Leaving the Past Behind (Repost)

[flipsix3]

23 February 2006

Terk

Congratulations Now get over to London and sort that White Hart Lane mess out.

Simply Perfect

Exactly! As a Spurs fan, I couldn't agree more! We're built for the Champions League, not the Championship!

axeman

Isn't that a touch of wishful thinking??

BTW, good story flip. Quite enjoying to read up on your success in France

Cheers for the feedback guys, and London.... interesting idea, who knows?

I owe Simply Perfect something of an apology, in mid-2008 he will go on to make a comment, and I will say that I hadn't realised that he is a Spurs fan. Oops! flipsix3 July 2008

[flipsix3]

He’d toyed with the idea of playing around with the squad for all three of their remaining games, but with Lyon in town he decided to give the full first team line-up a chance to sign off in style first – the visitors could still be pipped to second spot by Paris and he didn’t want to be accused of playing to favour them.

Kick-off wasn’t until early evening so he’d already had the news from England, Spurs had been smashed four-nil by a rampant Boro side, including two goals from Freddy Kanouté – who had returned to England on a free transfer, three years after Spurs had sold him to Mallorca for just over five million. With Pau looking almost certainties for relegation too it wasn’t looking like the best of seasons away from Bordeaux so he asked the team to go out and give him a win to improve his mood.

Three minutes in and Afanou’s header, from Machacón’s corner, came close to giving Bordeaux the lead. The home fans, still celebrating from the previous weekend – and undoubtedly planning to keep it up until the end of the season, sensed that it was going to be a good day. By half time, although still goalless, the game had been almost entirely one way and the supporters were loving every minute of it, so was Ed. Relieved of the pressure of any potential outcome he sat and actually enjoyed watching his team for the first time in weeks, and when N’Zogbia fired home a rocket of a shot he turned to the fans and started to celebrate with them. Coming off the bench Stéphane Labat wasted a good chance as he went one-on-one with the keeper and that was when it finally hit home, Ed stood applauding the youngster for the effort rather than berating the miss, there was nothing that could put a crimp on the season now and when Baros finally delivered the deserved second goal he sat back and soaked up the sunshine.

After the game he gathered the players around him on the pitch, they would have to wait until the end of the season to be presented with the trophy but with two away games left he’d put in an appeal to the FA who had agreed to bring it to the game so that it could be paraded on a lap of honour. Once the celebrations died down, and the fans began to leave, Ed stood in the middle of the pitch and looked around as his players went to get showered and changed. He met them in the players lounge afterwards and explained to them what he planned for the remaining games.

“It’s been a long season, and not without disappointments, but we’ve done it now and I want us to have fun, I’m going to bring some of the youngsters in for the last two games. This does not mean that any of you have to worry about your places too much, these lads will be getting some first team experience and then they’ll be back to the reserves for the most part. You’ve all earned a rest so I’ll try and give each of you at least one game off”

[flipsix3]

Ed had hoped to have Fernandes back for the trip to Montpellier but the winger was still recuperating, he might just about make the final game of the season but he didn’t make the trip to the south coast. Among those that did were Ibrahima and the returning Markus Gustafsson from the reserves – both were slotted into the starting line-up whilst eleven-goal Hervé Bugnet got a place on the bench. At twenty-seven Bugnet had been edged out of the first team over the previous couple of seasons and Ed intended to see him gone in the summer, but the sentimental side of him decided that he deserved one last hurrah. Lastuvka was another who Ed had decided to rest, but he changed his mind when Mark Proctor pointed out that it would be the keeper’s fiftieth appearance of the campaign and so he decided to let him hit that milestone.

Montpellier still had an outside chance of catching PSG, but it was a long shot and Lille were still on their heels too. Again Ed had been concerned by the fact that some might perceive his squad selection as a form of favouritism coming, as it did, against the side that had effectively given them the title, but he was more concerned about getting some of the reserves into first team action. He sent them out onto the pitch and told them to do whatever they felt would work

“The restraints are off, play like you used to as a kid, if you want to make a run then make one, if you think you can set someone up then do it, just don’t embarrass us”

At two-nil down he decided to impose a bit of discipline back into the formation, they were creating some good openings but the defence – in particular – had taken him a little too literally and were finding themselves caught upfield too much. Ibrahima and Gustafsson both played solid games but Bugnet looked out of touch when he came on and skewed his only shot well wide of the target. It ended two-nil but with PSG winning and Lille only managing a draw, there was little chance of the result having any real impact on the league table.

-----

The season finalé came at Ajaccio on the island of Corsica, the team again included some of the reserves along with part of the regular starting eleven, but he was unable to include Stéphane Labat who – having failed to see any action after his call-up to the national Under 21’s – marked his Under 19’s debut with two goals against the Republic of Ireland. He changed his mind about Fernandes too, having only returned to full training the day before they left Ed felt that it was simply too much of a risk for the sake of a meaningless match.

He was particularly delighted by the performance of Didier Sylvestre in goal, at seventeen he was two years younger than Pierre Martin but showed just as much talent, if not more, as he pulled off an astounding double save in the second half. They were already ahead by then, Fabien Audard going from hero to villain for Ajaccio as he saved Seitaridis’ penalty, only to score the most bizarre of own goals in injury time – it looked for all the world as if he neatly controlled a backpass from his defender before turning and passing it into his own net, but surely there was more to it than that... he couldn't have been that stupid?!

Ibrahima put in another good performance on the left, and 23-year-old Yahai Kébé – another who was likely to be on his way in the summer – went close a couple of times partnering Deivid, but it was Milan Baros who came off the bench and immediately struck to double Bordeaux’s lead. The last of the youngsters was Gustafsson, Ed hoped that the leave of absence, followed by two appearances for the seniors, might convince the Swede of his potential to make a go of it in France but two days later his agent came out in the press stating that his client was looking for a move as soon as possible.

[flipsix3]

”I heard the news on the radio today, is it hard having to do something like that?”

Ed knew what his wife was talking about, he’d known as soon as he released the list to the press that it would be in the public domain by the evening. ”I suppose it is difficult on a personal level, when you’ve played the game professionally then you know what it feels like to have a club let you go – or if you don’t, then you know a friend who does. The problem is that I have to get over that, there’s very little room for sentiment at this level, if they’re not good enough they just have to go. There’ll be more next month too, when their contracts run out.”

The list had been a couple of days in the making, the players were off for their summer breaks but had been forewarned that the exercise was being carried out, and that the appropriate agents would be contacted. The final cut hadn’t actually taken as long as expected, Ed had called the coaching staff in, along with the chairman, and a three hour meeting had eventually produced a list of seven names. The chairman had blocked any attempt to release Bugnet, stating the pay-off costs as unreasonable, and the striker’s agent had dismissed any talk of a contract termination, but aside from that the rest of the names – a mixture of youngsters and backup players – had been delivered by the press office following notifications to their agents.

“What you have to remember,” Ed said as he helped clear the dinner plates, “is that for every player that makes it at a high level in this game, there’s many more who never do. But you offset the disappointment of those that don’t against the great feeling you get from the others, like today – I had a call from the football writer’s association, Giourkas Seitaridis is being named as their player of the season, and I think he’ll pick up the ‘player’s player’ award too”

He didn’t mention that there would be an award for himself too, manager of the season, but that was unlikely to come as a great surprise to most people. The Seitaridis situation on the other hand, well that had caught him off guard and he’d taken great delight in talking to the fullback to make sure he kept the evening of the award’s dinner free. Having signed him for such a nominal fee from Middlesbrough, Ed got a bigger thrill from his player’s awards than from his own, this was what he’d gone into management for, not for the big titles and cups – he’d honestly not expected to go down that route, certainly not so early in his career – but to give other players the joy that he’d experienced of playing at the highest levels.

