of a richly deserved win. That was annoying, but we had stopped them from gaining on us and whittled off another game. I’d have taken this result before we started so I wasn’t too devastated, though p***ed off at the referee. In fairmess, we’d got our share of penalties in the last few months though.

Charlton 2-2 Forest Att: 30859

A loss of 519K for the month was a bit of a blow, however we were closing inexorably on the financial paradise of the Premiership

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | Pl | Nottm Forest | | 42 | 27 | 8 | 7 | 82 | 47 | +35 | 89 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | Pl | Preston | | 42 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 82 | 35 | +47 | 85 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Charlton | | 42 | 23 | 13 | 6 | 70 | 35 | +35 | 82 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Bolton | | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 74 | 40 | +34 | 78 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Wolves | | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 71 | 51 | +20 | 73 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Ipswich | | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 76 | 65 | +11 | 73 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Cardiff | | 42 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 67 | 46 | +21 | 71 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Reading | | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 62 | 48 | +14 | 69 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Everton | | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 60 | 40 | +20 | 68 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Coventry | | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 62 | 54 | +8 | 63 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Sheff Utd | | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 63 | 55 | +8 | 62 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Fulham | | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 59 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Norwich | | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 54 | 51 | +3 | 58 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Millwall | | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 43 | 51 | -8 | 53 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Derby | | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 56 | 61 | -5 | 51 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Doncaster | | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 71 | 74 | -3 | 50 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Brentford | | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 48 | 63 | -15 | 49 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Leicester | | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 62 | 74 | -12 | 48 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Burnley | | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 49 | 66 | -17 | 45 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Sheff Wed | | 42 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 43 | 61 | -18 | 38 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Lincoln | | 42 | 9 | 8 | 25 | 50 | 84 | -34 | 35 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Luton | | 42 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 45 | 76 | -31 | 30 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Crewe | | 42 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 45 | 93 | -48 | 27 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | R | Colchester | | 42 | 3 | 8 | 31 | 22 | 90 | -68 | 17 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

Whilst I was trying to concentrate on getting promotion, the board decided to muddy the waters by offering me a new contract on the 1st of April. In the end I signed it just to get it out of the way, after some haggling over my pay, which I thought was far from generous. I took a 1 year deal at 4.7K per week, and if I kept us in the Premiership next year I could probably expect to double that. My new best mate Tyson spoke for the players, saying how delighted they were that I was staying.

On the 5th we entertained Leicester. Sculli teamed up with de Cerio to give us the lead after 13, and that was all it took. The visitors were crap, we weren’t much better, and one goal was easily enough. Only a total collapse would stop us now, with just a single point from 3 games enough to propel us into the top division.

Forest 1-0 Leicester Att: 30583

The next Sunday we could clinch it at Sheffield United. John Gregory had a pop at me again, which was a shame, and I responded that he’s a good manager and I was looking forward to pitting my wits against him.

In the event, our narrow win was academic, since Charlton lost heavily at home, and we were promoted. The celebrations on the pitch, in the dressing room, and that evening were massive and boozy, though I knew we were going to make it months ago. Coupled with the feeling that “the hard work starts nowâ€, made it a teeny bit of an anti-climax. Yet I was massively satisfied to have restored this famous old club to its rightful place. Now we had to stay there.

The usual plaudits came my way, and the press wanted juicy quotes out of me, but I didn’t play ball. There was a lot of thinking and a lot of work in the transfer market to be done. There was no point getting euphoric now, then getting hammered next year. Kelly wanted me to slow down and spend some more time with her now, and was a bit miffed when I didn’t. My passion for this club was all consuming at the minute, and she had to make do with the promise of a holiday at some stage during the Summer.

We played out the string with a 2 nil win over Brentford and a 0-0 draw with Burnley. Another loss of 111K befell us, yet considering the money that we’d make next season, that wasn't going to keep anybody awake at night.

