BobBev Posted December 4, 2005 Share Posted December 4, 2005 Going strong Simon - keep it up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 cheers, bob ========================== With things on the field going so well, it was nice to have that mood replicated away from the club as well. Nigel hadn’t really had much of a reaction to the news that I was dating his daughter, a few cautionary words to ensure I treated her well aside. The separation between the two was nice. Whilst Hannah quite obviously lived off daddy’s money, she had no interest in football, perfect for when I wanted an escape from the crap my players were giving me. The 31st January had brought about Hannah’s birthday, I had learnt from her father that is was to be her 27th. I managed the standard, unimaginative effort of taking her out to a nice restaurant, and was rewarded way beyond my expectations when she stayed the night. Her presence in my bed of a morning was becoming an extremely regular occurrence, one I have to say that I was more than happy with. It dawned on me only as we travelled the fifty or so miles to Birmingham for our Cup replay that I had barely thought about Rachel since having become involved with Hannah. January had passed without me opening my box of bad memories and I was feeling a whole lot better about myself for it. It’d have been nice to say that Hannah’s presence had totally changed me, and that I’d lost my fondness for a drink or twenty, but one night with a bottle of Jack Daniels, a few cans of Coke and three Die Hard movies proved that to be nowhere near the case. -- With Mellor out injured and Blake cup-tied, our visit to Birmingham saw Gareth Taylor start up front. The Premiership team were odds-on to sweep us aside with relative ease, despite the difficulties we had caused them in the first meeting, and when Claus Jørgensen picked up two yellow cards inside ten seconds (one for a horrible foul, the other for arguing about said foul) after only thirteen minutes had passed, that prediction looked more than likely to come true. What they hadn’t counted on, however, was our resilience; within six minutes of Claus departing the pitch, we had smashed our way onto the scoreboard, Steven Davis picking up a loose ball thirty yards from the Birmingham goal, beating two defenders and crashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the back of the net off the underside of the cross bar. Our lead made me immediately more nervous, an affliction that seemed to strike the players as well. The home side flowed forward with ease and intent, but Pedersen was in top form to twice deny Walter Pandiani from close range. It was Pandiani though, who finally struck Birmingham’s equaliser. With the forty five minutes of the first half up, the boys looked to have relaxed, expecting a lead at the break. Such a mental slip can prove fatal, and so it did as Pandiani was sent clear by Jermaine Pennant, and a minute into injury time he rounded Pedersen before sliding the ball into the empty net. We came out far more fired up in the second half, and led by the ever impressive Davis found ourselves to be the better side. Unfortunately, Maik Taylor was well on form, and everything struck his way was repelled with apparent ease, even when the aforementioned Davis rocketed a shot goal bound in the 94th minute of the game; the Northern Irishman reached out to expertly flick it over the bar when many ‘keepers would have been picking the ball out of the net. Extra time saw Davis continue his one man assault on the Birmingham defence, forcing last gasp tackles and further acrobatic saves. The home team hardly got a look in during the extra period, but the closest we came to scoring that vital second goal was in the 112th minute when Davis cannoned a shot off the underside of the cross bar, though this time it bounced away to safety. Our inability to force a goal came to haunt us when Birmingham finally did get a look in. Just as I was scribbling down the names of my five penalty takers, with the game having moved a few seconds past the 120 minute mark, Pandiani tried an audacious 35 yard shot which caught Pedersen asleep and floated into the top corner of the net, crushing our shot at a dream tie against Chelsea. The trip home that evening was quiet. The boys were shattered, both physically and mentally. To have come so close to forcing the lottery of penalties where, to be honest, I would have backed us to come out on top; to have put in so much effort across two hours of game time and to still come out on the losing side took it out of us all, and when I got back to my flat in the small hours of the morning, I fell asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 Picking the lads up for the visit of Bradford three days later was no small task, particularly given that a number of them were in no physical condition to take to the field, having worked hard for the full hundred and twenty in Birmingham. Sissoko returned to the bench after recent injury, Jørgensen had a one match suspension after the cup replay and Robbie Blake came into the starting line-up for his first appearance in a Forest shirt. The first half was played out like we were absolutely knackered, probably because we were, and the visitors had the best of the action, twice forcing Pedersen to improve his reputation even further with breathtaking saves. We came out for the second period with a different attitude, however, and within two minutes of the restart, Kris Commons had crossed for Liam Fox to drill a volley into the net past Russell Howarth. Bradford always looked likely to draw themselves level, but our impressive defensive record in the league was maintained, and when Stephen Schumacher was sent off in the 74th minute after winning himself a second yellow card, their threat diminished quickly. We made sure that they would have no way back into the game when Sissoko set up Eugen Bopp for our second, and we should have had a third after Sissoko had been brought down in the penalty area, but Robbie Blake pushed his penalty attempt wide of the post. Twenty four hours after the win over Bradford, Sheffield United had the cheek to expect that we would accept a mere £275,000 for defender Danny Cullip. Danny had former a superb partnership in the centre of the defence with John Curtis, and the idea that I would part with, especially for such a small fee, was simply laughable. There was transfer activity before we took to the field again though; Jack Lester joining Rochdale for a three month loan, despite having scored the grand total of 0 goals during his last spell away from the club. Second placed Gillingham were our next opponents, we travelled to Priestfield seven days after we had taken on Bradford. It was quite clear that our hosts were determined to inflict upon us our first league defeat of the season, indeed for the first hour of the match they could definitely have claimed to be the better side. But, as so often in football, if you fail to take advantage of the periods of matches where you are on top, it comes back to bite you in the ass. Gillingham had failed to find a way past Pedersen, despite on loan midfielder Nigel Quashie coming close on no less than three occasions, and they were made to pay with just over twenty minutes left. Robbie Blake, starting his second game in a row, made a surging run into the Gillingham penalty area, forcing Tommy Williams to bring him down illegally, and after Blake’s spot miss against Bradford, Momo Sissoko stepped up to take it this time, and stroked his effort past Wayne Henderson to seal another three points for us. Sixteen points clear at the top, and still with a game in hand, we travelled to struggling Oldham to continue our march towards the title. Sissoko started for the first time since injury, and within sixty seconds he had set up the chance which put us into the lead, David Friio stooping low to head home his cross. Before the tenth minute was gone we had doubled our lead, Sissoko again providing the cross, this time for Eugen Bopp to head into the net. Stephen Mildenhall was forced to pick the ball out of his net a further twice before the break; Bopp headed his second from Warnock’s cross and then David Johnson stole the ball from the daydreaming ‘keeper and tucked it back into the empty net. We eased off in the second half, only adding a further one to our tally, Mildenhall parrying Johnson’s shot directly into the path of Friio, who made no mistake with his attempt. The win came with a cost though, Warnock twisting a knee which would keep him out for a week, whilst Clint Hill would be missing for a fortnight with an injured ankle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 11, 2005 Author Share Posted December 11, 2005 Neil Mellor returned to the side for the visit of Walsall, relegating the yet-to-score Robbie Blake to the bench for the day. It was a bitterly cold day, even though the sun was shining and there wasn’t even a breath of wind; the sort of day that forces anybody not brought up in these sorts of conditions into at least a pair of gloves, if not some thermal underwear to go with it. The game began at a roaring pace, most likely because everyone was determined to run around as much as possible to avoid frostbite, but it took until just nine minutes before half time for the deadlock to be broken. That wasn’t for the want of trying though, both ‘keepers were called into action to make good saves, whilst Steven Davis’ looping free kick struck the cross bar and bounced clear on the half hour. But when a goal did finally come, it came our way, thanks to returning hero Mellor. The Liverpool striker stole the ball of a far too casual Walsall defender twenty yards from the visitors’ goal and bore down upon Mark Paston. Paston raced out and dived at Neil’s feet, but a deft chip saw the ‘keeper beaten and the ball in the net. Mellor lasted only an hour of his comeback game, I was adamant that I wouldn’t run the risk of wearing him down and losing him to injury again. Blake replaced him in a straight swap, and the newly signed striker took the opportunity against tiring defenders to bag his first goal for the club, latching onto a Kris Commons pass and unleashing a screamer of a shot from the corner of the penalty area, which not only secured the three points in our favour, but would end up winning Robbie the goal of the month award. Coupled with results elsewhere, our win over Walsall meant that if we could repeat the dose against Southend, then with twelve games to spare we would have secured at least a spot in the end of season play-offs, should a disastrous run of results strike. Only three days may have passed between the games at the City Ground and Roots Hall, but whereas Walsall had been taken on in conditions that were more reminiscent of Siberia, the trip to Southend was greeted with a summer-like evening, a soft, warm breeze making for pleasant conditions on the terraces. By the half time interval, our quiet domination of the match somewhat matched the calm of the evening. Southend had barely been given a kick, but neither had our performance been one of great energy. Instead, we had unassumingly gone about the job of controlling play, and in doing so had found the back of the net twice. David Friio had been the first to strike, arriving late in the Southend penalty area to sweep a low Sissoko cross past Darryl Flahavan, and then just after the half hour mark, Lassana Diarra curled a free kick into Flahavan’s top corner; the one exact point of the goal that the ‘keeper stood no chance of reaching. Our control of proceedings continued after the break, Robbie Blake had been rewarded for his goal against Walsall with another chance to start a game, and paid back the faith shown when he got on the end of Sissoko’s through ball and rolled a shot under Flahavan. Any murmurs of disquiet from Neil Mellor regarding my selection policy were silenced seven minutes after the restart when Blake notched his second, again linking well with Sissoko, this time heading the Malian’s cross firmly into the roof of the net. There was still room for disappointment, however, as with nine minutes of the tie remaining, Joe Ilett pounced on a loose ball, twenty-five yards from goal, and his limp shot evaded everyone, including Rude Pedersen and bounced into the net off the inside of the post. It was the first goal we had conceded in sixteen league games, and despite the four we had scored, it left a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth as we travelled home. February came to a close with a home game against Barnsley. Defensive work had taken up most of the training time since the Southend game; some may say an overreaction but I was determined that we would find our way to another run of clean sheets, that we would in no way get complacent about anything. To be fair to the boys, they showed no signs of such, and within three minutes of the first whistle had found their way into the lead, Kris Commons stealing the ball off a defender and ripping a rocket of a shot past Nick Colgan. Commons was in inspired form throughout the match, and set up Beaumont for our second with a perfect cross, which he repeated in the second half for Mellor to head home and seal the points. Coupled with results elsewhere, we now sat a massive twenty points clear of second place, and still with a game in hand. But more importantly for the time being, we were twenty-nine points ahead of third placed Rotherham, who were to be our next opponents. If we managed to avoid defeat at Millmoor, our place in the Championship for the 2005/06 season would be confirmed with some ten games