[flipsix3]

MAY 2009 SUMMARY

Paris Saint Germain 2 (Yepes 10, el Hamdaoui 20)

Bordeaux 2 (Baros 3, Shamakh 72)

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

Bordeaux 2 (N’Zogbia 53, Baros 88)

Lyon 0

Man of the Match: N’Zogbia

Montpellier 2 (Charisteas 26, 29)

Bordeaux 0

Man of the Match: N’Zogbia

Ajaccio 0

Bordeaux 2 (Audard og 45+, Baros 69)

Man of the Match: Marc Planus

News: Seitaridis missed pen 14 (saved)

| Pos   | Inf   | Team             | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | C     | Bordeaux         | 38    | 29    | 5     | 4     | 74    | 21    | +53   | 92    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Paris            | 38    | 21    | 12    | 5     | 59    | 24    | +35   | 75    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Lyon             | 38    | 20    | 14    | 4     | 61    | 24    | +37   | 74    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Montpellier      | 38    | 19    | 10    | 9     | 57    | 36    | +21   | 67    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Lille            | 38    | 18    | 11    | 9     | 51    | 34    | +17   | 65    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Rennes           | 38    | 15    | 12    | 11    | 38    | 38    | 0     | 57    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Lens             | 38    | 14    | 13    | 11    | 41    | 37    | +4    | 55    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Strasbourg       | 38    | 15    | 9     | 14    | 28    | 32    | -4    | 54    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   |       | Marseille        | 38    | 13    | 10    | 15    | 40    | 39    | +1    | 49    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | St. Etienne      | 38    | 11    | 15    | 12    | 45    | 47    | -2    | 48    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Monaco           | 38    | 12    | 10    | 16    | 51    | 52    | -1    | 46    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Sochaux          | 38    | 11    | 12    | 15    | 42    | 46    | -4    | 45    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | Toulouse         | 38    | 11    | 12    | 15    | 36    | 40    | -4    | 45    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Ajaccio          | 38    | 11    | 12    | 15    | 32    | 55    | -23   | 45    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Auxerre          | 38    | 11    | 10    | 17    | 30    | 41    | -11   | 43    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Nantes           | 38    | 10    | 9     | 19    | 33    | 56    | -23   | 39    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  |       | Sedan            | 38    | 9     | 10    | 19    | 36    | 56    | -20   | 37    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  | R     | Metz             | 38    | 9     | 9     | 20    | 32    | 53    | -21   | 36    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  | R     | Clermont-Ferrand | 38    | 10    | 6     | 22    | 28    | 53    | -25   | 36    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  | R     | Bastia           | 38    | 7     | 7     | 24    | 21    | 51    | -30   | 28    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[flipsix3]

The squad. Note that this is after the initial round of releases/terminations, and includes only those players who appeared for the first team during the season.

| Name                | Position | Con      | Apps     | Gls      | Av Rat   | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Jan Lastuvka        | GK       | 100%     | 50       | -        | 7.78     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Pierre Martin       | GK       | 96%      | 2 (1)    | -        | 7.67     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Didier Sylvestre    | GK       | 100%     | 1        | -        | 9.00     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mikael Antonsson    | SW/D RC  | 92%      | 49       | 2        | 7.27     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Kodjo Afanou        | D RC     | 100%     | 39 (8)   | 1        | 7.28     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Marc Planus         | D RC     | 98%      | 6 (6)    | -        | 7.17     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ibrahima Boul       | D L      | 90%      | 0 (1)    | -        | 7.00     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Michalis Kapsis     | D C      | 97%      | 15 (3)   | -        | 6.94     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Karim Azizou        | D/DM R   | 100%     | 7 (3)    | -        | 6.80     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giourkas Seitaridis | D/DM R   | 93%      | 44 (1)   | 1        | 7.64     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Florian Marange     | D/DM L   | 97%      | 22 (13)  | -        | 6.94     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mike Zonneveld      | D/DM L   | 94%      | 45 (1)   | 1        | 7.72     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ibrahima            | DM LC    | 100%     | 2        | -        | 7.00     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ted Lavie           | DM C     | 98%      | 13 (18)  | 3        | 7.16     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Antonio Rio Mavuba  | DM C     | 100%     | 39 (1)   | 4        | 7.15     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Markus Gustafsson   | M RC     | 100%     | 1 (1)    | -        | 7.00     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Fabrice Fernandes   | AM RL    | 72%      | 30 (4)   | 1        | 7.82     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniel Machacón     | AM RC    | 100%     | 19 (18)  | 4        | 7.24     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Charles N'Zogbia    | AM L     | 100%     | 14 (9)   | 4        | 7.43     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Camel Meriem        | AM C     | 100%     | 40 (3)   | 5        | 7.26     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Pascal Feindouno    | AM/F RC  | 100%     | 39 (5)   | 4        | 7.50     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Hervé Bugnet        | F LC     | 100%     | 0 (1)    | -        | 7.00     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Marouane Chamakh    | F C      | 91%      | 19 (15)  | 20       | 7.53     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Stéphane Labat      | F C      | 100%     | 2 (11)   | 2        | 6.77     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Milan Baros         | S C      | 93%      | 39 (6)   | 23       | 7.40     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Deivid              | S C      | 100%     | 41 (2)   | 26       | 7.58     | 
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[flipsix3]

Wow, ten thousand views! Thanks!

The above, originally posted 28 Feruary 2006, was obviously based on the old forum stats

The early summer saw plenty of action on the international front, with the World Cup qualifiers getting into full swing, and it was against the backdrop of these games that Ed unveiled his newest signings to the press. Twenty-one-year-old Thomas Kornexl, a left fullback from Rapid Vienna, joined the reserves whilst Giel Neervoort completed his pre-arranged move and joined the first team.

Ed had been concerned with the quality of the youngsters coming through but Kornexl stood out as having the look of a very promising youngster, if the coaches could drill a decent work ethic into the Austrian then he expected him to push Florian Marange for the backup role within a season. Neervoort would come right in as a squad player with departures imminent, Michalis Kapsis wasn’t getting a new contract offer – at thirty-five Ed didn’t consider it worthwhile, and the arrival of the Dutch youngster would give him the additional manpower he wanted at the back.

The qualifiers gave him plenty to smile about too, nothing moreso than Antonio Rio Mavuba’s call-up for France. Playing alongside the Arsenal strikeforce of Henry and Anelka the midfielder set up two goals in France’s seven-nil demolition of Andorra. Elsewhere Seitaridis carried his league form over into Greece’s qualifying campaign, and Baros got on the scoresheet in Malta.

Ed could quite happily have spent all summer watching the various internationals, and the weird and wonderful tournaments FIFA came up with to keep the game ticking over, but he really did need a proper break and he’d promised Catherine a honeymoon. He’d made all the arrangements in secret and, with no imminent action for his own club, he flew her off for a fortnight in the Seychelles.

-----

The break was just what he needed, he hadn’t realised just how much hard work the past couple of months had been, to be able to wake up in the morning and not immediately start worrying about the day ahead felt like real luxury. Of course that didn’t mean that he spent no time thinking about the coming season, but he did it only occasionally, and on a casual basis.

He’d left some paperwork and contact numbers at the office regarding pre-season, part of the deal to bring in Giel Neervoort had been the promise of a friendly game and he’d also been discussing a grander idea with Jacques Le Coadou, he made a couple of calls on the latter project during the holiday but for the most part he avoided any contact with home.

On the whole the days were spent relaxing either on the beach or around the pool, Catherine loved to swim and seemed to spend about six hours of every day in the water, meanwhile Ed caught up on some reading – a habit he’d got out of since the move to Bordeaux – and even managed to get in a couple of rounds of golf, prompting him to consider dusting his clubs off once the season was under way. In the evenings they’d wander along the beach or take a walk into town and find somewhere new to eat, the clear night sky was spectacular and the weather stayed at it’s best for the entire two weeks. By the end of their stay Ed definitely could have done without heading back but there was no avoiding it.

[flipsix3]

They arrived back just two days before the game in Holland, for Ed that meant a flying visit to the apartment – almost a case of getting home, sleeping, and then leaving the next morning. He downloaded his mail so that he could go through it once they hit Holland, there wasn’t an awful lot of it – which was a surprise – and he made a couple of phone calls to tie up some loose ends when they reached their hotel.

Neervoort made his Bordeaux debut against his old club and Ed was fairly pleased with what he saw, the new boy slotted in well to the back line of an otherwise familiar starting eleven and there was certainly no blame apportioned to him for the second half goal which gave their hosts the narrow win. Despite the scoreline it had been a pretty positive start to the pre-season and Ed was confident that his side would be back to their best for the Emily Lévy Memorial Cup.

The idea of playing a small tournament involving his former club had been Ed’s, and when Jacques Le Coadou had suggested that it might be nice to dedicate the project to the late Mrs Lévy he’d jumped at the idea. The plan was for four teams to play over a couple of days, all proceeds going to a charity chosen by Mark Lévy. Ed had originally considered trying to involve his former English clubs too, but decided that he ought to try and take the emphasis away from himself when Le Coadou had added his suggestion of the Lévy connection. They’d discussed the matter with Ed’s predecessor at Pau and in the end they’d come up with Lens – Emily’s birthplace – and Nice, Mark’s choice for the fourth side on the basis of them having won promotion to Le Championnat as champions of the second division. Thankfully both clubs had accepted the invitation and the Bordeaux stadium had been chosen as the venue to try and keep travelling distances similar for the other three clubs.