In the last couple of weeks I did manage to spend some good time with Kelly, and some good time with the lads and the staff. We had some boozy golf days and some nights out on the town. I thought the lads deserved to let their hair down. They had done fantastically well, and in the back of my mind I felt a bit guilty, since several of them would have to be let go before the start of next term.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | C | Nottm Forest | | 46 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 86 | 47 | +39 | 99 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | P | Preston | | 46 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 88 | 42 | +46 | 89 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | Pl | Charlton | | 46 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 75 | 38 | +37 | 89 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | Pl | Bolton | | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 81 | 43 | +38 | 87 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | Pl | Wolves | | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 78 | 54 | +24 | 80 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | Pl | Everton | | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 68 | 41 | +27 | 78 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Cardiff | | 46 | 19 | 20 | 7 | 71 | 49 | +22 | 77 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Reading | | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 66 | 53 | +13 | 75 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Ipswich | | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 81 | 72 | +9 | 75 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Coventry | | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 70 | 59 | +11 | 69 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Sheff Utd | | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 69 | 62 | +7 | 66 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Norwich | | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 63 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Fulham | | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 54 | 55 | -1 | 61 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Doncaster | | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 82 | 80 | +2 | 60 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Millwall | | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 49 | 55 | -6 | 60 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Derby | | 46 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 62 | 67 | -5 | 56 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Brentford | | 46 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 53 | 67 | -14 | 54 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Leicester | | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 69 | 83 | -14 | 52 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Burnley | | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 54 | 74 | -20 | 48 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Sheff Wed | | 46 | 9 | 17 | 20 | 51 | 68 | -17 | 44 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Lincoln | | 46 | 10 | 9 | 27 | 55 | 93 | -38 | 39 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | R | Luton | | 46 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 49 | 84 | -35 | 32 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | R | Crewe | | 46 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 47 | 102 | -55 | 28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | R | Colchester | | 46 | 3 | 9 | 34 | 23 | 96 | -73 | 18 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Morale | Form | Con | Apps | Gls | Av Rat |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Giuseppe Sculli | AM L, ST | Superb | 7-7-7-7-7 | 100% | 43 | 22 | 7.28 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Steven Reid | AM RC | Very Good | 8-6-7-7-7 | 91% | 44 | 8 | 7.25 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Danny Murphy | AM C | Superb | 7-5-7-7-8 | 100% | 29 | 15 | 7.21 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Iñigo Díaz de Cerio | ST | Superb | 7-8-7-7-7 | 99% | 35 | 20 | 7.20 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Ben Thatcher | D LC | Superb | 7-7-7-7-7 | 100% | 43 | - | 7.16 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Rune Pedersen | GK | Superb | 7-6-7-7-8 | 100% | 38 | - | 7.08 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Peter Sweeney | AM L | Superb | 8-7-7-6-7 | 100% | 22 | 1 | 7.00 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | David Dunn | AM RC | Superb | 7-7-5-7-8 | 100% | 39 (1) | 8 | 7.00 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Inj | Johannes Djourou | DM | Good | 6-6-7-7-7 | 84% | 8 (4) | 1 | 6.92 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Sherman Andrés Cárdenas | AM LC | Very Good | 7-6-7-6-7 | 77% | 22 (5) | - | 6.89 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Unh | Lenny Pidgeley | GK | Very Poor | 6-6-6-7-7 | 90% | 8 (1) | - | 6.89 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Wes Morgan | D C | Good | 7-7-7-7-7 | 97% | 15 (1) | - | 6.88 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Wnt | Paul Bignot | D RLC | Superb | 7-6-8-7-7 | 100% | 40 (1) | - | 6.80 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Unh | Kris Commons | AM LC | Superb | 6-8-8-6-7 | 91% | 8 (7) | - | 6.80 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Unh | Michael Turner | D C | Very Good | 7-8-6-8-7 | 97% | 5 | - | 6.80 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | James Perch | D RC, DM, M R | Very Good | 8-7-7-7-7 | 96% | 27 (8) | - | 6.77 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Shaun Maloney | AM/F C | Superb | 6-7-7-6-7 | 95% | 13 (6) | 2 | 6.74 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Zurab Khizanishvili | D C | Very Good | 5-7-7-6-6 | 95% | 17 (1) | - | 6.67 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Lst | Gino Padula | D/WB L | Poor | 7-7-7-6-7 | 85% | 8 (1) | - | 6.56 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Nathan Tyson | ST | Good | 6-6-6-6-6 | 74% | 14 (23)| 9 | 6.54 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | Unh | Eugen Bopp | AM RC | Good | 8-6-6-6-7 | 83% | 4 (1) | - | 6.40 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Chris Burke | AM R | Good | 7-6-8-7-6 | 88% | 3 | - | 6.33 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Abdeltareck Sakali | AM RL, ST | Okay | 7-7-10-6-6 | 86% | 2 (2) | - | 6.25 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| - | | Serge Makofo | F C | Very Good | 7-6-7-6-7 | 97% | 1 | - | 6.00 |

| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

I worked the phones hard at the beginning of May, and it all paid off in a very big way on the 4th. I completed the Bosman signing of Robert Huth. He’d spent the season on loan in Germany from Chelsea. The fact that I was able to beat the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool to the punch totally vindicated my policy of getting in early on the Summer signings. We extended ourselves as far as we could, a 9.5K/week deal till 2012, with a 500K signing on fee. A terrific player, and a huge statement of intent from us.

That was followed on the 8th by the Bosman capture of Manuel Almunia from Arsenal on a 6K/week deal. I managed to fend off several Spanish clubs to get him, and he would be a serious contender for the number one spot.

On the 10th, Bopp had a transfer request granted. He’d been cheesed off for some time, and was no longer pivotal to our plans. However, little early interest from other clubs was shown.

Nothing much else was in the works for now, so I took Kelly off on holiday to Barbados, a destination which was given added piquancy by the fact that that was where Jenny’s family were originally from. Knowing my luck, she would have coincidentally gone there on holiday herself and I’d have bumped into her, though in the event that thankfully didn’t happen.

It turned out to be a very pleasant break, plenty of sun, sand, sex and booze. I returned with batteries fully recharged and scrotum fully emptied.

The only other things that occurred that month was that formality of me being named Manager of the Year, and Thatcher, Reid and Sculli making the Team of the Year. A 1.25 million loss for the month was entirely expected, perhaps even smaller than I had prepared for.

[irishregan]

In early June, the Bosmans flooded on to the market, and I got busy again. The 5th of June saw me sign French U-21 international Steven Thicot on a freebie from Nantes. He’d been billed as “the new Valerien Ishmael". I hoped he’d be better than that frankly. Next day I signed up a player who was closer to the genuine article. Swiss international DL/AML Johan Elmer would join us for free from Chelsea after a highly successful loan spell at Leeds. Speaking of the Yorkshire club, I also signed up their striker, and one of my personal favourite players, fellow Ulsterman David Healy. Doubts persisted about his level of play outside the box, but finishing wise he was excellent.