still to play. The final day of the month was greeted with news from the F.A. that we had made a clean sweep in the monthly awards. I, obviously, had taken the manager’s gong, with Blake’s stunner against Walsall taking the goal accolades. Eugen Bopp and Kris Commons completed the sweep, winning the Player and Young Player awards respectively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 11, 2005 Author Share Posted December 11, 2005 February 2005 Summary (League One unless otherwise stated) Birmingham 2 – 1 Nottingham Forest (a.e.t.) (F.A. Cup 4th Round Replay) (Jørgensen s/off 13â€; Davis 19â€; Pandiani 45+1â€, 120â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Bradford City (Fox 47â€; Schumacher s/off 74â€; Bopp 79â€; Blake m/pen 83â€) Gillingham 0 – 1 Nottingham Forest (Sissoko pen 68â€) Oldham 0 – 5 Nottingham Forest (Friio 1â€, 77â€; Bopp 9â€, 23â€; Johnson 35â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Walsall (Mellor 36â€; Blake 73â€) Southend 1 – 4 Nottingham Forest (Friio 17â€; Diarra 33â€; Blake 48â€, 55â€; Ilett 81â€) Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 Barnsley (Commons 3â€; Beaumont 44â€; Mellor 51â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spav Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 Sublime stuff, Terk. I'm another who has just caught up with this story and I must praise the combination of football and fiction. I'll certainly be reading more regularly from now on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 18, 2005 Author Share Posted December 18, 2005 cheers, spav always nice to see such kind comments. my favourite fm stories have always delved into the characters beyond the game, i only hope i can keep this one going in a similar way as other's have sorry for the lack of updates recently, i've had a pretty busy week ===================================== â€Anyway, I just thought I should let you know. I’d hate you to have heard it from someone else. “Yeah. Cheers. Well……. I wish you all the best. I hope he can make you happier than I did.†“Thank you, Stephen. That means a lot………….. Are you sure you won’t come to the wedding?†“Absolutely. I don’t think that would do anyone any good.†“OK. Well, I hope I’ll see you soon.†â€Sure. Bye.†“Bye.†The news that Rachel planned to marry again had affected me far more than I thought it would. With my relationship with Hannah still in its early days, going wonderfully well and the fact that I was happier than I remembered being in a long time, I had perhaps foolishly thought I had finally got over the effect that Rachel had on me. But hearing her voice, hearing her talk about her new fiancée like she used to talk about me, it brought every memory back, good and bad. I hardly saw daylight over the next few days; I passed training duties onto Tim, told him I was suffering badly from a cold and didn’t want to risk passing it onto any of the players. Phone calls from Hannah went unanswered, she even rank my doorbell twice, but I was so determined not to be seen that I merely hid my head under the pillows and waited for her shouts to subside. For the first day after my conversation with Rachel, I managed to avoiding wallowing at the bottom of a bottle, one point to be pleased with I suppose, but my willpower failed me over the two following days, yet I found no comfort in the golden brown liquid either. I returned to the club two days before our next fixture, a game which could seal our promotion back to the Championship. It was clear to everyone, the bags under my eyes and heavily minted breath did nothing to hide it, that I’d had another run in with a bottle; to be honest, few at the club were unaware of my intermittent problem. I was convinced that the chairman knew as well, but had forgone mentioning anything as long as results continued to be so startlingly good. The trip to Millmoor to face Rotherham saw me somewhere near back to a normal mental state, my melancholy was reasonably well hidden for the TV cameras. Rotherham sat in 3rd place in the table, a massive twenty-eight points behind; failure on their part to beat us would mean that our place in a higher division was confirmed. My players were more than aware of that, and it did nothing to calm their nerves. Players that had been calm and composed throughout the season, sweeping past all that stood before them, now looked like nervous school kids, struggling to find a team-mate with any kind of pass and rash challenges giving away a plethora of free kicks. The only thing that kept me from finding the nearest hipflask was Rotherham’s ineptitude in front of goal. In the first half we presented them with three gift-wrapped opportunities to open the scoring, but each time they found the comfortable arms of Rune Pedersen. Our only shining light in an attacking sense was Steven Davis, his energetic midfield performance struck me as very reminiscent of Steven Gerrard, though it goes without saying that the talent level was somewhat lower. He struck our best chance of the game, a fierce drive from thirty yards which whistled an inch over Gary Montgomery’s crossbar. The fact that we couldn’t score, however, was rendered entirely unimportant when the referee’s final whistle sounded without Rotherham having found the back of the net either. It may have been confirmed in ugly fashion, but we had indeed been promoted back to the Championship at the first time of asking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 18, 2005 Author Share Posted December 18, 2005 The win over Rotherham had provided Pedersen with his 30th clean sheet of the season across all competitions, so it was perhaps inevitable that he conceded when Swansea called at the City Ground. It was also, perhaps, inevitable that we would drop points in the first game after our promotion had been confirmed, and so we did, struggling to a draw against the Welsh side. Lee Trundle netted the first goal of the game, a lovely turn and shot deceiving John Curtis and Rune Pedersen in one fell swoop in the 36th minute. It was the only real action of a dull first half; we looked exhausted from our season’s exertions, and Swansea offered little in way of creativity to break us down. We avoided a first league defeat of the season when Jordan Stewart sent a superb cross deep into the penalty area and Eugen Bopp stooped low to head past Paul Lancaster and even the scores. In truth, neither side deserved to win the match, but Swansea could probably have felt the slightly harder done by. Before Blackpool visited Nottingham three days later, we asked Aston Villa to extend Steven Davis’ loan at the City Ground until the end of the season, but his impressive performances had obviously caught the eyes of those at Villa Park, and we were informed that he would be a part of their first team squad for the remainder of the campaign. That meant that the game against Blackpool was his last in a Forest shirt, and he put in a performance for us to remember him by, though cruelly was denied the goal that it deserved. He was at the heart of our opening goal, taking the ball just inside his own half and driving at the Blackpool defence. As he reached the penalty area, he touched it off to Yacine Abdessadki, who swung a cross to the back post for Robbie Blake to head the first goal in just the third minute. Our 2-0 victory was secured with further good work from Davis, his rasping volley from twenty yards was parried by Nicky Weaver, and Blake was on hand to tap in the rebound for his second of the day. All that was needed to cap off Davis’ time at the club was a goal, and he thought he had it with two minutes remaining, but his wonderful chip over Weaver was ruled out for offside. The win over Blackpool had taken us to the mighty 100 point mark for the league campaign, and left us needing just a solitary further point to seal the title. Our form was such throughout the season that we were never going to be beaten by fourth placed Brentford, but I was determined that we would clinch the trophy on the back of a win, rather than the scrambled draw we had secured promotion with at Rotherham. The boys were up for the challenge from the start, and by the half time whistle we had netted all four of the goals that would see us to victory. The first came when Danny Cullip played Robbie Blake into space, and the striker passed the ball into the net past Paul Gallacher. Blake soon doubled his own tally with his fourth in two games, latching onto a wonderful Beaumont through ball and cheekily lofting a shot over Gallacher. Beaumont got in on the scoring side of things soon after. Lassana Diarra had struck a vicious shot from thirty yards, but it was evidently going wide as it passed Beaumont, twelve yards from goal. The young midfielder stuck out a hopeful boot and made a good connection, sending the ball flying across and into the top corner of the net, leaving Gallacher completely wrong-footed, able only to watch as the net rippled behind him. Blake completed the rout, and his own hat-trick, just after the half hour mark when Diarra flicked a ball into space and he slid a shot underneath Gallacher. The second half was played out in showboating fashion, we knew that our hands would be on the trophy come full time, and when Rune Pedersen lifted it high into the early evening sky, I felt just about as good as I think I possibly could. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 18, 2005 Author Share Posted December 18, 2005 March 2005 Summary (League One unless otherwise stated) Rotherham 0 – 0 Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest 1 – 1 Swansea (Trundle 36â€; Bopp 60â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Blackpool (Blake 3â€, 60â€) Brentford 0 – 4 Nottingham Forest (Blake 5â€, 16â€, 34â€; Beaumont 21â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 18, 2005 Author Share Posted December 18, 2005 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Nottm Forest | | 39 | 32 | 7 | 0 | 93 | 7 | +86 | 103 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Pl | Gillingham | | 40 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 70 | 33 | +37 | 80 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Rotherham | | 40 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 72 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brentford | | 40 | 21 | 7 | 12 | 70 | 43 | +27 | 70 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Hartlepool | | 40 | 18 | 13 | 9 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 67 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Bradford City | | 40 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 63 | 52 | +11 | 65 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Bristol C | | 40 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 57 | 56 | +1 | 58 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Chesterfield | | 40 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 58 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Bournemouth | | 39 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 58 | 45 | +13 | 57 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Swansea | | 40 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 62 | 51 | +11 | 57 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Blackpool | | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 59 | 61 | -2 | 57 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Swindon | | 40 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 54 | 46 | +8 | 56 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Walsall | | 40 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 41 | 44 | -3 | 55 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | MK Dons | | 40 | 15 | 8 | 17 | 51 | 56 | -5 | 53 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Barnsley | | 40 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 55 | 60 | -5 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Huddersfield | | 40 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 39 | 48 | -9 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Tranmere | | 40 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 43 | 61 | -18 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Doncaster | | 40 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 49 | 51 | -2 | 48 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Oldham | | 40 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 49 | 61 | -12 | 42 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Scunthorpe | | 40 | 9 | 10 | 21 | 50 | 75 | -25 | 37 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Colchester | | 40 | 7 | 14 | 19 | 43 | 71 | -28 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Yeovil | | 40 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 49 | 87 | -38 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Port Vale | | 40 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 41 | 74 | -33 | 32 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Southend | | 40 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 36 | 94 | -58 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Well done on the title Simon - now just sort out that drinking and settle down with your nice young lady Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Indeed, congratulations on a more or less perfect season so far! It would be nice to see a big fat 0 in the losses column at the end as well - good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lionel_Perez Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Excellent readable stuff as ever Terk. Congrats on winning the title Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