[flipsix3]

Nice acquitted themselves well against Ed’s side, taking an early lead before Marouane Chamakh levelled matters. They certainly had the look of a squad more than capable of making a go of it when they returned to the top-flight for the first time since crashing out at the end of the 2005/06 season, but when ninety minutes couldn’t separate the sides it was Nice who fell apart in the ensuing penalty shoot-out.

To Ed’s delight Pau totally outclassed a strong Lens side with Ibrahima Bakayoko scoring twice to book a place in the final against his former manager, whilst he could never have predicted the outcome he had secretly hoped that it would work out as it did. With the final taking place the day after the first games it meant a chance for some of the Bordeaux youngsters to stretch their legs, Kornexl making his debut alongside a couple of other faces from the reserves.

It was remarkable, the Pau side that took the pitch was almost identical to the one Ed had been fielding in the weeks before he’d taken the Bordeaux job, there were only a couple of faces that he didn’t recognise. Cami was there running the midfield, Bakayoko partnered Séga N’Diaye up front, and Ibrahima Ba was alongside Di Bartolomeo at the back. With Bindi, Asare, and Julien Labat also in the squad it was almost like a reunion for Ed and he found himself amazed that Pau had fallen out of the second division as they gave a very impressive performance, holding on until late in the second half before eventually conceding the winner to Baros.

Although the Nice and Lens squads had left, many of the Pau players stayed along with the coaching staff and Mark Lévy. Ed had arranged an evening reception and dinner in one of the hospitality suites, the conversation was all about the coming season with little huddles breaking off to discuss the chances of their favoured teams both at home and abroad. Lévy had seemed a little subdued earlier in the day, especially when the two finalists had observed a minute’s silence, but with his mind now directed away from his late wife he seemed to perk up and enjoy the occasion.

“Thank you so much,” he shook Ed’s hand and then held his grip when it was time to leave, “this has been a very special couple of days and I’m touched by what you and Jacques have done, and I must wish you good luck with Bordeaux for the coming season”

Ed gave his former manager a firm hug and walked out with him to the car park, watching as he and the Pau contingent climbed onto their coach and drove off into the night. For a moment there was a pang of longing, a part of him craved the chance to be managing at a small-time club once more, but on the other hand there was the imminent excitement of the new season, and Champions League football.

[flipsix3]

7 March 2006

Oops, sorry. Didn't mean to BUMP you.

Lol, no worries, I can take a hint

[flipsix3]

In the fortnight leading up to the start of the competitive season things were fairly quiet, but far from boring. Marseille came in with a bid for Marouane Chamakh which was immediately rejected, but Ed had the feeling that more approaches might follow unless he could sign the Moroccan on to an improved deal. Meanwhile his own transfer dealings were minimal, alerted by a piece in the press he’d approached Newcastle United with an enquiry regarding Arjen Robben – the Dutchman was wavering over a new contract and, whilst Ed was pretty sure that he would be unable to tempt United to part with him, it was always worth a try.

He’d also sent his English based scout to take a look at the current Spurs squad, following relegation to The Championship he suspected that there might be a bargain or two to try and pick up. He asked his man to take a closer look at Calum Davenport, a defender that he remembered hearing good things about a couple of seasons before, but he had no hesitation in making an immediate bid for Stewart Downing – hoping that the windfall of a decent fee, along with the significant reduction of the wage bill, might tempt the White Hart Lane hierarchy. It wasn’t that Ed felt the need to particularly strengthen his attack, but Downing was obviously an immense talent and the opportunity to pick up such a player – still in his early twenties – was one not to be passed up.

Finally he’d also been urged, very strongly, to consider making a move for Mbulelo Mabizela. The South African had the look of an immensely reliable defender, a real rock, and that was one area where Ed did still feel that his side could be improved significantly. With a current wage in excess of forty-thousand he would surely be a massive drain on Spurs’ new income levels and Ed felt sure that they could be tempted into a deal there.

Before he could finalise any negotiations he first led his team out in the annual Champion’s Trophy final, taking on French Cup winners St Etienne. Whilst his side deserved the win it was a long way from being a one-sided affair and Jan Lastuvka was named Man of the Match for making half a dozen important saves. At the other end the damage had been done by Baros, although the first was recorded – rather harshly in Ed’s opinion – as an own goal, and whilst Deivid looked threatening Ed was disappointed not to see more from Chamakh as he came off the bench.

The Moroccan had signed a new deal, but the knock-on effect was that Deivid now wanted to renegotiate too – and his agent wasn’t talking small potatoes either. Two offers had already been rejected, figures that would have matched him to Baros’ deal, and Ed began to wonder what sort of reaction he would get from the board if he considered trying to sell the Brazilian before his contract ran out completely.

Bordeaux had the luxury of opening their season on the first Sunday in August, that meant seeing the results from the opening day before kicking a ball in anger themselves. By the time they did get into action he’d called off discussions with Deivid, he’d refused to get angry about the situation but the money that the Brazilian was demanding was silly, Ed kept him in the starting line-up but made it clear that until his agent was prepared to talk reasonably there would be no further offers from the club.

[flipsix3]

Did I really think that winning the title would mean less nerves this season? he thought as he took his seat and watched his side take their positions for kick-off.

The travelling fans that had made the journey were in full song but Ed had the feeling that this wasn’t going to be the walk in the park that they were hoping for. Opening day and we get last year’s runners up, he cursed their luck with the fixture list, not for the first time since it had been released.

Lyon made it blatantly obvious that they were after payback for last season, they came out with a formation that almost put five attackers in the last third of the field, and a desire to keep pumping the ball up to them, for the neutral it would have been a great game, but for Ed – sitting through the entire match as his team battled for that one opening that would throw things wide open, it was ninety minutes of ever-increasing tension.

Both sides created plenty but the finishing on the day was still a little rusty, and both keepers were in fine form, he was all set to head down the tunnel to prepare his post-match talk when Bordeaux won a throw-in, thirty seconds into stoppage time. With two men coming short, drawing defenders with them, Seitaridis launched his bomb of a throw into the area, and Chamakh cleverly turned to head it home from some eleven yards out. Having snatched victory from what had looked a certain draw the board were delighted with the action on the opening day, but to Ed there had been enough defensive concerns to almost offset the tenacity they’d shown up front – he resolved to do everything in his power to bring in a big name at the back, and quickly.

The Robben and Downing enquiries had come to nothing but that was no great surprise, and it wasn’t as if the Bordeaux squad didn’t already include some excellent talent in those roles, he did make a note to keep an eye on the young Englishman though, if he should become available for a move then he would definitely be worth looking at again. For now Ed decided to concentrate his efforts on trying to prise Mabizela away from White Hart Lane, if he was going to get his man then it really needed to be in time for European registration.

When Baros gave Bordeaux a third minute lead over visiting Lille Ed was sure that their first home game of the season was going to be somewhat less fraught than the trip to Lyon had been – that feeling lasted all of fifteen minutes, as long as it took Deivid to collect two yellow cards and an early dismissal. It was too early in the game to make drastic changes, defending the lead with a reduced defence for seventy minutes wasn’t an option, instead Ed simply pushed Baros into a more central role and left him on his own. Despite being a man down he watched his side perform well, again Lastuvka was kept busy, but there was plenty going on at the other end too. Baros continued to be a threat, seemingly enjoying the solo role, and when he drew a foul out of his marker Machacón stepped up and blasted the penalty home to double Bordeaux’s lead going into half time.

It was a huge slice of good fortune, or bad depending on the person looking at it, that opened the game up – Lille had produced more than a few good breaks but it was only when Bech tried a shot from a tight angle, and Feindouno stuck out a foot, that they could find a way past Lastuvka. With the gap back down to one goal the game took on a whole new complexion, Lilles started to throw more men forward, but that left room at the back and Machacón doubled his tally when Chamakh – on for Baros – crossed and found him arriving at the back post. The visitors had been tipped as title contenders with good reason though, and once more they went after the game and pulled a goal back, but now Ed played his trump card, changing formations and loading the defence to keep them frustrated for the final few minutes.