From the 10th of the month I was enjoying myself in Switzerland and Austria as a member of the BBC panel for the European Championships. England had scraped in unconvincingly, and opened up the tournament with an entertaining 2-2 draw with Germany. They followed up on the 15th with a 3-1 defeat of Greece and on that same day I signed young Leicester defender Neil Mcgregor for 150K plus 10% sell-on clause. He had impressed throughout last season and also in my presence against us, and looked a fine prospect. On the 18th England drew 1-1 with their regular tormentors Sweden and progressed to the next phase.

I was sitting in a beer keller in Vienna getting smashed with Messrs Hansen and Stubbs when Nigel called to tell me something that had me nearly falling off my chair. He started with the unsurprising news that Sculli had been voted Player of the Year, then casually mentioned that we’d received the money for Premiership TV rights…all 13.75 million of it!! I knew it would be a fair chunk of change, but only now was it brought home to me how much money was sloshing around at the top of the game. He then further made my day by announcing that the stadium capacity was to be increased to 42,000, improvements that would begin immediately and be completed in time for Christmas. The cost was 10.75 million, but if we wanted to become a super club again, it had to be done. The transfer budget would be 3.3M for now, and the board expected us to avoid relegation, which was pretty much my assessment of what we were capable of for the coming year.

The rest of the month was a bit of a party, for the BBC team and England. They disposed of France 2-0 in the quarter-final, beat Spain in the semis on penalties, then on the 29th, to general euphoria in the BBC and the country, they beat the Turks 3-1 in the final, to record their first major tournament victory since you know when. When asked for my reaction on the panel I decided to be irreverent and said “now they’ll have to stop showing those repeats of 1966, thank God.†I could see Hansen tittering out of the corner of my eye, though of course Lineker was taking himself far too seriously to laugh.

Steve McClaren stepped down the day after the match, and I had made sure and praised him handsomely for his achievement. I had slammed him before and now he deserved every bit of credit. I gave him a call a few days after that, and he was very warm on the phone, no doubt basking in the glow of victory. I even apologized for the savaging I gave him several months previously, and he was fine about it.

â€You can become a pundit now and get your own back on me,†I joked.

â€I might just do that!†he laughed.

â€You should, the money’s good, the hours are great, and you get tonnes of skirt when you’re away covering tournaments.â€

I hadn’t known him personally before that call, but we left on good terms. I didn’t tell him I’d applied for his old job though. It’s the biggest job in football, and I rate myself as a manager, so f**k it, why not? Though I’m not expecting to get a look in.

In club business, the board scored a 2.05 million profit for the month, which is nice, considering the huge investment they made in the stadium. Full credit to them for that too. Their ambitions are finally matching mine, and they’re backing me to the hilt.

[Spav]

Well done for winning the League Championship title. There's a couple of decent signings you've made for your first season of Premier League football. KUTGW mate.

[irishregan]

Thanks mate, I was delighted to get Huth. If I had been manager of Chelsea, I’d have had him in the side every week. He fulfills a big need for us, namely a commanding centre back. We’ve always been dodgy at the back against good quality attackers. The other signings are pretty solid too, but I’m under no illusions – we have to keep trying to build up the squad, because there’s still a few deadbeats in there.

Revolving door time came around on the 1st July, and we welcomed Almunia, Huth, Thicot, Elmer, Healy and McGregor aboard. The next day, a still-miffed Lenny Pidgeley departed the club for Burghausen in Germany, with a million quid and 20% sell-on clause coming in the other direction. A good deal.

Just over a week later, another piece of canny business was done. Michael Turner who had spent the last year whingeing in the reserves, joined Bristol City for a slightly inflated fee of 800K. It had to be so, since Brentford’s sell on clause meant they pocketed 150K of it.

Even still, our transfer budget was pretty pathetic by Premiership standards, so the spare parts sale continued. On the 15th, I finally gave up on James Beaumont flogging him to Bournemouth for 550K.

Our pre-season campaign began on the 26th, a fighting 2-2 draw with Southampton at their place, when we gutsed it out to return from 2 nil down.

On the 28th I was musing about new hires for the coaching staff, and came across former Bayern Munich goalie Jens Musterman. He’d just retired from playing and looked a very good potential coach. Without much ado, I signed him up.

The last day of the month saw me tie up a very notable signing, both for now and the future. Scott Carson was surplus to requirements on a deep goalkeeping staff at Liverpool and I wasted no time in sniping in to sign him for 1.3 million pounds. A 20 grand a week contract hurt a bit, but these were the things we had to do if we wanted to get back amongst the big boys. The lad had a huge future in the game, and though we had plenty of goalkeeping, we just couldn’t pass him up. Despite this signing, we still posted a great profit for the month in excess of 3.4M.

Authors note: I wrongly referred to Carson as our goalie saving a penalty in a game against Charlton last season, before I’d actually signed him. Apologies for the continuity error.

[irishregan]

Wonders never cease. On the 1st August, the board took a step into the 21st Century, and allocated an extra 1.5M to the transfer budget, leaving it an the unprecedented level of 5.75M. It was still nothing to get excited about, but every little bit helped.