axeman Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Quite an entertaining read, I just wish I'd caught it sooner. Very eerie that you're also making some headway with the chairman's daughter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WLKRAS Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Finally caught up with this, it's a rather good read sir Goldfoilman. KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacemaker7 Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Unbelievable! Three Pages! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 cheers all i would thank you all individually, but i'm an ignorant twat -------------------------------- The final two weeks of March had gone without a game as our anticipated tie against Bournemouth was put off no less than three times due to various international call-ups won by our players. We therefore went into our first April match, a trip to face Scunthorpe at Glanford Park in a very refreshed mood. Given the magnitude of the party after we had returned from Bournemouth, it was a very much needed break as well; I know that I certainly wouldn’t have been fit to appear at a game in the intervening weeks. I was plenty fit enough to spend most of my time with Hannah, however. It seemed that whenever I wasn’t at the ground, I was laughing and joking with her. In fact, my hours at the club were cutting shorter and shorter so that I could spend more and more time with her. Looking at it objectively, I guess it was the latest stage in my reaction to Rachel’s bombshell; to simply devote myself to another in order to forget all about the past. At the time though, I was having nothing but fun. Hannah accompanied me on the journey to Scunthorpe, something she seldom did if truth be told. Come the final whistle, however, I was considering asking her along far more often; perhaps she had been the good luck charm which had seen us romp to a six goal victory. The game had started well, Mellor driving a shot just over the bar before Dobie crossed for Momo Sissoko to volley home in the early exchanges. But the twentieth minute we were three goals to the good, Mellor grabbing both, and both being the result of great work by our Malian international midfielder. The second of his haul was Mellor’s 20th strike of the season. When I had brought him in, I had ideas that he may well be suited to this level of the game, but you rarely dare dream that you’ve captured a 20-goal-a-season man, the like of which are sought by manager’s across the globe. The Liverpool front man grabbed a hat-trick before half time, Dobie providing his second assist of the day with a perfectly inswinging cross from the left flank which Mellor rose high to meet and head past Craig Nelson. The second half saw Robbie Blake replace Mellor, and he too reached a milestone goal despite his short tenure in the team. Dobie laid on a first for Blake just after the hour mark, and two minutes before time, Beaumont set him up for another, his tenth goal in a Nottingham Forest shirt. Blake’s second took us up to 99 league goals for the season. Having won the title and reached the 100 point mark already, there were three further points that I wanted to hit before the season was gone. 100 goals and a goal difference of +100 were just for bragging rights really, but the idea of going through a season unbeaten in the league was one that, if I’m honest, had grabbed my attention since the turn of the year. To keep a big, fat 0 in the losses column after 46 games would be an awesome achievement, and one that would no doubt send us into the Championship brimming with confidence. The visit of Bournemouth brought about our 100th goal of the season, fittingly it would be scored by our top marksman, Neil Mellor, but it was a game that I was a little concerned about, mainly due to the appearance of Arturo Lupoli in the opposition ranks. The Italian, on loan from Arsenal, had netted 8 times in the 9 games since he joined from the Premiership outfit, and though our defence was stronger than any other in the league, my natural pessimism still made me nervous. Missing the game was Clint Hill, who had been struck down with ankle injuries for at least the past month. The centre half, well as he was performing when fit enough to be included, was becoming an all-too-regular visitor to the physio’s room, and I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t considering his future at the club. Mellor’s goal came as the result of a twenty-fourth minute goal-mouth scramble, perhaps it was inevitable that such a landmark goal would be possibly the ugliest we scored all season. Mellor was sitting on the ground when he swung a boot at the ball, connecting with the very toe of his boot and sending it spinning past Les Pogliacomi in the Bournemouth goal. Lupoli hadn’t had a shot on target in the first half, and he didn’t get one in the second either, Danny Cullip and John Curtis simply marshalled him out of the game, and the visitors looked completely void of ideas without their one obviously creative talent. As well as his defensive duties, Cullip took time out to get himself on the scoresheet, getting a shin onto a Eugen Bopp shot that was going wide and diverting it into the net. Bopp’s radar was finer tuned later on, Commons crossing deep into the penalty area and the young German slamming a first time shot almost through Pogliacomi. That rounded off the scoring for the day, took our goal difference to a very healthy +95, and scored me a meeting with a very happy chairman, who wanted to let me know just how much he had enjoyed that particular win. There was bad news that came out of it, a robust challenge on Rune Pedersen had left the Danish ‘keeper with a bruised head, and although he had managed to see out the ninety minutes, he was going to need a few days rest, and would not appear against Tranmere. Furthermore, just a few minutes after Pedersen had been sent clattering to the ground, full back James Perch had pulled up with a calf strain which saw him immediately off the pitch, and though early fears of its seriousness were not realised, he would still be forced to sit out two weeks of action. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 In all honesty, Paul Gerrard was hardly troubled during his outing against Tranmere. The visiting side were struggling in the lower reaches of League One, and manager Brian Little was considered by many to be the most under-pressure manager in the league, given that at least a few of his club’s fans had hoped for a play-off spot come the end of the season. It was clear on the man’s face that he was feeling the pressure, despite having been there and seen it with any number of clubs before. It transpired into the way his team played as well, nervous all over the park and barely able to keep hold of the ball for more than three passes. We, on the other hand, had every ounce of calmness that we needed, passing the ball about the City Ground turf with consummate ease, creating chances when, where and how we felt them necessary. The only surprise was the it took us twenty minutes to find the back of the net, and that we only found it one further time after that. Robbie Blake netted our first. David Friio was making an ever more rare appearance in the side, and it was his wonderful cross that Blake headed past John Achterberg. The French midfielder was lost to proceedings before half time, however, a crunching tackle leaving him with fractured ribs that would see him out of the game for three weeks. We made sure of the win with seven minutes remaining, a loose ball twelve yards from goal being slammed past the bewildered Achterberg by Scott Dobie, who throughout the season had been possibly the most surprisingly good performer out of the entire of my squad. The news came two days later that Brian Little had indeed been relieved of his duties at Tranmere. I couldn’t help but feel a little responsible, despite the fact that his side sat in 16th in the league and had been putting in ever worsening performances, to score the win that finally hands a manager his P45 is not a nice feeling in the slightest. My despondency at having got Little the sack was, however, short lived. When later that morning I went out to get the papers, plastered all over the front pages were headlines proclaiming Arsene Wenger to have been sacked by Arsenal. Now, I hadn’t been paying overly much attention to the Premiership, too much was I caught up in the trials and tribulations of my own club, but I knew enough to be sure that Arsenal were still embroiled in a battle for the league title. Indeed, a look at said league saw the Gunners sat in third position, just two points behind leaders Chelsea, but with a game in hand over their London rivals. To be sitting in such a position yet be shown the door meant that either Arsenal were the worst employers on the face of the planet, or something desperately unsavoury had been going on at the club. I knew I’d never know, but it was an intrigue that certainly gripped the nation for a few weeks. Joining Friio on the treatment table was Jordan Stewart, though the left back was only out for a week with a twisted knee, but it meant that he was definitely out of the trip to Milton Keynes, and possibly would miss the visit of Bristol City as well. When we had met the MK Dons in Nottingham, it had been a dire affair with neither side particularly deserving a win, but us walking away with a 3-0 victory anyway. The only difference when we met them at the National Hockey Stadium was the margin by which we won; one goal instead of three. The game was typical end of season fare between two sides who have nothing to play for. The Dons were firmly ensconced in mid-table, neither troubled by relegation nor excited by the play-offs, and it seemed to finally have dawned on my players that they had won the league already and there was, in all honesty, little to keep them running around the park all day. The only goal of the match came four minutes from the end, Robbie Blake latching onto a Momo Sissoko ball and firing a low effort past Matthew Booker in the Dons’ goal. The last drama of the match was played out with hardly anybody left in the stadium, when Michelle Pensee Billong was sent off for a second bookable offence deep into injury time. In truth, the only bright point aside from the three points was that the game had seen Rune Pedersen return to action, and such an untroubled ninety minutes was almost certainly the best way for him to get back into the swing, even if he did get a little cold. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipsix3 Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Well finally caught back up after the initial page or so. Stunning season, a defensive record like that ought to give yuou every chance after you 'step up' next term. On the story front, great stuff, and I echo PM's disbelief at the amount of time you've kept this going Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankles Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Fantastic story. If you're not already too far ahead to have sold him off for peanuts, watch out for young Aaron France. The kid matures pretty well. Do you think Arsene might have been sleeping with the chairman's daughter as well? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ell and Back Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Fantastic stuff Terky, stumbled across this late last night and gave it a read. Good luck in the Championship Smithy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 cheers all flip, your disbelief pales into insignificance compared to mine i managed to get to page four once, anyone offering odds on me getting this one to the unchartered territory of a fifth page? frankles, i'll leave such things up to readers' imagination, if that's want you want wenger to have done then it's fine by me and great to see you round these parts, Left Back now get your arse in gear, stop ****ing about with a new job and get a story written ==================================================== Bristol City came to the City Ground with a play-off place still within their grasp, and it showed in the way they played. From the first whistle to last, they dominated the game, attacking at will and carving out many an opportunity. It was a pity for them then, that they had Michael Bridges up front, and though he managed to squeeze in the opener in the 22nd minute, he was far from the clinical striker that they needed to beat us. We forged only three clear chances in the match, and the difference between the two sides in the end was that we took two of them, and the third, a penalty from James Beaumont, crunched off the inside of the post before bouncing clear. After Bridges had given the visitors the lead (only the eighth league goal we had conceded all season), Neil Mellor stole in to stoop low and head Dobie’s cross past Jimmy Walker. It looked as if 1-1 was how the game would finish, and even that, given Bristol’s superiority, would have been harsh on Tinnion’s men, but three minutes into injury time at the end of the game, Robbie Blake’s corner to the edge of the penalty area was rifled into the top of the net by Momo Sissoko and we had yet another three point haul. With two games still remaining, Port Vale, Colchester and Yeovil joined Southend in claiming relegation from League One. There had seemed an inevitability about it for quite a time, and it came as no surprise to anyone when their fate was sealed. Our final away journey of the season took us to Swindon, and provided us with a reasonably trouble free canter to a 2-0 victory. The home side never truly got going, and certainly never looked like stopping Rune Pedersen from picking up his 36th clean sheet of the campaign. Neil Mellor had opened the scoring in just the third minute, taking a superb Beaumont pass in his stride and firing low past Matt Murray, and he doubled both his and our tally on the half hour when he benefited from Sissoko’s work on the left flank and drove a half volley beyond the stranded Murray. The trip to Swindon brought with it the end of April, and yet more recognition for our work, Momo Sissoko collecting the player of the month award whilst I again walked away with the manager’s accolade. That news was slightly tempered by the news that Neil Mellor had strained knee ligaments in the final moments against Swindon and would need a month of rest before he could play again. It meant that Neil, being on a season’s loan, could well have played his last Forest game, as I was still unsure as to whether to launch a bid to bring him back to the club over the summer. There was no doubt that he had been excellent for us in League One, but I was still highly dubious about his ability to have a similar impact in the Championship, and I would certainly explore other avenues; his return was far from an automatic one. The season rounded off with a visit from Chesterfield. A top half finish had signalled a good season for Chesterfield, and their players were enjoying their final fling before a well earned summer holiday, whereas ours were looking like they were certainly feeling the effects of a long, hard chase for record upon record. When all said and done, however, there was no way that the lads were going to let such a side be the ones to finally make a mark in our defeats column, and they even finished strongly enough to seal a two goal victory in the final ten minutes. Kris Commons netted the first, a quite stunning overhead kick from David Friio’s ball into the box, and it was Friio who bagged our final effort of the season as Commons reversed the roles, laying on a superb pass for the Frenchman to sweep his shot past Barry Roche. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Nottm Forest | | 46 | 39 | 7 | 0 | 111 | 8 | +103 | 124 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Gillingham | | 46 | 28 | 9 | 9 | 81 | 35 | +46 | 93 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Rotherham | | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 72 | 39 | +33 | 82 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Brentford | | 46 | 25 | 7 | 14 | 80 | 50 | +30 | 82 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Blackpool | | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 67 | 63 | +4 | 73 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Bradford City | | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 73 | 63 | +10 | 72 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Bristol C | | 46 | 20 | 11 | 15 | 67 | 63 | +4 | 71 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Bournemouth | | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 71 | 58 | +13 | 69 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Swindon | | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 63 | 51 | +12 | 69 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Hartlepool | | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 61 | 51 | +10 | 69 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Chesterfield | | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 66 | 64 | +2 | 67 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Barnsley | | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 64 | 66 | -2 | 62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Walsall | | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 47 | 51 | -4 | 62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | MK Dons | | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 59 | 62 | -3 | 61 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Swansea | | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 64 | 65 | -1 | 58 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Huddersfield | | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 44 | 53 | -9 | 57 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Tranmere | | 46 | 15 | 12 | 19 | 50 | 66 | -16 | 57 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Doncaster | | 46 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 56 | 59 | -3 | 54 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Scunthorpe | | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 58 | 85 | -27 | 48 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Oldham | | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 54 | 69 | -15 | 46 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Port Vale | | 46 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 47 | 82 | -35 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Yeovil | | 46 | 8 | 14 | 24 | 56 | 99 | -43 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | Colchester | | 46 | 7 | 15 | 24 | 51 | 89 | -38 | 36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | Southend | | 46 | 4 | 7 | 35 | 39 | 110 | -71 | 19 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Paul Gerrard | 9 (1) | - | - | - | 61% | - | - | - | 7.40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Rune Pedersen | 48 | - | - | - | 54% | - | 0.04 | - | 7.25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Danny Cullip | 42 (1)| 4 | 2 | 1 | 73% | 2.31 | 0.24 | 57% | 7.42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | John Curtis | 41 (2)| - | 1 | 2 | 75% | 3.23 | 0.85 | 40% | 7.58 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Nicky Eaden | 31 (3)| - | - | - | 77% | 2.59 | 0.56 | - | 7.32 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | James Perch | 16 (1)| 1 | - | - | 76% | 1.97 | 0.46 | - | 7.12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Clint Hill | 32 (1)| 6 | 1 | 1 | 77% | 2.00 | 0.19 | 51% | 7.48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Lst | Stephen Warnock | 30 (4)| - | 2 | 3 | 76% | 2.58 | 1.69 | - | 7.65 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Yacine Abdessadki | 9 (19)| 2 | 7 | - | 79% | 2.39 | 1.89 | 42% | 7.21 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Jordan Stewart | 10 (1)| - | 2 | 1 | 81% | 1.45 | 2.51 | - | 7.55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Nicky Southall | 4 (3) | - | 1 | - | 74% | 1.68 | 0.94 | - | 7.14 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Lassana Diarra | 38 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 78% | 2.49 | 0.86 | 32% | 7.55 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Gary Holt | 17 (1)| - | 2 | - | 83% | 2.39 | 0.61 | - | 7.78 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | James Beaumont | 37 (3)| 13 | 11 | 4 | 83% | 1.57 | 0.80 | 37% | 7.60 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unf | David Friio | 19 (5)| 9 | 4 | - | 84% | 1.66 | 1.18 | 45% | 7.75 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Adam Nowland | 10 (3)| 2 | 2 | - | 82% | 1.38 | 0.69 | 34% | 7.23 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eugen Bopp | 19 (6)| 8 | 6 | 2 | 80% | 2.07 | 1.08 | 42% | 7.56 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | Liam Fox | 12 (6)| 2 | 3 | - | 82% | 1.38 | 3.15 | 53% | 7.11 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Kris Commons | 34 (4)| 8 | 22 | 9 | 78% | 1.77 | 4.24 | 32% | 7.92 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Mohamed Sissoko | 29 (2)| 12 | 15 | 6 | 84% | 2.63 | 2.88 | 47% | 7.87 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Scott Dobie | 37 (1)| 6 | 16 | - | 81% | 2.11 | 2.87 | 45% | 7.42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Robbie Blake | 7 (5) | 12 | 3 | 3 | 86% | 1.06 | 2.24 | 83% | 7.92 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unh | David Johnson | 11 (6)| 6 | 2 | - | 84% | 0.57 | 1.42 | 39% | 7.12 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Inj | Neil Mellor | 33 (6)| 25 | 7 | 5 | 84% | 0.36 | 1.74 | 55% | 7.54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 124 points, 8 goals conceded and a GD of +103 - Terk is an FM God Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
axeman Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 I'd love to have all his players drug tested. I wonder if he gave them monsteroids KUTGW Terk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted December 30, 2005 Author Share Posted December 30, 2005 Bob, I think it's safe to say that this has been, quite clearly, my best season on any version of C/FM. Ever. I was astounded when we simply kept winning, and even more so by how well the defence played. Here's merely hoping it can last another year. axeman, i've edited a bit into this post to deal with your accusations. oh, and thanks as well ------------------------------------------- I had expected a clean sweep at the Football League awards dinner. Indeed, two of the club’s five tickets went to Kris Commons and James Beaumont, such was our expectation that they would be named player and young player of the year, respectively. So you can imagine our surprise when neither even earned honourable mention when the League One awards were handed out, though my own incredulity was quietened by being awarded the Manager of the Year gong. Furthermore, Robbie Blake’s quite fantastic strike against Walsall was voted Goal of the Season, apparently by fans via a website, so we didn’t quite leave empty handed; especially considering that John Curtis, Stephen Warnock, Eugen Bopp, Mohamed Sissoko, James Beaumont and Kris Commons found starting places in the League One Team of the Year. There was undoubtedly much to do in preparation for our first season back in the Championship, but first a well earned holiday was on the cards. Two weeks for Hannah and myself in rural France were booked, though her father made sure there was a phone and fax number through which he could stay in contact. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, they were two wonderful weeks. Interrupted only twice by faxes from Hannah’s father, both newspaper stories, one a claim from Kris Commons’ agent that he could get a far better contract at a far better club, and the other a quite scandalous piece from an Icelandic journalist, suggesting that each and every one of his title winning side should be drug tested. We ate, we drank, we spent hours just wandering round picturesque French towns, and we spent more than enough time in the bedroom. I had rarely truly enjoyed a holiday - with Rachel I had only been away twice, and neither had proved in the least successful - but Hannah and I certainly felt closer for our time spent in a run-down cottage. -- I had expected to return to the club with a heavy heart, wanting the holiday to have lasted for a good while longer, but instead my passion for all things football had merely grown in the short space of time I was away. I was greeted back by the news that Nigel had negotiated an extension of our sponsorship deal with Capital One; a new two year agreement being signed, worth £200,000 a year for us. The Supporters’ Association voted Kris Commons as their player of the year for the 2004/05 season, hardly a surprise given the varying range of songs that had sprung up on the terraces regarding him throughout the season. Tormenting clearly inferior defenders for an entire season tends to win a player a few fans. â€Stephen, good to see you.†I’d just entered the Chairman’s office; a summons had landed on my desk that very morning. â€Enjoy your time in France?†“Yeah, it was good to get away for a while.†“Hannah certainly seems to have enjoyed herself.†“Good to hear.†“Indeed. Anyway, I wanted to see you to discuss our plans for the forthcoming season.†“O.K..†“Well, we had a board meeting last night, and what was clear was that we desperately don’t want to be involved in a relegation battle. We’ve gone through that once, and come out on the wrong end of it as well. Keep us clear of the scrap at the bottom, get us a respectable finish in the league and we’ll be more than happy.†“That’s my minimum, to be honest. Even if we don’t bring anybody in then I expect us to be comfortably mid-table. A few decent buys and we might even be able to sneak in the back door of the play-offs. I mean, Pedersen and Commons at the very least are Premiership class.†“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Premiership inside three more years will do us very nicely. And in terms of buying, we’re making £2,500,000 available to you. Unfortunately though, the salary budget will have to remain the same. We’re not going to make the same mistake we did last time and get ourselves deep into trouble.†â€Sounds fair enough. I’m sure they’ll be one or two out the door anyway.†“Just let us know. And good luck.