[flipsix3]

Eventually Ed had resorted to slightly underhand methods to win an audience with Mabizela’s representatives. In an interview he was giving for L’Equipe he discussed the fact that his defence needed a boost and then happened to mention how much he admired the South African. The story, of course, was across the websites of Europe in a matter of hours, and undoubtedly was brought to the attention of the player himself – the next day his latest bid was quickly accepted.

He managed to hold a quick conference call with the defender’s agent on the way to Bordeaux’s third league game of the season, he was somewhat surprised that the initial demands actually included a pay cut and he felt able to make an offer very close to the overall package that the agent was requesting. He left the ball in their court whilst he sat down to watch the Montpellier game – six hours later, having seen his side well beaten by their hosts, he was on his way to the airport.

He flew into Heathrow and booked straight into a hotel on the airport complex. The next morning he held an hour long meeting with Mabizela’s party in the same hotel, and he was back in France by early afternoon. It wasn’t exactly the way he liked to do business but after the Montpellier performance he was keen to get back and share his thoughts with the players, and keen to confirm to the press that he’d got his man.

Mabizela’s arrival meant something of a reshuffle in the first-team squad, Ed decided to make both Karim Azizou and Kojo Afanou available for transfer. Both had been good servants to the club, and continued to play well when called upon, but Afanou had already made noises about the fact that he saw himself as a guaranteed starter – a view Ed didn’t necessarily subscribe to – and Azizou would surely find the competition for a starting place difficult.

Of course with European action adding to the fixture list, there would still be ample opportunities for those displaced to push for action on one stage or another, although when the draw was announced Ed found himself wondering how long their Champions League odyssey might last. Drawn in Group G, Bordeaux were joined by Valencia, Shakhtar Donetsk, and the first English side that he would get to manage against in competitive terms – Manchester United.

Mabizela’s Bordeaux career started with a win, and a yellow card. The latter was no real surprise, the referee spent the match going to his pocket every time anyone came close to making physical contact and ended up taking a total of nine names, and Ed was generally pleased with the South African’s contribution. The win, over a decent Strasbourg side, lifted Les Girondins into second spot – one point behind Monaco – as they prepared for September, and the Champions League.

[flipsix3]

JULY/AUGUST 2009 SUMMARY

Bordeaux 2 (Nico og 49, Baros 84)

St. Etienne 0

Champions Trophy

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

News: Machacón missed pen 54 (wide)

Lyon 0

Bordeaux 1 (Chamakh 90+)

Man of the Match: Feindouno

Bordeaux 3 (Baros 3, Machacón pen 36, 75)

Lille 2 (Feindouno og 60, Vorobey 84)

Man of the Match: Machacón

News: Deivid sent off 18

Montpellier 2 (Ghali 29, Charisteas 77)

Boreaux 0

Man of the Match: Charisteas (Montpellier) [sC]

Bordeaux 3 (Deivid 20, Chamakh 66, Kanté og 85)

Strasbourg 1 (Flamini 53)

Man of the Match: Deivid

League Position: 1st

[flipsix3]

16 March 2006

This story gets worse everytime I come into read it. Continuity and well written sentences are the bane of any good writer

Sorry Mao, I know how those kind of things can ruin a story, I just can't help myself

[flipsix3]

The fixture list had been kind, Ed had a fortnight to get in the right frame of mind for the trip to Valencia, and to do the same for his side. Many of the squad spent the ‘break’ on international duties and left Ed with a bit of a dilemma, Chamakh hit two for Morocco and Baros played superbly for the Czech Republic, but the manager was trying to keep Deivid as happy as possible by playing him regularly still – a training ground injury solved his problem for the Spain trip, Chamakh being ruled out for around a week, but not for the first time Ed wondered if it might not be time to consider testing the water for the Brazilian.

They flew into Spain three days before the game, with the break in action Ed was keen to let them settle down and get any initial excitement out of the way. He spent the first day sightseeing with Catherine, doing the tourism thing wasn’t his preferred way of enjoying a new place but with Catherine’s infectious enthusiasm he had to admit that he did have a good time, and it took his mind off the game for a while. He’d spent a good two or three days pondering the possible outcomes, and the diversion was most welcome.

Mark Halsey had been appointed by UEFA to referee the game and he shook Ed by the hand as he walked into his room to deliver his team sheet.

“Ah Mr Allen” he smiled, “you’re making quite a reputation for yourself in France I hear”

“Really?”

“Oh yes, you’re name comes up quite a bit in footballing circles back home, especially when someone from one of the big clubs gets the chop. Ever considered moving back?”

It wasn’t the sort of question he’d been expecting, of course he’d considered it at times but it wasn’t in his immediate plans. “I’ve not really thought about it,” he lied, “I don’t know, maybe in a few years, if things dry up here”

“Well good luck today anyway, should be a good match, I’ve always liked Mr Ranieri’s sides, and this certainly looks pretty impressive,” his eyes scanned Ed’s squad. “Anyway sorry to keep you, I’ll let you get on”

He’d heard rumours that Ramieri was under fire from the fans but his scouts hadn’t had a lot of time to see Valencia in league action, he’d seen the table though and their hosts hadn’t had the best of starts to the season. In the end he decided on nothing fancy, just to send his side out in their familiar shape but encourage them to be cautious going forward. The initial action was all from the home side, but after fifteen minutes or so Bordeaux started to find a foothold in the game and when Deivid’s shot was parried by Ochoa, Baros was on hand to pass the rebound into the net.

The reaction from the crowd was immediate, and Ed felt for the former Chelsea boss, the home side had conceded a single goal – caught on the break – but showed all the signs of having the game to come back, yet the booing and jeering was already building. At half time, with the score unchanged, Ed was dismayed to watch the Valencia players heckled as they left the pitch, and he made a point of waiting on the sidelines to applaud both teams. Whilst he didn’t like to see their opponents taking abuse he certainly had no intention of extending his sympathy onto the pitch, it had been clear that the Spaniards were capable of retaining possession and creating chances, Ed decided to encourage a more defensive approach to the second half. Deivid continued to make a pest of himself up front, but most of the half was spent on the defensive and, as he’d done countless times before, he offered up a prayer of thanks to the scout that had brought him the name of Jan Lastuvka.

At full time the abuse from the home crowd was stronger and Ed saw a look of hurt in Ranieri’s eyes. He walked briskly across to shake the Italian’s hand.

“I am sorry about this,” Ranieri said, making a sweeping gesture taking in the packed stands, “but I am not their favourite people at the minute”

“You have nothing to apologise for Mr Ranieri, nothing at all, and I wish you the best of fortunes in La Liga, and the rest of your games. Except when we meet again,” he winked.

He made his way down the tunnel to the visitors changing room and waited whilst his players showered and changed. He couldn’t exactly claim that it had been a convincing victory, but he’d learned a long time ago that winning ugly, especially away from home, was a talent not to be dismissed. He ran through a few points with the players and then shepherded them onto the coach for the drive back to the hotel.

[flipsix3]

Ed dropped into the armchair and opened his paper to the football section, the table made for good reading, since their trip to Spain his side had run up a pair of one-goal wins to take the top spot by a single point. Didier Deschamps had publicly questioned his chances of guiding Bordeaux to a second title but his Nantes side had suffered the same fate as Nice and now Damiel Leclerq – the Rennes boss – was tipping him to do exactly what Deschamps had said he wouldn’t. He knew that there were players who responded well to this sort of paper talk, but Ed wasn’t a great fan of it and preferred to stay quiet - at least until after the game.

“Evening, how’re things at the club?” Catherine walked came down stairs, her hair wrapped in a towel.

“It’s fine, everything’s fine”

“Except……?”

“Except what?”

Catherine looked at him with her head tilted to one side, and a look of impatience. “Oh come on, you think I can’t tell when you’re holding something back?”

“I’m sorry, I guess you’re right. It’s just Deivid, I tried talking to him about a new contract again but his agent is just taking the píss now. I’ve offered to make him the top earner but he’s talking Real Madrid figures now and I’m not going there”

“So sell him”

"Don’t think I haven’t considered it,” he laughed. It was refreshing to sometimes talk to Cat about these things, she didn’t look at all of the background noise, the potential problems that making such a move could produce.