Next day, we completed an uninspiring 2-0 win over Linfield in the last of our pre-season friendlies. The bookies suggested we would do well to stay up, and quoted odds of 150-1 for us winning the title. Even I had to admit those were generous odds.

We opened up at home to Villa and the buzz around the club had visibly changed. This was the big time. Kelly was no longer reporting on our fortunes, since it had now been handed over to the big boys, regional BBC reporters, the type of bloke you’d see on Match of The Day. I did an interview with Stubbsy for Football Focus, another two for ITV and Sky, following on from a Friday press conference that was attended by a veritable s**tload of journalists, including many of the tabloid and broadsheet heavies, attracted by the story of a famous club finally making it back to the big time following years in oblivion. I have to say I felt pretty frigging important, and the atmosphere was intoxicating, light years ahead of the lower leagues. It was like we were film stars or something.

My first team was Carson Bignot Elmer Huth Thatcher Dunn Reid Murphy de Cerio Sculli and Sweeney and straight from the off we were under pressure. The whole tempo and quality of play had moved up several notches, and we were struggling to hang on. A mistake from Elmer gifted them a goal on 28, then another blunder from him exactly 28 minutes later cost another goal. I was both livid and chastened. Livid at the mistakes, and chastened by what went on out there. We looked outclassed, and were outshot 20-7. It was a grim start and a dire warning that we had to up our game considerably if we were to have the slightest chance of avoiding relegation. It was a whole new ball game.

Forest 0-2 Villa Att: 28115

Four days later we visited Watford a match in which we were surprisingly tagged as favourites. Cardenas returned for Sweeney and we looked a different team, as much to do with the opposition as anything. After 29 minutes of something approaching dominance, Elmer crossed for de Cerio to head in our first top-flight goal for something like 8 years. The lead only lasted about 8 minutes due to some atrocious defending, and despite my conviction that we should win, I settled for the point with 15 minutes left. We got it, and it was a huge relief to at least have something on the board.

Watford 1-1 Forest Att: 11572

Home again on Saturday, this time against Southampton, managed by a slimy git I’ve never liked, George Burley. Five minutes in, de Cerio crossed for Sculli whose header whacked against the bar, only for him to force home the rebound. Much to our delight, he scored again after 27 minutes and I told the lads just to keep it going. Sculli broke away again on 58, and though he was denied his hat-trick, de Cerio banged in the rebound, and a superb team effort saw us run out "clear and deserved winners". We had arrived.

Forest 3-0 Southampton Att: 28146

Man of the Match Ben Thatcher put pen to paper on a one year extension after the game. His experience had been vital to us ever since he’d joined, and as long as he kept doing the business like he was, I didn’t care that he was getting on a bit.

Another midweek away game was next, at Portsmouth. It was very even and tight, though we were wasteful in front of goal, and I decided to focus the lads by giving them a rocket. Though we fully deserved a draw, we then conceded a real softie after 78 minutes, and I was furious to be heading up the motorway with f*** all. Another hard lesson.

Portsmouth 1-0 Forest Att:25249

I could get used to this schedule. On Saturday we entertained West Brom, a game that I felt was most certainly winnable. We looked good from the off, and on the half hour Cardenas slipped in Sculli, who made no mistake. All the lads had to do was keep playing I told them, and straight after the break, a speculative shot from our Italian striker was deflected in, and suddenly we were the recipients of a stroke of luck. The same man picked up a rebound from a Murphy free kick to complete his hat-trick on 83, then on 86 he scored a sublime 4th, chipping the goalie from the angle after being put clean through. As John Motson so succinctly put it on the highlights that evening, “what a performance…what a player!†Both the Italian and the rest of the lads were fantastic, and I couldn’t ask for more than what they produced today.

Forest 4-0 West Brom Att: 28111

Our first month in the company of the big boys had been very encouraging. We’d been exposed a few times, but we’d beaten who we were supposed to beat, or at least showed that we were capable of it. Sculli had 6 goals in 5 games, which certainly sorted us out at one end of the field. The board were delighted too, in view of results, and a 3.25M profit for the month. This figure had been slightly padded by two pre-deadline sales. Padula, his career at the club long since down the tubes, joined Hull for 75K and Gardener joined the same club, on a different day, for 500K. Nice business.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Liverpool | | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Blackburn | | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 14 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Man Utd | | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 13 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Newcastle | | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 12 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Chelsea | | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 11 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Tottenham | | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Aston Villa | | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Preston | | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Nottm Forest | | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 7 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Wigan | | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 7 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Southampton | | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 7 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Arsenal | | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Birmingham | | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Leeds | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Man City | | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Bolton | | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Portsmouth | | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | West Brom | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 | -8 | 4 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Middlesbrough | | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 3 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Watford | | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 2 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

After a hectic start to the season, I took a well earned two-week break for internationals. Better still, England didn’t have any, which would keep me from the temptations of London. Clear of debauchery, I’m actually quite a reasonable and home loving fellow. I contented myself to spend a lot of time with Kelly, and even some time totally by myself, lounging around in Sevenoaks. I didn’t take anything to do with football, and I have to say it did me the world of good.