†The news that the salary budget would remain the same was the only bad news to have come out of the meeting. Considering that, at £76,000 per week, the current wage bill was already £6,000 over its limit, it was very clear that some of the higher earners might have to be offloaded. That didn’t stop us offering Kris Commons a new deal straight away though. The £2,000 per week he was earning was something he deemed not nearly enough for a player of his talent, and to be fair he had a point. The fact that his contract was a year from expiration made it even more pressing, but our minds were put to rest when he quickly signed a three year deal for a £1,000 per week pay rise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 My fervour for the job didn’t last too long when it actually came time to start the long, hard search for players with which to bolster our Championship squad. And as if trying to find the right people to bring in wasn’t hard enough, valuable time was spent batting away enquires for the players we already had. Cardiff were relentless in their pursuit of John Curtis, a plethora of bids ranging from £600,000 to £800,000 were made – none of which were even close to the sort of sum we’d consider letting him go for. Wigan were slightly less enthusiastic in their chase of Kris Commons. They placed a single bid of £1,500,000, and as soon as it was rejected, Paul Jewell quickly lost interest. There were, however, players I was more than willing to let go, especially considering the reduction that I needed to make on the already strained wage bill. David Johnson, who had never managed to come to terms with the fact that he was nothing more than a bit part player in my squad, was let talk to Crystal Palace after they bid £70,000 and Adam Nowland’s rather unsuccessful spell at the City Ground was set to come to an end after a mere season when both Bristol Rovers and Ipswich met our £30,000 asking price. -- †Hola, Rafael.†“Hello, Stephen.†“That time of year again, I take it you know I’m phoning about loaning some players.†“Of course.†“Well, is there anyone available?†“I can let some of our reserve players go, for sure.†“How about the three we had last year?†“Mohamed, Neil and Stephen?†“Yeah.†“Well, we were impressed with how Momo and Stephen did for you last season, they’re going to start in our first team squad. But you can have Neil. On loan or permanently. He did quite well for you last season.†“Yeah, 20-odd goals wasn’t a bad return. I’d take him on loan for the season again.†“O.K.†“Any other shining talents you might let go?†“Maybe Bolo.†“Zenden?†“Yes. I don’t think he’ll play much this year. He only wants to a three month deal though.†“Not a problem, we’ll take him.†“Good. Rick can sort out the details with Mr Doughty?†“Yeah, cheers. And best of luck for the season.†“You also.†-- The news that Bolo Zenden would be making his way to Nottingham, even if it were only for three months – though I have to admit that from the first moment that the deal was mentioned, I had ideas of extending it well beyond its initial span –greatly excited me. And it was an excitement shared by much of the Nottingham public, it seemed that they agreed with me that his experience at the top echelons of the club game and the international arena would be of great benefit to us. Neil, I was less excited about. I would certainly continue to look out for another centre forward with which to bolster the squad, even if the majority of my funds had to pay for it. The only real reason I took Neil back was that Liverpool weren’t asking for us to pay anything towards his wages, a truly generous offer from the former European champions. The arrival of Zenden wasn’t the biggest of the close season in Nottingham though. As talks progressed towards taking Lassana Diarra on another season long loan – he seemed not to be thought to highly of by the Chelsea management, whereas I was of the opinion that he had a great future in store in the game – the availability of Joe Cole was brought up. It appeared as if Jose Mourinho had finally lost patience with the playground footballer, and had put him up for either permanent or temporary moves, and our speed off the mark let us land him for the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 A four game tour of Belgium was set up, games against Aalst, Charleroi, FC Brussels and Germinal Beerschot would definitely provide the lads with enough competition to ensure that they were ready for the pressures of the Championship when they came around in early August. But there was still much dealing to be done before we left for Belgium, Johnson completed his move to newly relegated Crystal Palace, obviously they had lined him up as a replacement for the hotly wanted Andy Johnson, wanted by at least seven Premiership clubs. Nowland also made his exit, joining Ipswich for the aforementioned sum. What pleased me most about the two leaving, was the fact that they removed £9,000 per week from the wage bill, and greatly increased my chances of landing some decent permanent signings. Three more players were soon on their way out, freeing up nearly another £10,000. Eugène Dadi, who had barely played for me, had come to the end of his contract and left as we showed no inclination to offer him a new one, in the end he found his way to a French National division side. Marlon King’s departure also brought £100,000 into the bank, his move to Crewe caused me no pain given that he had only scored four times in his season long loan to Watford during the previous campaign, and Neil Harris, who was released to Hull on a free transfer despite two years remaining on his contract, was likewise someone who I hardly thought we would miss. The dropping squad numbers were soon boosted with the arrival of Eirik Bakke from Leeds. Having spent the previous season impressing for Aston Villa in the Premiership, the Norwegian midfielder looked to finally have overcome his many injury problems. Quite surprisingly, although perhaps less so when you remember their financial situation, they were eager to get rid, and it needed only a £500,000 bid to tempt them to part with him. At only 27 years old, he had more than enough years left in him to prove a very good value buy, and despite his wages being slightly higher than I would have liked, I was delighted to have him on board. Aalst were the first opponents when we arrived in Belgium halfway through July. The game came just twenty-four hours after we arrived in the country, and for the first half the boys looked tired. Frédéric Jonssen had given the home side the lead, and James Beaumont had been on the wrong end of a crunching challenge which left him nursing broken ribs, and sent home to nurse them for the three weeks he would be out. Neil Mellor made an appearance for the second half, Robbie Blake had proven pretty ineffectual during the first, and within a minute the Liverpool striker had found the back of the net from a Commons cross. Determined to prove to me that he was good enough to lead the line for us, Mellor netted the winner ten minutes from time, again benefiting from good work by Commons, though it was Zenden who provided the final assist. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipsix3 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Hmmm,a couple of tasty looking loans there! Could we be looking at back-to-back promotions? Or even a fourth and fifth page Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 3, 2006 Author Share Posted January 3, 2006 let's not get carried away now, flip. i'm eleven posts away from a fourth page, talk of a fifth might be a tad premature ----------------------------- The friendly against Charleroi dragged in the way that many such games do. The slow pace, the lack of interest from both fans and players meant that there was little, if anything at all, to get excited about, and unsurprisingly the game ended in a goalless draw. -- â€Hello.†“…….†“Hi, Tim. What news?†“…….†“Excellent. When’s he coming up?†“…….†“I don’t want him on anything more than a one year deal, he is 35 after all.†“…….†“Just common sense on wage demands. If he’s just looking for a final pay day before he retires then send him packing. You know my maximum figure.†“…….†“Yeah, cheers. Best of luck. Let me know how it goes.†“…….†“Bye.†Tim Flowers had stayed behind in Nottingham whilst the rest of us journeyed to Belgium purely for this reason. On the eve of our departure, having searched for a new left back once Rafa BenÃtez had snubbed our approach for Stevie Warnock, a bid was made to Charlton for their ageing defender, Chris Powell. The veteran of 567 career games had just the kind of experience I was looking to add to the squad, and was certainly someone that the still unpolished Jordan Stewart could learn much from, I just wanted to make sure that, even though we were only paying Charlton £30,000 for his services, his wages weren’t so high that it meant we weren’t getting a good deal. -- Reserve defender John Thompson, who hadn’t even been considered anywhere near the first team since I took over, was the surprise target of Premiership side Blackburn, and given that his wages were over the £1,000 per week mark, I was more than happy to offload him to them on a free transfer. A few hours later, we travelled to face FC Brussels in the third leg of our tour, and once again the team we fielded looked tired and uninterested. Their inability to get any kind of passing game going, and the fact that both Joe Cole and Bolo Zenden looked more intent on impressing with individual moments than actually participating as part of a team were beginning to give me a few worries; I just had to keep telling myself that pre-season results didn’t matter, it was simply about getting the boys fit and ready. In the end, the home side took a one goal victory, Olivier Janssens netting the only effort in the fiftieth minute, and the 455 Brussels fans went home happy. -- â€Where’s Liam?†“Foxy? Don’t know, boss.†“Last I saw he was still in his bed.†Liam Fox’s no show for morning training in the grounds of our hotel was merely the latest in a growing list of troubles from the young Scot. After a quick search he was found still asleep, blissfully unaware of the hard work that others were putting in right outside his window. A hastily arranged meeting with the chairman and myself saw him given an official verbal warning for unprofessional behaviour, which he stood and took without comment. I had brought him on the tour as almost his final chance to prove to me that he had the attitude to succeed at the club – I was still convinced he had the talent – but he was quickly buying himself a place in the reserve squad. Our final warm-up game took us to face Germinal Beerschot in Antwerp, and produced a better performance from all involved, though that was hardly a difficult challenge. I fielded what I expected to be my starting line-up against Crystal Palace in the league opener, but another slow start saw us fall behind early on to an Olivier Beckers goal. Credit was due to the lads though, they actually fought this time, and were level before the break when Joe Cole went on a jinking run through the Germinal defence and clipped a shot inside the far post to equalise. Things were made difficult in the second half when Eirik Bakke was sent off for a second bookable offence, and rightly so, to be perfectly honest, but we managed to hold on for a reasonably morale-boosting draw. As the boys boarded the plane back home, I hung back, wondering just what was in store for us during the campaign ahead. True enough, all I had to do to satisfy my employers was avoid a relegation battle, but with international quality added to my squad over the summer months, even if they were only here on loan deals, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t harbouring far loftier ambitions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euan Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 This is really very good Mr Terk It's almost making me want to start writing again. Anyway, good luck in the Championship. You've made some good signings so you should have a good season ahead of you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishregan Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 Great to see someone having success with Forest. After I was sawn off at the knees in my game, I want you to take them all the way if you can! Was wondering if all that Rachel stuff was true until I saw the f**king the chairman's daughter bit. It certainly adds a frisson of "Trisha" or "Kilroy" to the proceedings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Good to see you around these parts, Euan. Glad you're enjoying Cheers, irish Glad I'm faring better at Forest than you did And there are elements of women I know in both Rachel and Hannah's characters, but these things have to be exaggerated for fictional purposes. ------------------------------------ â€Gary, John, Paul, Eugen, Danny, Nicky, Rune, James and Chris.†“All in their last year?†“Yeah.†“Well there’s definitely a few I want to keep of that lot.†“I’d say John, Eugen, Danny, Rune and James at the least.†“I’ll leave it until nearer Christmas though. I want to have an idea of where we’ll be next season before I start handing out new contracts.†“Fair enough. You seen the odds?†“For the Championship?†“Yeah.†“No, I’ve not.†“UKBetting.com has Palace, Ipswich and Wigan as joint favourites. 7-4 or something like that.†“Hardly surprising. I reckon Palace are certs if they keep hold of Andy Johnson. What did they have us as?†“20-1.†“Not unreasonable at all. Might be worth a tenner at that.†-- Having suppressed my urge to stick a tenner on us winning promotion, I focused on the news that Clint Hill was out again with another ankle injury. The defender was set to miss two weeks of action, taking it to a total of twelve weeks’ missed action since he signed from Stoke at the beginning of my reign. Of course, had he suffered an injury that had kept him out for three months, I wouldn’t have been half as worried. It was the persistent nature of the knocks he received, coupled with the fact that they were mostly to his left foot and ankle, that was making me consider what kind of future he had at Nottingham. It may have seemed harsh to some, but I thought he could well be on his way before the end of the summer transfer window. -- â€Nigel?†“Speaking.†“It’s Stephen.†“Why don’t you come round to my office? It’s about two minutes walk.†“Laziness, I guess.†“A fine example to set your athletic staff.