[flipsix3]

Looking forward to the Champions League game, Ed played a mixture of first team regulars and reserves for the trip to Rennes. He surprised himself with the move, a few years ago he would have been up in arms at any manager weakening their side for a league game but now he recognised the undeniable goldmine that the Champions League afforded. The team performed reasonably well, but it turned into another game where the defence was the most active element of the squad, and where Jan Lastuvka took Man of the Match in maintaining a clean sheet – earning Bordeaux a point in the process.

The reason why he’d convinced himself of the need to be at their best for the visit of Shakhtar Donetsk was twofold, firstly he was concerned that the new defensive line was taking time to gel and, as such, he wanted as many options open as possible, the second was that Shakhtar had earned the honour of being the team to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League in the qualifying stages. Two one-nil scorelines had seen Los Galacticos consigned to the UEFA Cup and the Ukrainians were being touted as a good outside bet to progress from the group stages.

It was as near to a capacity crowd as made no odds, and by the end of the match they all saw just why Shakhtar were viewed as a real threat. Whilst they didn’t threaten Ed’s defence unduly, he spent a frustrating ninety minutes watching his forwards crash on their back four with minimal impact. Baros and Mavuba both hit the woodwork, and Deivid had a shot cleared off the line, but it was impossible to escape the fact that the visitors had a very well organised defence that clearly didn’t feel threatened by high quality forwards. Ed had the feeling that if they were going to progress, they were going to be very grateful of the win in Spain.

-----

It had been a while since he’d sat and watched the reserves in action, he’d developed a good enough working relationship with Mark Proctor that he just relied on his assistant’s reports, but he did like to see a game every now and then. Fifty minutes in to the game against the Thouars second string he stood watching Didier Sylvestre – his arms aloft in a combination of shock and celebration – the seventeen-year-old keeper had punted a ball downfield and his opposite number, for reasons known only to himself, had come out of his area to try and get the ball into midfield quickly. Unfortunately for the hapless stopper he’d totally whiffed at his clearance and had failed to recover in time as the ball rolled into his area and over the line.

For Sylvestre it was a moment to savour, accidental or not, for the Thouars coach it was one of those times when you just wish that corporal punishment was legal, and for Ed it was just hilarious. He felt bad for the lad, and he knew that he shouldn’t be laughing, but he just couldn’t help it and he had to excuse himself and take a walk down the tunnel.

[flipsix3]

He’d been dozing for a while when he rolled over, the clock was showing 9.03 and he decided that it was about time to get up, he laid and watched as 9.04 and then 9.05 came up and then pushed himself into a sitting position. He was just swinging his legs out of bed when the door opened.

“Ah-ah,” Catherine gave him a scornful look and waved a finger at him, "where do you think you’re going?”

“Into the office of course, I have work to do and…”

“…and nothing, I’ve already spoken to the club, Mark is taking care of business today. You are doing nothing, now get back into bed and eat this” she placed the tray across his lap as he sat back against the pillow “and hapy birthday while I think about it” she added with a smile.

What the hell? He thought to himself, what’s it going to hurt for one day?

They spent the morning lazing around, talking about one thing and another. Once again Catherine complained that she ought to find something to do with her time, and again he suggested a job in a little shop somewhere, or maybe voluntary work. He could understand her frustration he supposed, if she was the one who was bringing in more than enough money to support them both, he certainly wouldn’t want to sit around reading books and wander around the shops all day.

In the afternoon she made him get his golf clubs out of the spare room and take her to the driving range, she said that she wanted to learn how to play but he suspected that it was more a case of her having realised how much he’d missed playing over the last few years and deciding to do something about it… something that he’d never found the time for himself. She surprised him, she had a reasonably natural swing for a beginner, long and slow, and after fifteen minutes of slightly frustrating advice she was hitting the ball well. He’d tried to keep a lid on the frustration, he’d learned at a young age that trying to teach a friend to play golf is right up there with trying to teach them to drive – the potential for arguments being immense – but she’d listened to his criticism without taking it to heart, and seemed to genuinely enjoy herself.

By the time they got home, having stopped off for an early dinner, it was getting close to sunset and they sat on the balcony watching the red spread across the horizon. He had to admit that she had a knack of finding ways to relax him, usually he’d have been on edge the day before a game, but he’d barely thought about tomorrow’s match – in fact he hadn’t even looked at today’s scores either, although it was a bit early in the season to be too concerned with the competition just yet.

[flipsix3]

After his day off he felt pretty good about life as he sat down for the game against visiting Marseille, although he was aware that south coast side had bounced back from a poor start to the season and were climbing the table rapidly. Jean Tigana had built a strong squad, the likes of Willy Sagnol and Morten Gamst Pedersen had settled in well alongside those players who had already been at the club when Tigana came aboard. The main threat was from Didier Drogba, the striker who – after a single season at Chelsea – had re-signed for his former club at a fifth of the price paid for him.

From the off it was clear that Tigana had asked his side to continue their push for the top spots, playing a man in the hole meant that Ed had to ask Mavuba to back-track and cover the threat and the first half was largely spent frustrating the Marseille midfield and looking for ways to break. Early in the second period they found one, Fernandes launching a forty yard ball over the top and Baros holding off his man to chip Jérémy Gavanon. Fifteen minutes later it was Baros with a second, this time hitting a vicious curler from the corner of the area, at first it looked to be going a long way wide but then the swerve on the ball took effect and it ricocheted back across the goal off the far post – Gavanon, caught guarding his near post, tried to scoop it out at full stretch and for a moment Ed thought that the referee wasn’t going to give it. It took several seconds of consultation with his linesman before Monsieur Moulin* signalled for a restart from the centre spot.

-----

The month ended on the road at newly promoted Istres, his scout had warned him that the manager there favoured a four-two-four setup, but when Ed checked the stats on the four strikers he decided that they were no great threat – between them they’d managed five goals all season, and all of them had gone to Eli Kroupi. Ed simply stuck Antonsson on Croupi and told his midfield to keep the tempo high, Camel Meriem took full advantage of the space he was afforded to fire home a brace of twenty-plus yard thunderbolts before Deivid came off the bench to make it three-nil in stoppage time.

Ed could have some sympathy towards the Istres fans, they were having a similarly torrid time to that he’d endured when he’d brought Pau into the top-flight and he hoped that they got to see some better performances soon.

-----

*Writers Note: Mr. Windmill! Are they taking the mickey?

[flipsix3]

SEPTEMBER 2009 SUMMARY

Valencia 0

Bordeaux 1 (Baros 24)

Champions League Group G

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

Bordeaux 1 (Baros 34)

Nice 0

Man of the Match: N’Zogbia

Nantes 0

Bordeaux 1 (Deivid 17)

Man of the Match: Landreau (Nantes) [GK]

Rennes 0

Bordeaux 0

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

Bordeaux 0

Shakhtar Donetsk 0

Champions League Group G

Man of the Match: Kusliy (Shakhtar) [GK]

Bordeaux 2 (Baros 53, 67)

Marseille 0

Man of the Match: Feindouno

Istres 0

Bordeaux 3 (Meriem 27, 70, Deivid 90+)

Man of the Match: Meriem

| Pos   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Bordeaux    |       | 9     | 7     | 1     | 1     | 14    | 5     | +9    | 22    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Paris       |       | 9     | 6     | 2     | 1     | 14    | 8     | +6    | 20    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Ajaccio     |       | 9     | 5     | 3     | 1     | 13    | 8     | +5    | 18    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   | Monaco      |       | 9     | 4     | 5     | 0     | 16    | 8     | +8    | 17    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   | Rennes      |       | 9     | 4     | 5     | 0     | 7     | 2     | +5    | 17    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   | Nantes      |       | 9     | 4     | 3     | 2     | 13    | 8     | +5    | 15    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   | Strasbourg  |       | 9     | 4     | 2     | 3     | 9     | 9     | 0     | 14    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   | Montpellier |       | 9     | 4     | 1     | 4     | 8     | 11    | -3    | 13    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   | Lyon        |       | 9     | 3     | 3     | 3     | 13    | 6     | +7    | 12    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  | Nice        |       | 9     | 3     | 3     | 3     | 10    | 7     | +3    | 12    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  | Sochaux     |       | 9     | 2     | 5     | 2     | 7     | 7     | 0     | 11    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  | Lens        |       | 9     | 2     | 5     | 2     | 9     | 10    | -1    | 11    | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  | Auxerre     |       | 9     | 2     | 3     | 4     | 8     | 10    | -2    | 9     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  | Toulouse    |       | 9     | 3     | 0     | 6     | 9     | 14    | -5    | 9     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  | Marseille   |       | 9     | 1     | 5     | 3     | 10    | 10    | 0     | 8     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  | Sedan       |       | 9     | 1     | 5     | 3     | 9     | 11    | -2    | 8     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  | Lille       |       | 9     | 1     | 4     | 4     | 8     | 11    | -3    | 7     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  | Laval       |       | 9     | 1     | 4     | 4     | 8     | 15    | -7    | 7     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  | St. Etienne |       | 9     | 2     | 1     | 6     | 3     | 13    | -10   | 7     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  | Istres      |       | 9     | 0     | 2     | 7     | 7     | 22    | -15   | 2     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[flipsix3]

In training Charles N’Zogbia had pulled up short and looked to be in some distress, Ed had accompanied him to the medical room where they staff had given him the once over and sidelined him for a month. It could have been a lot worse, the fixture schedule had come up with a two week break before the visit of the Red Devils so the winger would be well on the way to recovery before too much league action was missed.