Just before our game with Man City on the 13th, Commons decided to hand in a transfer request, which I granted. The game itself was lost 1-0, after a truly terrible performance. We were outshot, outfought, outeverything, and the 28119 in attendance were outraged. So was I, though I didn’t rip into the players. Not sure why. Perhaps the montonous regularity of great sex with Kelly had drained me of all testosterone.

We then entertained Cardiff in a League Cup game. I wanted to win for the sake of team morale, so I decided to put the 1st choice 11 out. We were rewarded with a sensational 4-0 win, although it was only Cardiff we were playing, and in the context of what was important, the performance came a week late.

An important game at Bolton loomed on the 20th, and annoyingly, we would be without Carson and Burke who had picked up minor injuries. The latter was no big deal, the former was a hammer blow. We were under pressure from the off, though our goalkeeping replacement Pedersen was very solid. Against the run of play, Murphy played in Sculli to open the scoring on 41. I went ultra cautious from there, settling in my mind for a point. Instead, the home side offered practically nothing, and we hung on easily for a priceless victory. I let the lads know how delighted I was afterwards, and it was a happy trip home.

Bolton 0-1 Forest Att: 28709

I wasn’t expecting anything from our next game however, a home engagement with mighty Arsenal. Carson returned, and as anticipated he was very busy. The Gunners took the lead on 32, then seemed to sit back and let us into the game. I was elated when we won a penalty on 57, only for the unthinkable to happen. I couldn’t remember Murphy having missed one, and he chose now to start. Happily for us, he redeemed himself 2 minutes later, blasting in a superb free kick for a deserved equalizer. We matched our illustrious opponents from there, and I was delighted that we had impressed in front of live TV cameras. We weren’t intimidated, and seemed to belong up here. Very satisfactory, as I told the brain-dead dolly bird who interviewed me for Sky after the game. No I didn’t try and pull her, though it looked as if it would be straightforward enough.

Forest 1-1 Arsenal Att: 28137

September had gone, and we were still hanging in there. The board were impressed, though we turned a loss of 16K.

[irishregan]

On the 1st of October we visited Birmingham, and it was a right fiasco. We were outshot 23-7, and a 2-0 defeat flattered us. I really went off on one in the dressing rooms, telling the players that they would have to train through the 14 day international break. No f***ing holidays, or dirty weekends with Page 3 tramps. Training, training, and more f***ing training. They knew better than to protest to my face. I was so angry I would have thumped somebody. The players knew when I was really mad and should not be confronted. I calmed down slightly on the way home, and told Frank that they could have a few days off during the fortnight, but not to tell them yet. I wanted to make a point that that sort of s***e would not be tolerated.

Three days later, England smashed Finland 4-0. There was just time for an all night booze-up with the usual suspects, before the whole BBC team headed for Cardiff, and the next game against Wales on Saturday. It was a great atmosphere in the build-up to the unimaginatively titled “Battle of Britainâ€. There was a red-hot atmosphere at the full house Millennium Stadium, but the home fans were disappointed as The English ran out 2-0 winners. The tone of the home crowd turned visibly more aggressive towards the end. I made the decision to head straight back to Nottingham after the game, and not go out on the town. As a high-profile figure in a bar full of disgruntled Taffies, I might be a prime candidate for a bottle over the back of the head.

On the 18th we headed up to Newcastle, and I was expecting exactly what we got…nothing. We were outshot 16-2, and looked quite pitiful actually. I chose not to rant and rave, because they were simply better than us. I wasn’t happy with the effort though.

Newcastle 2-0 Forest Att: 44562

A couple of day later, Maloney started whingeing about being a back-up. In all honesty, I couldn’t really blame him after the last couple of performances, but he was stuck behind Murphy, who was undoubtedly a quality player at this level. However, the Scotsman got an immediate chance in a home League Cup game against Plymouth, and fired in an injury time winner for a poor 1-0 win by our reserves. It only emphasized the lack of squad depth, although he performed pretty well.

We needed a hell of a lot better effort than that from the 1st choice players at home to Blackburn on the 27th, and we started out like a house on fire. De Cerio broke through all alone after 27 minutes, and scored off the bar, and I was satisfied though cautious at half-time. The pressure eased considerably when the gifted young Spaniard broke through again after 65, doubling our tally with a quite lethal finish. That broke their resistance, and it was a really satisfying and deserved win, which lifted us 3 places in the table.

Forest 2-0 Blackburn Att: 28141

We stumbled a bit more this month, but to stay up we only need about 45 points, so the odd win here and there does wonders for the league position. We can afford to lose a few, as long as we win some rather than start drawing all over the place. I’m fairly satisfied with how it’s gone so far. However we took a hammering at the bank this month, with a loss of almost a million quid (947K), something which we certainly don’t want to make a habit of. That will all turn around when the ground capacity jumps to 42,500.