†“I thought so. Anyway, I was wondering if any headway had been made on Rasiak and Nelsen?†“I was just about to come and see you about this. We’ve agreed fees with both clubs. A million for Rasiak and six hundred thousand for Nelsen. Their agents are waiting for contact.†“Excellent. Obviously I want them on board as soon as. Any chance we could invite them down to Selhurst, have them watch the game alongside yourself, negotiate with them afterwards?†“I don’t see why not. Leave it with me, I’ll get in contact.†“Cheers.†I was happy about the prospect of both Grzegorz Rasiak and Ryan Nelsen joining the squad, both had the requisite qualities to fit the places I had for them. Certainly Grzegorz had already showcased his talents at Championship level in his season with Derby, and despite a campaign in Tottenham’s reserve team, I had no doubt that he would be able to do just as well again. With Clint Hill firmly in my bad books and a host of Premiership clubs sniffing round John Curtis, Nelsen’s signing made sense both in terms of price and talent, I still was unsure as to why he’d not been able to force a regular game at Blackburn, considering that during the twelve games he had started in the previous season, he had looked easily their most capable centre back. Both were happy to join us on our trip to London to face Crystal Palace, our first game back in the Championship after a season-long sojourn to League One. Having just been relegated from the Premiership by a mere five goals, they were mine, if not the bookies’ clear favourite for the title. Andy Johnson, who had netted 27 times in his single Premiership campaign, was the subject of many a bid from teams in the highest league in the land, but for now he remained at Palace, and lined up alongside his namesake David and Clinton Morrison in a three pronged attack. From the very outset of the game, it was clear to everyone and his dog that Palace were the far superior side. And it took them only eight minutes to confirm said superiority on the scoreboard, David Johnson sliding a ball through Curtis’ legs for Morrison to fire firmly past Rune Pedersen. Their 3-4-3 formation was causing us endless problems, and I was merely hoping that we could get into the break without conceding further so that I could change a few things around. No such luck came my way though, and with a minute remaining before the interval, Andy Johnson was put clear by Ben Watson to score what would turn out to be his last goal in a Palace shirt as, twenty-four hours later, he made his way to Wigan for £6,250,000. It may have been locking the stable door when the horse was long out of sight, but at half time we changed to a back five, left Mellor up top on his own and planned on firing long ball after long ball towards his forehead. Needless to say, it didn’t have any effect in terms of getting us back in the game, but if a positive need be taken, it was that Palace failed to add to their lead after the break. Still, my first league defeat in charge of Nottingham Forest hurt a whole lot more than I had expected it to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Half the journey home from London was spent trying to persuade myself that I really didn’t need to drown my sorrows, the other half was spent on the phone to Hannah. I hadn’t seen her for a couple of days and I was beginning to get pathetically needy. Merely chatting to her about the happenings of the day did better to calm me than ever I could have done on my own. The following day, Grzegorz wrapped up his £1,000,000 move from Spurs, apparently the clincher had been our poor attacking performance against Palace; he felt he would have no trouble forcing his way into the side. Ryan also agreed to move, though the completion of his transfer was put on hold for a couple of weeks until the Home Office decided whether he met the criteria for a work permit. -- â€Liam, hi. I take it you know why I called you into my office?†“Yeah.†“You missed training yesterday. No explanation, no word at all. “Aye. Sorry.†“Well, I’m sure you realise that what you did is highly unprofessional. And it’s not the first time it happened.†“Aye. I know.†“Then you’ll understand why, after we gave you a written warning last time, we have to fine you a week’s wages this time.†“**** off. That’s totally unfair.†“I’m sorry you feel that way.†“You *****s are trying to force me out of the club. We’ll I’m no gonnae leave.†With that, Liam Fox stormed out of the chairman’s office, hardly doing his cause any good whatsoever. I had stayed silent throughout, I guess it should have been my job to deal with the matter, but Nigel had wanted to jump in and take a tight hold on squad discipline. I hadn’t been completely surprised at Liam’s reaction, his attitude had been problematic ever since he arrived at the club. It seemed the only course of action left open to us, without the cost of cancelling his contract, was to place him on the transfer list, relegate him to the reserve squad and hope like hell someone came along who hadn’t got wind of how much of an arsehole he was being. -- Our first home game back in the Championship was a visit from perennial strugglers Brighton. After the ineffectiveness of Neil’s performance at Selhurst, Grzegorz’s expectations were met and he was drafted directly into the starting line-up. Of more interest to me, however, was the return of James Beaumont to fitness after his rib injury; the youngster was considered well enough to take a place amongst the substitutes, and no doubt he would make an appearance at some point. We started on fire, within thirty seconds had forced Michel Kuipers into a save when Eugen Bopp fired straight at him from ten yards, having cut in from the right to find himself on the end of Zenden’s through ball. And it was the Dutch international midfielder, playing wide on the left after Kris Commons had picked up a slight ankle knock in training the previous day, who set up our opener. Only six minutes had found their way onto the clock when John Curtis fired a ball down the left flank, right into the path of Zenden. The Dutchman beat the two Brighton defenders who had immediately closed in to deny him space and curled a superb, quick cross into the penalty area. Timing his run perfectly to meet with the ball, Rasiak rose high, made a firm connection, and left Kuipers picking the ball out of the bottom corner of his net. It was exactly the sort of start we had been hoping for, but the lads seemed to take it as a signal to ease off in anticipation of a comfortable victory. Quite why they didn’t shake themselves out of their self-induced sleep when Leon Knight rocked the cross bar in the fifteenth minute is anybody’s guess, but it meant that the visitors had ample space and opportunity when Darren Powell strode into the box on twenty-four minutes, the lack of challenge allowing him to prod his shot to the left of Pedersen and level the scores. Having already conceded almost half the amount of league goals that we did during the entire of the previous campaign, I was beginning to get a little worried. I needn’t have been so, though. Powell’s strike finally had the effect of shaking our players from their slumber, and before the half time interval, we had wrested the lead back. Again it was Zenden who provided the killer ball, swinging a cross deep to the back post, where Bopp was arriving late and swung a sweetly struck volley past Kuipers. The second half was a tense and tightly fought affair, Brighton pushed for an equaliser whilst remaining solid at the back. We simply couldn’t break them down again, but thankfully neither could they get past our defences to force a second equaliser and the three points were ours. The closing stages had been made more difficult by the withdrawal of Yacine Abdessadki with eleven minutes to go. The Moroccan had fallen hard to the floor, fracturing a couple of ribs in the process, but having already made three substitutions - one of whom was Yacine - we were forced to play the remaining time with only ten men on the field, Mellor having to fill in on the unfamiliar right flank. Yacine’s knock meant that he, like Beaumont before him, would miss three weeks of game time, the first match of which was our trip down south to face Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Expected by most to repeat their play-off appearance of the 2004/05 season, I was anticipating another tough game, and for the most part that was exactly what we got. Kris Commons, rather harshly on Bolo Zenden, came back into the starting line-up whilst Rasiak kept his place, and Joe Cole made his first start, as did Eirik Bakke on the right. The official timing of our first goal was fourteen seconds. What made it even more amusing for me was that it had been Reading who kicked off. The ball was quickly stole off Steve Sidwell and moved out to Kris Commons on the left. The winger spotted Rasiak making ground towards the penalty area and timed his cross perfectly for the Pole to get there first and power his header past Jamie Young. The home side didn’t take too well to our impudent start, and within twelve minutes had themselves level, though via the penalty spot. Sidwell, atoning for his very early mistake, played a sublime ball for Leroy Lita to run onto, and the diminutive striker had his heels clipped by John Curtis as he swung to shoot. American international midfielder Bobby Convey stepped up and swept the penalty kick past Pedersen, and all our early work looked for nothing. Had you asked me to predict at that moment who would go on to win the game, my natural pessimist would have informed you that, without a doubt it would be Reading. He would, happily, have been completely wrong. Kris Commons was in the mood to do damage, and it was another near perfect cross from him that saw Bakke receive the ball unmarked and able to fire his shot past Young. The winger also laid on the ball from which, early in the second half, Joe Cole won a penalty. The on-loan Chelsea midfielder latched onto it and tried to round Young; the ‘keeper mistiming his challenge and hauling Cole to the ground. Unfortunately, Joe landed awkwardly on his wrist as he went down, and though it turned out to be a mere sprain, it was felt best to withdraw him from proceedings at that time and put James Beaumont on. Danny Cullip came forth to take the penalty, but Young was determined that his mistake would not cost, and pushed the defender’s effort around the post. We did have it in us to ensure the security of our three points before the hour mark arrived though, Commons yet again delivering superb ball into the penalty area and Rasiak meeting it with a first time shot which Young had frankly no chance of keeping out. A well earned three points, and the woes I had felt after loss at Palace were rapidly diminishing. The points took us into up into fifth place; if we finished the season there then I’d be absolutely delighted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian of Nazareth Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Liam Fox’s no show for morning training in the grounds of our hotel was merely the latest in a growing list of troubles from the young Scot. After a quick search he was found still asleep, blissfully unaware of the hard work that others were putting in right outside his window </div></BLOCKQUOTE> typically elitest Tory - let the 'others' do all the work Good few loans in there Terk, but just a tad more competitive for you I think, but good results so far! Joe Cole on loan! my FM can throw up some lovely little quirks. Good luck again! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishregan Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 you really should acknowledge that paraphrased quote from Georges Clemenceau in your profile Terk. If I'd ever come off with one as good as that I'd want it acknowledged too:-) You must have done a history or politics degree or something, that's where I heard it. Good results so far, keep up the good work of moving Forest toward the ultimate goal of European Champions again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 cheers, BoN Even though Cole was listed for loan, I only put the bid in as a joke. Was astounded when it came off. irish, thank you I did two years of a joint Politics and Philosophy degree in Aberdeen, which is where I first heard the quote. It wasn't credited because I couldn't for the life of my remember who it was from, and indeed the paraphrasing was because I couldn't even remember the exact wording. Probably symptematic of the lack of attention I paid throughout uni which led to me giving it up All fixed now though ---------------------------------------------------------- â€Stephen, have you thought much about where we’re going?†The question that men everywhere dread, I had been expecting it for a while, ever since she began moving her toiletries into my bathroom in fact. I’d never done well with it. â€How do you mean?†“About us, about our future?†“I’m enjoying how things are going at the moment.†There it was. My big mistake. â€You don’t want anything more?†“Of course I do.†Try to rescue it. â€I just haven’t been up nights thinking about it. You tire me out too much for that.†A small laugh escaped her lips. â€Well, I just thought we should talk about it; we’ve been dating for eight months.†“Can we talk about it over dinner tonight? I’ve got to be at training in twenty minutes. I’ll book a table.†“Sure.†“Eight o’clock sound good?†“Yeah.