During the fortnight he found himself at the golf club three more times. Maybe Cat had been trying to get him back into playing but there was little doubt in his mind that she’d been bitten by the bug. Two more sessions on the driving range were followed by a stroll around the back nine of what was a pretty impressive municipal course, and whilst she’d found shooting for a target somewhat more frustrating than banging balls down the range, there was no question that she had potential. She promptly announced that she intended to take up lessons as a way to fill her largely empty days.

For his part the half-round had been good enough to keep him interested, yet annoying enough to have him tearing his hair out at times. Back-to-back birdies were sandwiched between a nine and a seven as he shot his way to a mediocre forty-seven, Catherine – playing for the first time – had carded fifty-eight, but he could easily see six or seven shots that would come off that simply by getting a feel for the basics of putting. Of course she had yet to experience that real agony yet, the shot that any pro would be proud of, followed by the shank into the bushes on the next hole, but that would come with time – he explained his theory, in the car on the way home, that golf was called golf only because all of the other four-letter words had already been taken.

[flipsix3]

As a rule Ed tried to live by the motto of ‘live and let live’ – maintaining a great deal of respect for most people who have achieved great things in life, and particularly in the footballing world, after all he had first-hand experience of what it took – but there were always exceptions, like Jacques Santini. To be fair, he thought to himself as he considered the game ahead, the Santini thing is just because of what he did to Spurs, and maybe partly because of his digs at me in the press, this is different. Much as he respected most high-level coaches, he had no time at all for Alex Ferguson, rarely had he come across anyone so arrogant, and so willing to fly in the face of hard evidence on a regular basis. Reading his biography had been a revelation, to know that he instilled in his Manchester United players the same strictures that he learned as a young player, words to the effect that…

”If you have the ball, and your nearest opponent is fifteen yards away, and you miss-control it and it goes into touch – then you appeal for the throw, not half-heartedly, but with total conviction, and the unwavering knowledge that you are right”

Ferguson had long since disappeared from the game and that it was Michael van Praag who brought United to Bordeaux, but many of the names were still there and Ed couldn’t help but feel that same animosity towards them, he wondered if they realised the damage that the Scot had done to their reputations in the eyes of many people. Whilst the likes of Kompany, Rothen, and van der Vaart were a breath of fresh air Ed felt unable to wipe the slate clean for players like Ferdinand, Rooney, and van Nistelrooy, all of whom had sullied their good names for the sake of Ferguson’s quest to ‘win at all costs’. Of course it was nothing more than personal opinion but he doubted very much that he was on his own.

There was no question that this would be a tough game, United had won the Champions League in 2008 – the same year that they lifted the second of three recent Carling Cups. Add the FA Cup won in 2004 and successfully defended for the next two seasons, and three consecutive Community Shield victories and the silverware was far from scarce, in fact the only real disappointment at Old Trafford was probably the fact that only one Premiership title had been lifted since Fergie’s departure.

Ed was uneasy about the match, though his side had reached the point where he was comfortable facing any team in France, he still considered the Premiership – along with a couple of others – to be at a higher level and United were right up there every season. Things didn’t get off to the best of starts, early pressure from the visitors saw a couple of Bordeaux’s stars over-awed and when Xabi Alonso beat the defence to head home on thirteen minutes Ed got the idea that it might be unlucky for his side.

At the break it was still a lead for United but the nerves were gradually evaporating as the back line realised that they weren’t facing some sort of superhumans, and that they were just human beings and - mainly - young ones at that. The game started to swing in the second half, notably when Rothen and van der Vaart switched wings leaving Zonneveld marking his countryman, he stuck to the United captain like glue and the pairing of Rooney and van Nistelrooy saw their main supply line start to dry up. A cutely flicked header from Deivid diverted Fernandes’ corner into the net just after the hour and van Praag decided to replace the ineffectual van Nistelrooy in the hope that Akin Serhat could shake things up. With their wingers closed down United started to play through the middle more and their frustration was evident as time and again Rooney blasted swerving shots from long range, easy meat for Lastuvka.

It finished all square, a very good result in Ed’s opinion – especially based on possession and chances. With three games played his side sat in a useful second place, the return to Old Trafford would most likely be fruitless, but a win at home to Valencia would almost certainly be enough to put them through.

[flipsix3]

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Man Utd  |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 1     | +4    | 7     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Bordeaux |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 2     | 1     | +1    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Valencia |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 2     | 3     | -1    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Shakhtar |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 4     | -4    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[flipsix3]

12 April 2006

Great work so far...KUGW

cheers Damien

[flipsix3]

When Ed picked the phone up on the Wednesday morning it was Jacques Le Coadou, ringing to congratulate him on the performance against United which had been broadcast across the country.

“Yes, thank you, a win would have been nice of course but I think we got a good result”

……

“Oh I doubt it, but we’ll still have two games after that to try and do something”

……

“Yes, but we don’t seem to be finding it as easy as we did last season, maybe we just need to shake the tactics up a bit. Anyway, congratulations to your boys too, I see you’re flying in the league. What is it now? Three points off the top spot?”

……

“Well you tell them all well done from me, they deserve it, it can’t have been easy after successive relegations. I think you’ll be back in the second next season, hopefully for good this time”

He was genuinely pleased to see his old club doing so well, it had been hard work when they’d made it into Le Championnat but for the two seasons in the middle of the ladder he’d seen enough to convince him that they were capable of staying there. Quite why they’d gone straight through on their way back to the National he’d never really got to the bottom of, maybe it was a loss of belief after their torrid top-flight campaign, but Ed wouldn’t want to put money against them becoming second division regulars over the coming seasons.

The conversation moved away from football for a while before Ed told his old boss that he had to go. There was training to be taken care of and, like he’d said, he wanted to liven things up a bit – nothing drastic, but just a couple of changes in approach to keep their minds sharp.

-----

That weekend he witnessed one of the most frustrating matches of his rein, at two-nil up his side had been cruising in Laval, against a home side struggling to find the net, and it would have been more if Rodolphe Roche hadn’t made an early contender for save of the season from Baros’ cheeky lob. It ought to have been all over but their hosts caught them on the break and managed to grab a goal back before half time. Almost from the restart Zonneveld was penalised for a supposed push and the referee pointed to the spot, Ed was furious, it had been nothing more than a bit of jostling but when Lastuvka threw himself down to his right and saved the spot-kick he decided to let it go.

They should have taken it as a warning but they didn’t, his players had started to second guess him and decided that they could afford to sit deep and protect their lead. Normally Ed would have taken this approach himself, but he recognised a side hungry for points, and when Laval broke again to grab a late equaliser, he was even more mad with his own players than he had been over the penalty decision. Having dominated the first forty minutes, he’d watched as Laval had turned the game completely around.

“I’ll tell you now, we were lucky to get a point out there, in future you listen to what I’m telling you. If I’m wrong I’ll take the blame, I don’t want to find myself telling you this again”, those were his only words as he left the team to get changed and trudged off to the players lounge.

[flipsix3]

Whether it was the talking too, a sense of pride needing to be restored and egos massaged, or simply the difference of playing on home soil, an almost unchanged squad totally decimated Lens in mid-week. Although he’d sat through nearly forty goalless minutes it was already obvious that there was only one team on the pitch. The forced change of wing for Fernandes – thanks to Machacón’s injury and Meriem’s suspension – meant that Zonneveld started pushed up on the left and, as ever, he took the instruction to attack as a personal battle cry. There was no surprise when the deadlock was eventually broken, Feindouno’s ball over the top released Baros who buried it easily, and two minutes later Deivid punished some hesitant defending when he nicked the ball and drove it home from the edge of the area.