[rocheyuk]

Really enjoyable read. Like the little back story as well as the detail used on the football side of things. KUTGW

[irishregan]

Thanks a lot rocheyuk, much appreciated

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Tottenham | | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 9 | +17 | 28 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Chelsea | | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 7 | +15 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Man Utd | | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 12 | +18 | 26 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Liverpool | | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Man City | | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Arsenal | | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 10 | +14 | 22 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Birmingham | | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Aston Villa | | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 20 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Newcastle | | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 18 | +1 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Southampton | | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 17 | -4 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Nottm Forest | | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 17 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | West Brom | | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Bolton | | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Blackburn | | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 20 | -8 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Portsmouth | | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 28 | -12 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Preston | | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 20 | -8 | 14 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Middlesbrough | | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 12 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Leeds | | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 18 | 30 | -12 | 12 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Wigan | | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 26 | -13 | 11 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Watford | | 14 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 36 | -25 | 4 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[hilditch]

Good work. Nice to see that it is possible to do well will forest

[irishregan]

Thanks Hilditch, it's nice to be able to get Forest moving back to where they belong. Now if only they can do it in real life!

The first day of the month took us to Preston. All winnable games were really must wins at this level, especially for a side just promoted. De Cerio got us underway with a great chip after 5 minutes, and we continued in the ascendant. On 36, Reid crossed for an unmarked Sculli to head in, bringing us a 2nd goal that was always going to be enough for a deserved and vital win.

Preston 0-2 Forest Att: 16411

Of course, there was always a price to pay, in this case an ankle injury to Reid that would cost us his services for 3-4 weeks.

Another away game in midweek, this time against struggling Leeds. It was a pulsating game pretty much from the first whistle. De Cerio headed in a 3rd minute corner from the recalled Bopp. Then just 4 minutes later, Sculli burst through and delivered a great finish for 2-0. Our defenders decided to throw it away from there, first after 29 when we conceded a soft as s***e goal, then a ridiculous penalty concession by Huth four minutes later. Almost immediately, the forwards showed off. Sculli's penetrative cross was rewarded with a brilliant headed finish from De Cerio, who then completed an amazing hat-trick with a deadly finish on the stroke of half-time. I told the lads that if we kept it going we'd win, and they provided a much more stable performance after that. The home side attacked like mad, and despite another gift goal with 10 minutes to go, we closed it out once again, deservedly so, for another huge result.

Leeds 3-4 Forest Att: 29241

De Cerio had now scored 11 in 14 starts, and it crossed my mind that at this rate he would be on the radar for a number of bigger clubs. I was always relaxed about that kind of thing. If somebody offered me 20 million I'd take it, though top class strikers always take some replacing.

After a 10 day break, a home encounter with Liverpool didn't promise much, but that man De Cerio gave us a dream start. His header hit the post, and he caused such disarray in their defence that Murphy could have lit a fag before hammering in the rebound. We were battered from thereon in, but with Carson in outstanding form we were able to see it through. Just before the break, a defensive slip from them allowed the Spaniard in again, for his speciality delightful chip finish, and a 2-0 scoreline that possibly was slightly generous to us, but by no means outrageous. I knew we could hang on from there, and sure enough, despite them pulling one back on 71, they just didn't have the heart for it. We wanted it more. A manful performance, in which we were only outshot 12-8.

Forest 2-1 Liverpool Att: 28149

The usual injury would cost us Thatcher for 3-4 weeks, a player who would prove more difficult to replace, given his outstanding form this season. He would have done nothing to prevent the 3-1 beating we took at Man United in our next game. Such luck as we had ran out, and we were trumped by the better side. It brought our winning run to an end, yet we'd made a hell of a lot of progress while it lasted.

Revenge came three days later when we entertained the same side in the League Cup. They scored with their first attack, but we fought back like tigers, a stunning drive from Sculli and a great cross from Burke giving the Italian an easy tap-in for a 2-1 advantage before half-time. We held it down from there with a bit more ease than I thought we would. A fantastic result to end a very productive month.

Forest 2-1 Man United Att: 28052

De Cerio won player of the month, quite rightly in my view. He'd been in irresistable form throughout. Defenders were scared of him now, I could tell by the attention he attracted even off the ball.

We copped a loss of 364K, probably explained by the glut of away games, but I wasn't too bothered with that, given that we were slowly but surely securing our top flight status.

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Tottenham | | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 13 | +21 | 38 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Man Utd | | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 37 | 14 | +23 | 36 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Chelsea | | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 35 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Arsenal | | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 14 | +19 | 34 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Liverpool | | 16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 29 | 15 | +14 | 34 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Man City | | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Aston Villa | | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 28 | +2 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Birmingham | | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Bolton | | 17 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Nottm Forest | | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 23 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Southampton | | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 27 | -6 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | West Brom | | 17 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 35 | -12 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Newcastle | | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 27 | 29 | -2 | 20 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Portsmouth | | 18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 26 | 39 | -13 | 19 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Middlesbrough | | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Preston | | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 24 | -10 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Wigan | | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Blackburn | | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 26 | -14 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Leeds | | 18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 23 | 38 | -15 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Watford | | 18 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 43 | -23 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

A midweek assignment at Villa promised to be tricky, and sure enough we conceded a rubbish goal defensively early on. De Cerio responded with what the commentators described as a "magnificent individual effort", a marauding run down the right followed by a thumping drive into the top corner from an oblique angle. The game was very even, but unfortunately we conceded another crap goal with 10 minutes remaining, and despite deserving a point, we could find no way back.