†At least it gave me some ten hours to figure out some way to show her I was serious about us. And there was no doubt that I was; I just didn’t see the need for marriage plans quite yet. The matter was driven out of my mind almost as soon as I got to the ground though, a bid from Plymouth for John Curtis sat on my desk, and finally someone had come up with a bid near our valuation. The south coast club were offering £1,300,000 plus 10% of any future transfer fee they received for the player. It was a tough call, John had certainly performed well the season before, but with Ryan Nelsen almost certain to get his work permit and James Perch improving every time he took to the field, I thought the money could be well spent elsewhere and gave Plymouth permission to talk to John. -- Dinner had been progressing well, my quite obvious charm and wit had stopped the conversation trailing towards the subject of that morning, but when it did I was ready with something I was convinced would get me in the good books. â€Move in with me.†“What?†“Move in with me. You want to know where we’re going? Move in with me.†The stupidity of my words hit me the moment they were out of my mouth, but there was nothing I could do to take them back now, other than hope she laughed, brushed it off and considered it merely the normal male overreaction to a relationship issue. â€Are you serious?†Excellent, a chance to take it back. â€Of course.†Damn. â€Wow! That’s not what I expected. I need a minute to take this in.†Take all the time you want as long as you say no. â€â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€ “………….†“Yes.†“What?†“Yes. I want to move in with you.†“What?†I was stunned. That was the last thing I had expected. I had always thought she was the sensible one in the relationship, yet she wanted to move in with an alcoholic. Was I a sympathy case? Did she want to try and change me? Was I going to be plagued by questions like this for the rest of our time together? -- I was still in shock when sitting in the dugout as the boys took to the City Ground field to face Gillingham. John Curtis was not in the squad, he had travelled to Plymouth for the weekend to discuss the terms of any contract, but James Beaumont was given his first start of the season after coming on for Joe Cole against Reading. The game was, undoubtedly, going to be a tough one, Gillingham had begun the season not so much worse than ourselves, but thankfully we managed to continue the form we had found in Reading. Rasiak’s Nottingham Forest career had begun with quite a bang, and it continued in kind when he flicked a Kris Commons cross past Chris Day. The big Polish striker caused problems for the visiting defence all day, and with their forwards barely getting near our defence, Grzegorz’s second goal of the day was more than enough to seal the points in our favour and move us up to an impressive fourth in the table. â€For Scott?†“Yeah. They’ve had scouts at each game this year. We thought they were watching Kris.†“I mean, I know Scotty’s done well, but Premiership class? I’m not sure.†“Are we going to accept.†“I think so. We’re strong in midfield and I’m sure we could get someone better for the right with even just half that fee.†The bid for Dobie was from Steve Bruce’s Birmingham. Struggling as they were in the top flight, perhaps they were preparing for life in the lower divisions, but the £1,200,000 they were offering for our Scottish international was more than enough to loosed our grasp on him. The good transfer news continued twenty-four hours later when the Home Office faxed through news that they had granted Ryan Nelsen a conditional work permit for his move, and he completed in enough time to be registered for the Carling Cup 1st round tie against Oldham. The John Curtis story took a twist later the same day when Southampton bid a straight £1,400,000 for the centre back, a bid which was accepted within ten minutes of it arriving. Scott Dobie had completed his move to Birmingham before we faced Oldham in our first cup match of the season. A number of reserve players were called up to the squad to play alongside some first-teamers, including Nelsen making his debut. We suffered a blow early on when Neil Mellor limped off with a calf strain that would keep him out for two weeks, and was replaced by Robbie Blake. And it was the substitute who set-up our opener when he crossed for Bolo Zenden to head in. The lower league side caused us enough problems as time wore on, but when David Friio curled a free kick past Rhys Evans in the Oldham goal, we were quite certain that a place in the second round was ours. We hadn’t counted on the spirit of our opponents though, and goals from Chris Killen and on-loan Rob Earnshaw in the final twelve minutes took us into a period of extra-time that we could well have done without. There was no way we were going to give up our place in the second round though, and we moved ahead nine minutes into the extra period when Ryan Nelsen made a nuisance of himself, causing Evans to drop a Eugen Bopp corner into his own net. The game was all but sealed when Eirik Bakke volleyed home from a Zenden cross on the stroke of half time, and definite when Nelsen grabbed a debut corner, heading firmly in from Zenden’s drifted corner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WLKRAS Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 oh dear Terk, you're stuck with her now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishregan Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 LOL I did that post about Georges Clemenceau's quote when I was plastered and when I was sober thought you might respond with, "aye right, you pompous twit!" Glad you didn't. Enjoyed the update keep it coming. Sad to say, I'm almost as interested in this relationship with the chairman's daughter as I am in the football. Maybe you should write a Mills and Boon novel involving a football manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipsix3 Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Bah, I'm going off this fella now, poaching The Admiral from Rovers I bet they were just resting him Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 11, 2006 Author Share Posted January 11, 2006 don't i just know it, WLKRAS irish, i was happy that you spotted the quote, i couldn't be arsed searching for its origin but i will say, "aye right, you git!" at your suggestion that i write a mills and boon novel assuming you mean Nelsen there, flip. I thought it was very generous of Blackburn to punt him off for less than half his in game value ------------------------------------------- The more time passed, the prospect of Hannah moving in got less and less daunting. She was due to move her stuff in on the 11th September whilst I was guiding the lads against West Brom at the City Ground, but she already barely spent any time at her own flat. I was surprised at how comfortable I felt with it, I had expected the same sort of panic attacks I’d suffered for a fortnight or so when I moved in with Rachel, but thankfully they never reared their ugly head. After not getting in until late thanks to the extra time against Oldham, I decided to take the morning off, and extend the same gratitude to the players. It meant that I actually got to see Hannah in the morning, I had quickly learned that she was a late riser whereas I liked to be at my desk early, and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before I made my way to the ground around midday. Neil Mellor and Bolo Zenden had both been in to see the physio early in the morning, Mellor’s calf strain confirmed, and Bolo feeling sore from a heavy challenge which left him with bruising on his chest. The Dutchman had hoped for some painkillers to make him available for Saturday’s game against Ipswich, but instead was told to take the rest of the week off and report fit and well for training on Monday. The draw for the second round of the Carling Cup had, to my surprise, been made after the conclusion of all the previous night’s games, and we had been rewarded for our efforts with a trip to face Grimsby. I couldn’t deny being happy, the chance to progress through a few rounds before we faced a decent side was one I definitely wanted, and I certainly wouldn’t be fielding my reserves for the next round. Twenty-four hours before we prepared to travel to Ipswich, John Curtis’ agent phoned to say that a deal had been struck with Southampton and that the transfer was ready to be completed. It brought me mixed emotions, I was sad to see John go as he had been a first choice since I arrived, but at the same time, focusing on the business side of the club, £1,400,000 was difficult to turn your nose up at. Ipswich hadn’t had the best of starts to the season, they sat in thirteenth place after the opening four games, but I was still wary of the challenge they could pose. Nearly thirty thousand Tractor Boys packed themselves into the stadium, and there was barely a moment passed without a raucous noise. We could, perhaps, have done something to quiet them down had we got on top of the game, but any time we looked close to a measure of control, Ipswich would break forward in numbers and call Pedersen into action. It was such a quick break that gave them the only goal of the game early on in the second half. On loan Liverpool midfielder Darren Potter picked the ball up on the edge of his own penalty area and spotted his fellow Anfield refugee Robbie Foy striding down the left flank. Potter’s ball found Foy’s feet with no need for the Scot to break his stride, and after taking a few steps further down the wing, he swung the ball towards the penalty area where Nicky Forster was able to slide to meet it and send it flashing past Pedersen. I had become so accustomed to winning in whatever circumstances, and certainly to at least scoring, that it still came as a shock when we didn’t. This game had, in all honesty, shown us just how much we would have to step up the quality from the previous campaign, the Championship was quite clearly a division in which you couldn’t be complacent about any game, no matter where your opponent lay in the table. â€Hi, Ian.†My head scout had asked to meet up for a pint on the evening before we faced Stoke. He had been distinctly quiet in his latest search for players, I supposed it was as things settled down after the summer scramble for talent. â€Hi. Pint?†“Erm, yeah. Guinness. Cheers.†. . . . . . “There you go.†“Thanks. What did you want to see me about?†“Spotted someone I reckon you should take a gander at. I’ve cobbled some tapes together of him. They’re in my bag.†“Excellent. This mystery man have a name?†“Liam Coleman.†“Never heard of him.†“I’m surprised. Chris Kamara nearly wets his pants whenever he hears his name.†“That’s hardly unusual.†“True. Anyway, he’s a striker down at Torquay. He moved there about a year ago. Scored twelve for them last season.†“How’s he doing this year?†“Five in five so far.†“Not bad. What’s he like?†“Great eye for goal. Pretty pacey as well. Doesn’t drop back and help out, he’s a true predator.†“How much are they likely to want for him?†“It’s Torquay. They’re broke, a coupla hundred thousand should easily do it.†“Something to think about anyway. Grzegorz and Neil are doing pretty well so far. Keep an eye on him though. Maybe we’ll make a move when we see just what we need.†“Will do.†The idea of another striker wasn’t one I had particularly dwelt on, I was more than happy with those we had now, especially given Rasiak’s start to the campaign. But cheap talent from the lower leagues was not to be sniffed at, and if Coleman continued to impress then I would be only too happy to take a gamble on him. Stoke gave us our first opportunity to get back on the winning trail after the disappointment. David Friio came into the starting line up to play alongside Eugen Bopp in the centre of the park with Eirik Bakke on the right flank. Despite Zenden being back in the squad, Commons was never going to be challenged for his spot in the side, and for the third game in a row, Ryan Nelsen helped himself to John Curtis’ vacant centre back spot. Throughout, the game was evenly matched. Never did it look as if one side would run away with the result, and quite often it looked as if all the craft and guile would go unrewarded thanks to some excellent defending all round. But come the 22nd minute, our fallback wizard Commons produced again, fizzing a cross through the penalty area which Friio stooped low to head home from the back post. The nature of the game had me thinking that we were going to sneak it by Friio’s single goal; for all Stoke’s work they rarely got a sight of Pedersen’s goal. But into the final ten minutes, we sealed the points when a Bopp free kick found Friio’s head in acres of space and the Frenchman doubled his tally. The final minutes were tense thanks to Martyn Corrigan’s well placed penalty after Bakke had handballed from a corner, but we rode out their last charge and claimed the points that moved us up to 6th in the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 11, 2006 Author Share Posted January 11, 2006 four pages ------------------------------ August 2005 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Crystal Palace 2 – 0 Nottingham Forest (Morrison 8â€; A. Johnson 44â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 1 Brighton (Rasiak 6â€; Powell 24â€; Bopp 36â€) Reading 1 – 3 Nottingham Forest (Rasiak 1â€, 58â€; Convey pen 13â€; Bakke 27â€, Cullip m/pen 57â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Gillingham (Rasiak 14â€, 51â€) Nottingham Forest 5 – 2 Oldham (a.e.t.) (Carling Cup 1st Round) (Zenden 15â€; Friio 69â€; Killen 78â€; Earnshaw 84â€; Evans (OG) 99â€; Bakke 105â€; Nelsen 114â€) Ipswich 1 – 0 Nottingham Forest (Forster 53â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 