Whilst Ed might have been harbouring doubts about the Brazilian’s role, he was on his feet with the rest of the stadium as the big screen flashed up the congratulatory message for his one hundredth competitive goal.

Unlike the Laval match there was no way back for the visitors at all, they produced only a single shot in ninety minutes – and that flew wide of Lastuvka’s left post, and when Daouda Jabi received his second booking in the space of two minutes the spectacle was done and dusted. Now Ed allowed his side to sit back and soak up the frankly non-existent pressure as they played their way into a five point lead at the top of the table.

It was difficult not to get confident so early in the season, another two-nil win – this time against Sochaux, and again sealed by a strike from Deivid, saw their lead stretched to seven points after Paris failed to overcome a struggling Marseille. Deivid had come off the bench this time, with Ed having decided that he wanted to see some of last year’s scoring form from Chamakh – it hadn’t materialised but he was sure that a few more starts would get the Moroccan’s eye for goal focussed once more. He’d also decided to bring Stéphane Labat back into the senior line-up, in the hope that the threat of extra competition might liven his strikers up a little – he couldn’t be unhappy with their points tally, but if he could get his big hitters to start scoring regularly it would do wonders.

[flipsix3]

He lay on his back and looked up at the artexed ceiling, he couldn’t sleep but then he rarely did settle well in hotels, maybe he should have made special arrangements and gone back home to stay with his parents. He was disappointed in the result, not least because he’d arranged tickets for Dad to be at the game, but something told him that tonight had been a wake-up call for his ambitions. It was nothing to do with the sixty-five thousand crowd that had packed into Old Trafford, Bordeaux had played in front of nearly eighty when they won the French Cup, this was about the sheer quality gulf.

Maybe being away from England for so long he’d forgotten just how impressive the game was, or maybe it really had moved on that far in the fourteen or so years that he’d been on the continent, either way he’d spent this evening watching his ‘dominant’ French side picked apart with ease by Manchester United. A goal in the opening five minutes had done little to worry him, and when Zonneveld had tucked away the penalty kick the travelling fans had been given a glimmer of hope, but frankly United were in a different league. A hat-trick for Ruud van Nistelrooy could easily have been matched by van der Vaart, and even Kléberson, whilst only Baros even managed to get a shot away for Bordeaux.

He’d been at a loss for what to do as he watched from the sidelines, everything he tried resulted in nothing, and this was a squad that were challenging for everything going back at home. He’d been under no illusions about the quality of the French game, but he hadn’t realised just how wide the gap was. He would go back home and carry on of course, and they still had a good chance to qualify from their group, but he recognised the stirring deep inside, the knowledge that he wanted to be managing in the Premiership one day.

[flipsix3]

24 April 2006

Flip its great (really great) to see you back-really missed your story when you went AWOL lol. AM thinking of starting up again myself so this may be the inspiration that I need KUTGW pal!

Cheers Mambaman, nice to see you around again. Trying to get the motivation back to dive into FM again but I've got plenty back-written so will be running for a while yet.

[flipsix3]

Ed’s rationale for the Halloween trip to Ajaccio had been simple, he had half a dozen players on the verge of a suspension, each having gathered four yellow cards. All six were in the starting line-up for the trip to Corsica, with two straight-forward looking home games coming up he planned to try and get as many of the suspensions served as possible. He didn’t actually send them out to get booked but the way the officials were working at the moment a number of cautions were more than likely.

Ninety minutes later, and with a break-away goal from Baros bagging the points for Bordeaux, Ed sat in frustration as Fernandes and Feindouno joined the list – the others having all played immaculate games and gone unpunished for any indiscretion.

Disciplinary problems aside there was little to be unhappy about, he pulled up the league table from the Sky Sports website and looked at the healthy seven point cushion that his side held over Monaco. The team from tinsel town were nursing the only unbeaten run in the league but seven draws were a few too many and the two sides were due to meet before the Christmas break. Now that, he thought idly, could be one hell of an important game.

He pulled up the tables for the English leagues, recently he’d found himself looking at them less and less, and he got the fright of his life as he scanned them looking for the names that mattered. He stared at the top half of the Championship for a full minute, convinced that he was going blind, before allowing his eyes to drop – then he saw the name that he’d been looking for – Spurs sat in twentieth place and just a point off the relegation zone. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, surely they ought to have been pushing for immediate promotion back to the top flight but instead a haul of sixteen points from fifteen games had them spiralling out of control. He made a quick note on his blotter, it might be time to consider raiding White Hart Lane again, Mabizela had settled in well since his summer move and was already a key part of the squad, there was no reason why others shouldn’t do the same.

At least he knew that things would be better in his hometown, the Terriers would be putting together a devastating run of form as they looked for their third League Two title in as many even-numbered years. This time, when he didn’t see their name at the top, he immediately ran down the list and was devastated to see the side who’d brought him into the professional game sitting at the foot of the table with only a single win in their campaign.

[flipsix3]

OCTOBER 2009 SUMMARY

Bordeaux 1 (Deivid 62)

Man Utd 1 (Alonso 13)

Champions League Group G

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

Laval 2 (Fauré 43, 82)

Bordeaux 2 (Baros 10, Deivid 34)

Man of the Match: Fauré (Laval) [sC]

News: Frau (Laval) missed pen 50 (saved)

Bordeaux 2 (Baros 39, Deivid 41)

Lens 0

Man of the Match: Zonneveld

News: Jabi (Lens) sent off 73

Bordeaux 2 (Rio Mavuba 39, Deivid 90+)

Sochaux 0

Man of the Match: Zonneveld

Man Utd 4 (van Nistelrooy 2, 26, 51, van der Vaart 70)

Bordeaux 1 (Zonneveld pen 23)

Champions League Group G

Man of the Match: van Nistelrooy (Man Utd) [sC]

Ajaccio 0

Bordeaux 1 (Baros 61)

Man of the Match: Bécas (Ajaccio) [F RC]

League Position: 1st

Champions League Group: 3rd

[flipsix3]

The sound of a phone in the next office brought him back to the real world, his mind had been wandering as he looked at the squad sheet for the fifth time. He’d tried to get suspensions out of the way and now he’d shot himself in the foot metaphorically speaking, but after the cup tie there was a ten day break in domestic competition before the visit of Toulouse, and then it was the Monaco game. Ten days was surely enough, any suspensions earned in tonight’s match would have to be served against the strugglers rather than their nearest competition. The decision was made, once again the starting line-up would be packed with players on the proverbial edge.

Rennes were a side pushing for European qualification, they’d won promotion in the summer of 2007, having been relegated the season before, they’d impressed everyone by grabbing sixth place in their first season back and looked to be aiming for a similar position again. Ed had been talking tactics with Mark Proctor and they’d come up with a way of giving the forward line more freedom of expression, things had been getting into something of a rut with everyone focussed on a run-and-cross mentality – he knew that the likes of Feindouno and Fernandes were capable of much more and he decided to let them loose. Daniel Leclerq put a strong side out, but lethal finishing saw Bordeaux cruise through, two conceded, four scored……

……and not a single yellow card for a player on the verge of suspension. It was incredible, he looked back through the stats for the season, every game he looked at showed three of four bookings – mostly ridiculous decisions mind you – yet now, when he ’wanted’ to see cautions, only Florian Marange picked one up and that added him to the growing list of eleven names nearing a ban.

---------

“Well I’d never rule out the possibility of strengthening the squad of course. There are a lot of players I admire in the game, take Stewart Downing for instance, hell of a winger, any manager would be happy to have him in their squad.”

The power of such a casual comment was not lost on Ed, he’d been discussing the impending transfer window with a reporter from L’Equipe and had decided to drop that one into the conversation. Having discovered Spurs’ plight he’d made further enquiries about the English star only to be knocked back, the next day the back pages of the English tabloid press was full of the story

FORMER SPURS PLAYER PLANS DOWNING SWOOP

He’d smiled as he read that on the net, despite what was being suggested he had absolutely no intention of launching an eight figure bid to bring Downing in during the transfer window, but he had approached his former club about an end-of-season deal. Two hours later Daniel Levy’s representative was on the phone and a tentative agreement was thrashed out, now it was just a case of talking the player round – and the way Spurs were heading he didn’t think that it would be too hard a task.