Villa 2-1 Forest Att: 42566

As advertised, our magnificent stadium expansion was completed on the 15th, giving us a capacity of 42,500. The first fixture there under the new circumstances was in the League Cup against Sheffield Wednesday two days later. Nigel wanted to do an all singing all dancing opening ceremony, which really p***ed me off. I thought it detracted from the preparations for the game. I should have been in the dressing room sorting out the players instead of standing there with a bunch of corporate twerps, and listening to some silly cow from a reality TV show trying to launch her pop career. In the end, at least it wasn't a league game. We managed to win it on penalties after a ridiculous performance which I wa convinced had been impacted by all the hoo-hah beforehand. I was irritable and had an unfortunate stand-up row with Nigel in the bar afterwards, which was embarrassing considering that it was witnessed by the entire board and players of Sheffield Wednesday, several local journalists, and the corporate suits who had attended the earlier ceremony. Not sure if the pop start tart was there. We made up the day after, yet there had always been tension between us, and there always would be.

On the 22nd Watford arrived and I was expecting a handy win. Instead it was all very frustrating. We were clearly the better side, but had to wait 26 annoying minutes before Murphy hammered in a fabulous 25 yarder. We were well on top now, and 5 minutes later, Elmer crossed for Burke to head in superbly. The game was as good as won, and we cruised to a comfortable victory.

Forest 2-0 Watford Att: 35314

I was slightly disappointed with the attendance, but given the opposition that was understandable.

The last game of the month was a totally infuriating 3-2 loss at Southampton Despite the scoreline, we were absolutely mauled, outshot 25-6, and I was really infuriated with the whole shambles. Carson told the media of my anger, since I had petulantly refused to talk to anyone afterwards, returning to Sevenoaks in a huff.

At least we were back in black for the month, showing a profit of 1.2M. With a shiny new ground expansion, it promised to be the first of many.

[irishregan]

I made a big balls up here. What follows is the first half of December, which I didn't copy and paste properly. So the post above is actually the 2nd half of December. Sorry about that

December was always a brutal month. Once again we played on the 1st, this time at home to Wigan in a game that was the Monday offering of Sky TV. The returning Reid gave us a flyer after two minutes, heading in a cross from another recalled player, Cardenas. We spent the whole of the rest of the game well and truly battering their lines, yet had to wait till the 82nd minute before De Cerio to wrap it up with a customary lethal finish.

Forest 2-0 Wigan Att: 27677

I wasn't keen on Saturday's trip to Spurs, and sure enough we got pummelled, conceding 3 in 9 1st half minutes. It wasn't pretty, though at least we stopped the bleeding in the 2nd half, we were well outplayed, and I have to admit, probably outclassed. It was all rubbed in by a late sending-off of Reid, who at least had the good grace, and the common sense, to acept his fine. I was in no mood for any insubordination.

Spurs 3-0 Forest Att: 36226

It didn't get any easier on the 10th, a home engagement with Chelsea. However we started very brightly, and very much held our own. From an inocuous punt down the right early in the 2nd half, Burke nodded on to De Cerio who completely exposed Carvalho with his pace and power, resulting in a terrific finish and a pretty much deserved lead. I thought we manged very well from there, stifling them until they helped themselves to a dodgy penalty with 15 minutes left. I feared the worst from there, but we were still their equal. In the end a draw was very satisfying, though we possibly deserved to win the game, which would have augured very well for the future. I was full of praise for the lads, which they loved, and also decided to wind up Mourinho which they also relished. I said they'd no chance of winning the title if they were second best to us, and was both pleased and disappointed when he didn't respond. Pleased in that he knew I was right, disappointed in that I fancied taking him on verbally any day of the week. Either way the players loved it. I decided to go home and give Kelly twelve rounds instead.

Forest 1-1 Chelsea Att: 28195

[irishregan]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Arsenal | | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 46 | 20 | +26 | 49 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Liverpool | | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 40 | 20 | +20 | 49 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Tottenham | | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 45 | 20 | +25 | 48 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Chelsea | | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 44 | 20 | +24 | 48 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Man Utd | | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 48 | 19 | +29 | 47 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Man City | | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 35 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Aston Villa | | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 36 | 39 | -3 | 32 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Nottm Forest | | 21 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 29 | 25 | +4 | 30 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Bolton | | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 30 | 33 | -3 | 29 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Portsmouth | | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 39 | 43 | -4 | 29 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Birmingham | | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 32 | -5 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | West Brom | | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 25 | 45 | -20 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Newcastle | | 21 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 31 | 37 | -6 | 24 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Southampton | | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 39 | -13 | 24 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Blackburn | | 21 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 21 | 35 | -14 | 24 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Middlesbrough | | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 31 | 30 | +1 | 22 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Leeds | | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 26 | 41 | -15 | 20 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Preston | | 22 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 28 | -13 | 19 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Wigan | | 22 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 35 | -18 | 17 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Watford | | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 22 | 49 | -27 | 13 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

</pre>

[irishregan]

Considering the massive row we'd had a few weeks earlier, I was surprised to be called into Nigel's office and told that extra funds were to be released into the transfer budget. And they were substantial funds too. The figure had been more than doubled to a massive 14 million pounds!! It was riches beyond compare, considering I had been farting around in the Championship a few years previously with a budget of under 500 grand. It was a great feeling to have that kind of muscle behind us. At least we were on something approaching a level playing field. It still had to be spent wisely though.

On the 3rd we headed for Spurs in the FA CUP without I thought, any real prospect of victory. Yet following a schoolboy defensive error, De Cerio sniped in to give us the lead after 18 minutes. The home side absolutely battered us for pretty much the rest of the game, but with Carson giving an amazing display between the pipes, we stole the game and advanced to the next round. I was happy to progress, though concerned we might pay for it with bad luck in a league game.