1 Stoke (Friio 22â€, 81â€; Corrigan pen 84â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 Transfer deadline day, at both the end of August and January, means less to those managing outside the Premiership, as domestic transfers can still be pushed through up until the end of March. But with Premiership clubs wanting to get both their ins and outs sorted by the end of the month, we decided to join in the final day frenzy. Liam Fox had finally found a temporary home, Scunthorpe were willing to take him on loan for the season. Quite frankly, I’d be happy if he never returned to the club. The fans had been right about him from the first moment, he really was a disruptive little sh*t. Losing players was not our only addition to the day’s dealings though. Momo Sissoko, for all that Rafa BenÃtez had insisted he would play a part during the season, had failed to even appear on the bench for the Liverpool first team in the first month of the season. I knew it was ambitious and unlikely to come off, but a phone call to BenÃtez found the Spaniard now willing to part with his Malian midfielder for the season. Apparently, the Football League failed to realise that we were already up to our limit of four loan signings at any one time, and sanctioned two late deals for temporary moves for Sunderland players. Liam Lawrence came in for three months to bolster our options on the right flank whilst Scottish international centre back Stephen Caldwell joined, also for an initial three months, in an attempt to win back his place in the Sunderland first team. Our Sunday visit from West Brom, almost two weeks after we’d faced Stoke thanks to international commitments, found its way onto live TV, though I’d rather it hadn’t as I was more than a little nervous about facing a recently relegated Premiership side. Ryan Nelsen had only returned from his international duties in New Zealand on Saturday evening, so was not considered for selection, whilst Clint Hill was only fit enough for a place on the bench. What that meant was Caldwell finding his way quickly in the starting line up, though even I didn’t expect him to have such an outstanding game. The nine times Scotland capped defender looked calm and assured in his natural role, and the addition of scoring the goal which broke the deadlock in the fiftieth minute did little to harm his chances of retaining his place in the side. West Brom had caused us plenty of problems throughout the game, but Pedersen was proving himself again to be a top class goalkeeper, and we sealed the points when Sissoko played a superb ball into the penalty area for Rasiak to fire home. I took my time getting home after the game, for a start there was the post-game interviews to be handled for the TV cameras. But also I was anxious about returning to the flat. Hannah was set to have her stuff all finally moved in by the time I got back, and the realisation of it was causing quite a few butterflies to flutter around my stomach. I need not have worried though. Everything had sailed through smoothly and when I got home, I remembered just why I had asked her to move in in the first place. We spent a great night just talking nonsense and laughing ourselves silly into the early hours of the morning, and when it was time to leave for work, she planted a kiss on my forehead which made me want to get home as soon as I could. Preparing the boys for another game against quality opposition took its toll on me, I felt more tired in the week between the games against West Brom and Wigan than I remembered being for a long time. Sissoko missed the match with a minor ankle knock, but Yacine Abdessadki returned to the squad with a place on the bench. The atmosphere inside the JJB was, as usual, near non-existent, only just under 15,000 fans had bothered to pay the admission price for the game. But those who were there had reason to cheer in the early stages as Stephane Henchoz’s goal had the home side in front from the third minute. On the stroke of half time we found an undeserved equaliser, Eirik Bakke firing home a screaming strike from the edge of the penalty area when he pounced on a loose ball. Wigan again started the far brighter in the early moments of the second half, and restored their lead through Andreas Johansson’s fine curling effort. We had built up something of a resilience though, and were not going to take defeat easily. Indeed, we didn’t have to take it at all as Joe Cole slid a ball between Henchoz and Thome for Rasiak to batter home the equaliser; though two points dropped also meant a fall to fifth in the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave18Wales Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Gr8 story. Keep it up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaroq Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Quite enjoying the story, as so many of your fans have said - KUTGW! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 cheers, dave and amaroq ----------------------------- The Carling Cup was providing me with the chance to give some game time to a few fringe players, and I continued that with our second round trip to Blundell Park to face Grimsby. Our hosts had made a good start to their League Two campaign, sitting nicely in fourth, and for the first twenty minutes of the match they looked more comfortable in the dreary conditions. There was never any doubt over the eventual winners though, and once we had taken the lead through Neil Mellor, the rest was inevitable. Goals either side of half time from David Friio and Liam Lawrence wrapped up an easy if not spectacular win, and booked us a glamour tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the third round. The number of little niggling injuries the lads were suffering was beginning to worry me, Pedersen and Diarra had missed the trip to Grimsby with bruised shins (though they likely wouldn’t have played anyway); James Perch had been forced off during half time at Blundell Park with an ankle knock, and in the days between the Cup game and our league trip to Kenilworth Road, Eugen Bopp damaged his shoulder and Clint Hill suffered with a foot problem (again). Thankfully, Pedersen was passed fit for the game against Luton, though he could do nothing about the Kevin Nicholls shot which thundered the home side into the lead on the half hour. We weren’t being talked of as one of the better footballing teams in the league for nothing though, and our control of the game up until the opener suggested that we would have it in us to come back. And so we did; Joe Cole latching onto Bakke’s knock down of a Stewart cross and firing past Dino Seremet in the Luton goal by the time the interval arrived. Luton suffered with quarter of an hour left when Sol Davis was sent off for a second bookable offence, though we had already taken the lead by then with substitute Momo Sissoko was put clear by Rasiak and finished calmly past Seremet. The Malian international was at the heart of the clincher as well, crossing deep into the penalty area for Bakke to stoop low and head home. Sissoko had come on for James Beaumont after the young midfielder had limped to the sidelines, and the diagnosis of a slight groin strain which would take two weeks to heal, whilst not devastating in itself, simply added to my ever growing concern about our injury list. Hannah seemed to be spending her entire time rearranging everything in my flat, so that any time I wanted to find anything, even a mug for my morning coffee, I had to ask her where she’d felt it necessary to relocate it. I found it odd living with someone who wasn’t working, who was rarely out of the flat when I was there, and for the first few weeks we got under each other’s feet somewhat, but gradually things had settled down, and when she told me on the eve of the Burnley game that she was giving serious consideration to making an attempt at resuming her media career, I have to say I felt things were going pretty well in all aspects of my life. The lads felt kind enough to prove that point with a comfortable home win over Burnley, despite the fact that we didn’t actually get on the scoresheet until the hour mark. We were rarely troubled by the visiting side, and Bolo Zenden, who had recently renewed his loan for a further three months, was a constant thorn in their side. The goals came through Mellor and Cole, both workmanlike in their fashioning, but both finished with unerring accuracy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 September 2005 Summary (Championship unless otherwise stated) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 West Brom (Caldwell 50â€; Rasiak 70â€) Wigan 2 – 2 Nottingham Forest (Henchoz 3â€; Bakke 45â€; Johansson 51â€; Rasiak 58â€) Grimsby 0 – 3 Nottingham Forest (Carling Cup 2nd Round) (Mellor 21â€; Friio 38â€; Lawrence 72â€) Luton 1 – 3 Nottingham Forest (Nicholls 30â€; Cole 38â€; Sissoko 64â€; Davis s/off 75â€; Bakke 86â€) Nottingham Forest 2 – 0 Burnley (Mellor 60â€; Cole 76â€) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Crystal Palace | | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 8 | +12 | 24 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | West Brom | | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Nottm Forest | | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bolton | | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 12 | +8 | 22 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Wigan | | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Leeds | | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Ipswich | | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 20 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Sheff Utd | | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 10 | +7 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Gillingham | | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Rotherham | | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Cardiff | | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Watford | | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Q.P.R. | | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Stoke | | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Derby | | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Preston | | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Reading | | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Wolves | | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Crewe | | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Brighton | | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 | -8 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Burnley | | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Hull | | 10 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Leicester | | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 17 | -11 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Luton | | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 26 | -16 | 2 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terk Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 â€You’ve got a free weekend coming up soon haven’t you?†“Yeah, after Saturday’s game. There’s a two week international break before we play Derby.†“We should go away somewhere. Just for the weekend.†“Sounds good. I’d planned to give the boys the weekend off anyway. You got anywhere in mind?†I knew quite well that she did; she had done her best to make it sound unprompted and off the cuff, but this had quite obviously been some time in the planning. “I was thinking somewhere up in Scotland. It’s years since I’ve been up there. Find a nice country hotel up in the Highlands. Spend the days walking in the hills and the evenings getting warm by the fire.†“Sounds great…………… You’ve already booked somewhere haven’t you?†“Yep. All you need to do is pack your bags, we’ll leave mid-morning next Friday.†The idea of getting away for the weekend was a wonderful one. Give me a chance to rest from the football for a few days, recharge the batteries even though the season was only a couple of months old, though I knew that I’d be desperate to find a pub with a TV to watch the England game on the Saturday. -- Another idea of Hannah’s had been for me to get in contact with my parents. I’d barely spoken to either of them since the divorce from Rachel, they had both been truly fond of her and had taken somewhat badly to the way in which my actions had caused the relationship’s demise. â€Hi, Dad. It’s Stephen.†“….†“Because I figured it was about time I called you.†“….†“I don’t want anything. Nice of you to assume that though.†“….†“Yeah, she told me.†“….†“Because I didn’t think it would be a good idea. I figured it would make a number of people uncomfortable. I didn’t think her parents would take to kindly to me being there either.†“….†“Christ on a bike, will you give it a rest? Yes, I did a sh*tty thing. I’m sorry that I did, I always will be. But I’ve moved on, she’s moved on, can you please join us? I’m seeing someone else, by the way.†“….†“Hannah.†“….†“27.†“….†“Just before Christmas. She moved in at the start of last month.†“….†“She’s not working at the moment. She used to work for the BBC. I didn’t expect the fu*king Spanish Inquisition, by the way.†“….†â€Well, Hannah was wondering whether you and mum would want to come up for Christmas. She really wants to meet you. And I think it’s time that we put all this behind us. Start afresh. I’d love to see you both.†“….†“Great. She’ll be delighted. I’ll phone you again soon to sort it all out.†“….†“Yeah. Bye.†Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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