Tottenham 0-1 Forest Att:36111

On the 7th, I decided to move into the transfer market. It was far from an impulse signing. I had been monitoring Matty Fryatt of Leicester for some time, and I was convinced that he was the best striker outside the Premiership. He was very affordable at 3.6 million, and was prepared to be reasonable in his contract demands, settling for 15 grand a week till 2012. I was very happy with my front two, but this guy was a very handy prospect, and a terrific third guy. It also kept in with my slightly obsessive policy of signing as many English players as possible. Top class foreign players were great, but they had to be top-class, and I felt there were too many ordinary foreign players floating around. None but the best imports were on my radar. I think my record, both with English signings and with my foreigners totally vindicated my policy.

A bizzare League Cup semi-final 1st leg came around in midweek. After going behind, we were 4-1 up by the half-hour. At one stage it was 5-2, yet the fact that it finished 5-4 will tell you what kind of game it was. I was just happy to take some sort of lead into the 2nd leg, against a team I rated as slightly better than us, if for no other reason than they had the great Michael Owen in their side. A whopping crowd of 42482 realised record gate receipts of 1.1 million pounds. Talk about gravy. Now we were in with the big boys.

On the 10th we entertained Portsmouth, with a debut for Fryatt and Maloney returning for the suspended Murphy. It was a crap performance by us. We conceded the opener, and it took a 71st minute leveller from Maloney to spare our blushes. Disappointing, because we were good enough to beat them, even with a few players missing.

Forest 1-1 Portsmouth Att: 41659

The press were really on Fryatt's back after the game. All right he'd been ordinary, but who the hell gets judged on one game? Besides I countered, that's hardly a story when I have just signed Owen Hargreaves from Schalke for 10 million quid. There was an audible gasp from the assembled reporters. I had kept the negotiations a complete secret, so they were stunned, but I had indeed tied up the signing of the England man. The fee was massive, though I won't shy away from paying out for players that I believe are top class. He cost 28K a week in wages and 1 million in signing on fee, with a host of bonuses thrown in. If that's what it took to bring a star here, that's what I'd do.

The place was buzzing from then on, right up until the 14th, which saw Hargreaves debut away to Boro. It was a tight and even affair, until Fryatt made the difference, bursting through to open his account with a clinical finish. I looked up to the press box, and cupped my hand to my ears provocatively. All the "experts" were looking the other way or pretending they didn't see me.

I was cocky for some reason about this game, and as it turned out, I was right to be. We weren't brilliant or anything, but the home side offered nothing, and we coasted home, albeit only by one goal. Perhaps it was the security of having Hargreaves sitting in midfield, and true to form he was totally destructive.

Middlesbrough 0-1 Forest Att: 31076

Three days later we were on the road at West Brom. It was even too. I told the lads at half-time to keep plugging away because we were the better team. Just before the hour, Burke crossed for De Cerio to brilliantly head in his 20th of the season. Again I was very confident we could blunt them. With 12 minutes left, Fryatt won a penalty, converted by the returning Murphy, to tie up an easy, but nevertheless excellent win.

West Brom 0-2 Forest Att: 30484

Hargreaves was Man of the Match, and had transformed us defensively, especially against middling teams without any world class attacking talent.

We lost in the 2nd leg of the League Cup by the aggregate score of 9-8, following extra time. I was irritated but didn't particularly care. We got paid, though it would have been nice to have made a final.

I was similarly ambivalent about an FA Cup 4th round trip to Leeds. It was a crap 1st half, and I got angry with the lads. The game was there for the taking, though there was 87 minutes on the clock before Murphy finally got the breakthrough. Healy popped up off the bench to finish it off in injury time, and it was a job well done by the lads.

Leeds 0-2 Forest Att: 21388

Diaz de Cerio had picked up an ankle knock and would miss up to 3-4 weeks, which was a pain in the arse.

Two days later, I flogged Eugen Bopp to Bochum for a million notes, which represented a decent deal for the club. It was time for a change for both parties.

Due to constant postponements, we were playing Boro again just a few weeks after our last meeting, this time at home. We pummelled them for most of the game and got absolutely nothing. Just as I had resigned myself to the draw, Bignot crossed for Fryatt to brilliantly turn the ball home. It was practically the last kick, and we took the points, which we totally deserved to do.

Forest 1-0 Middlesbrough Att: 42484

The last day of the month brought a trip to Man City, with whom we were now jockeying for a top 6 place. We got a great start. Fryatt crossed, and a dreadful goalkeeping error left Burke with a tap in (4). Fifteen minutes later, Fryatt escaped again down the left, released Sculli, who set up Burke for a second tap in. On 27, the superlative Fryatt finally got on the scoresheet, brilliantly heading in a Commons free kick. I said little to the lads at half time. They knew what needed to be done, and shut the game down in just as clinical a fashion as they had scored 3 goals earlier.

Man City 0-3 Forest Att: 47980

I won Manager of the Month, which was about time. We had vaulted to 6th, and suddenly the fanciful prospect of European football next season was within our reach. The club recorded a loss of 11.93M, though in truth there was a profit, since we'd spent almost 14 million on transfer fees alone.