He didn’t feel that the squad really needed strengthening, certainly not in terms of the French domestic scene, but the game at Old Trafford had got him thinking and he wanted to see just how close he could take Bordeaux to the likes of the Uniteds and Arsenals of the world. He expected to be shaking things up somewhat in the summer, and it would do no harm to let his existing players know that he was looking at fresh blood.

[flipsix3]

With the sudden reluctance of referees to book his players Ed was left with a mounting problem for the visit of Toulouse, after this game there was another sizeable layoff on the league front meaning that any suspensions would undoubtedly kick in for the visit of Monaco. Add to that the fact that N’Zogbia – just returning from his knee injury – and Zonneveld had picked up training ground injuries that would rule them out for around three weeks each, and he was looking at the possibility of a severely depleted squad to face the second placed side. Whilst he couldn’t exclude all of the players with yellow-card tallies, there were couple of unfamiliar faces in the starting line-up, notably a first appearance of the season for Ibrahima and only the second start for Ted Lavie.

Things actually went better than he’d feared, Seitaridis and Ibrahima both picked up suspensions but there were no other bookings for suspension-threatened players and, eventually, his side broke down Toulouse’s resistance to register a decent two goal victory.

All things considered his mood could certainly have been a lot worse as he prepared for the resumption of Champions League action. After an initial knock-back Downing’s people were considering a second proposition, and he would have a fairly strong side available for the Monaco game.

-----

“Look Stephens,” all pretence of politeness had gone out of the window by now, ”you’re just taking the p*ss now, I hope you can keep a clear conscience over all this because I’d be very worried if you were handling any player of mine.”

Ed slammed the phone down and closed his eyes whilst he counted to ten, then he counted to ten again. Agents! Bloody bane of the game!, he thought as he tried to unwind. The Downing bid was dead, although that wouldn’t stop him trying again nearer to the end of the season. The twenty-four year old clearly deserved a chance to play on the biggest stages and Ed wondered if he was actually aware of the negotiations being carried out on his behalf, surely not because if he was then he was some sort of ego-maniac. Ed knew that Downing’s current deal was worth no more than thirty- maybe thirty-five thousand a week, and if Spurs didn’t go up in the summer – and relegation was already looking more than probable – then there was no way that he’d be collecting the full amount.

Ed had sat down with his financial team and come up with a package that would give Downing a twenty percent increase on his current scale, an almost guaranteed place in the starting line-up, and the chance to pit himself against the best in Europe. Chris Stephens, Downing’s agent, had other ideas though and was demanding that his client’s base salary be almost doubled – Ed had tried to talk sense to the leech but it had been like talking to a wall, and a particularly smug wall at that. He made a note in his diary to review the situation in March or April, for now let Downing enjoy the relegation battle that must surely be pushing Spurs close to financial jeopardy.

[flipsix3]

In the Champions League things were getting interesting, a win over Valencia was pretty much a requirement if Bordeaux were going to qualify for the knockout stages. Despite the hype surrounding their elimination of Real Madrid, Shakhtar had done nothing in the group, and Ranieri’s side had beaten them both home and away. If the Spaniards could grab a point, or worse – a win, then they would be odds-on to progress alongside Manchester United.

Ed was in two minds, on the one hand he’d seen his side run out winners in Spain, but on the other the memory of the thrashing at Old Trafford was still fresh. He picked his strongest side, taking into account the absence of Zonneveld and N’Zogbia, and sent them out with a single purpose – harass Valencia relentlessly and make it hard for them to build up attacks.

It wasn’t a resounding success, he frequently found himself watching as Claudio Ranieri made adjustments by mysterious signals, and the Spaniards made it clear that they were looking to cement their qualification from the group. Baros and Deivid had both gone close early in the first half, but when Mista hit the post for Valencia he began to get the feeling that this might not be as straight forward as he’d hoped. With half time approaching he took a gamble, relaying the message for his players to focus more on getting the ball into the box and less on harassing their opposite numbers, it seemed to do the trick and the extra space allowed his midfield to concentrate on finding spaces. When Meriem was brought down Ed was on his feet, it was a fair way out and he didn’t fancy Mavuba’s chances with the shot – fortunately the French international had no intention of shooting, he’d spotted Baros unmarked in the box and Ed watched as the Czech turned and lashed the ball into the far corner.

With a goal against them Ranieri’s men were forced into taking more chances in the second half, and when they came up against the in-form Lastuvka that just meant more opportunities for Bordeaux to catch them on the break. Both strikers again saw chances go begging before Ed made a late change, bringing on Chamakh for Baros, and with two minutes remaining the Moroccan powered home a low drive from the edge of the area, putting the result beyond doubt.

He gave Ranieri a firm and warm handshake, he only wished that it could be the two of them leading their sides into the knockout stages, but unfortunately United were already out of sight at the top. Provided his side could take a point from their upcoming trip to the Ukraine there was no way for Valencia to overhaul them, even if they could beat United.

[flipsix3]

“Monsieur Allen, a great result last night, my apologies that I couldn’t get down to congratulate the players after the game,” Jean-Louis Triaud, the Bordeaux chairman walked briskly to catch up with him in a corridor. “I’m thrilled with how the team are performing at the moment, we all are, and Guy Hillion tells me you have exciting plans”

Hillion was the director of football at the club, it was he that Ed went to when he was looking to sign players, he gave Hillion the names, Hillion went off and did the talking. That was the theory at least, but without fail Ed seemed to end up carrying out the bulk of negotiations himself. He wondered, idly, if Triaud actually realised just how little Hillion did around the place.

“Thank you sir, it’s certainly going well and it’s a real pleasure working with this squad, I think we can expect another season as good as last year, if not better”

“Good, good, Champions of Europe eh?” Triaud laughed and was on his way before Ed could respond.

That’s the thing Ed, you know it too, this place is so impersonal. Back at Pau you would’ve sat down with Jacques and talked about things for an hour or so, to these guys it’s just another business to make them money. Maybe that was right, and he did miss some of Le Coadou’s unbridled enthusiasm for Pau as a football team, but he knew that he was unlikely to find anyone like that running a club at this level, let alone at the really big clubs. He knew that Triaud hadn’t been serious of course, but throw-away comments like that all added to the feeling of being just another cog in the corporate machine behind the on-pitch activities.

[flipsix3]

25/26 May 2006

Mighty Red

Good to see you back, flippers. I sense a jumping of ships soon...

I wonder who it would be to...

Simply Perfect

Back to Pau?!

Mighty Red

I was thinking of Spurs, but... meh, Pau would make a good story too...

axeman

This story has given me so many ideas of where he might be heading, that I'm feeling quite dizzy.

Come on Flip, stop spinning my head around so much

Cheers guys, and apologies that postings are a little sporadic these days, busy life (not on the lovelife front unfortunately) and commitments elsehwere. Still got loads to post although not written much in a while, will try and keep a steady update going......

[flipsix3]

“Will you just come to bed, it’s not important” Catherine stood in the doorway wearing one of his old shirts, it came down nearly to her knees, it was a look that he’d always loved.

“I’ll be there in a minute” he said, rewinding the tape to look at the incident again. Catherine tutted and leaned against the doorframe.

The move had come with Bordeaux a goal up against Monaco and had brought the game to a near standstill for two or three minutes, he watched the slow motion replay from the TV coverage again. Feindouno, wide right, lays the ball into the middle of the park for Mavuba, he pushes it through to Meriem and the playmaker smashes his shot goalwards. The ball beats Yohann Thuram, crashes against the inside of the post, and then cannons across the goal – quite clearly crossing the line - but then Squillaci hooks it away and the referee ignores the Bordeaux appeals, and the jeers of thousands of home fans.

“Not important? Did you see that?” he turned to his wife who was looking at him with a mixture of sympathy and humour.

“Okay, okay, I take your point. Now one question from me… what was the final score Ed?”

“t.. .i.” he mumbled under his breath

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that”

“Two nil, but that’s not the point. Championships can be won and lost on decisions like that, goal difference, away goals, the referees have a responsibility to get these things right”

“Again I take your point, now what’s your lead in the league? Seven points, eight?”

“Ten”

“Ten, okay, now switch that bloody video off and come to bed,” she laughed and disappeared upstairs.

He stood up and switched the TV off, she was right of course, but he couldn’t help feeling aggrieved all the same. It should have been a three-nil win, not that they’d dominated the game but that was how many times they’d had the ball in the net. The fans were happy enough of course, as were the players, the board, and pretty much everyone else – maybe he was just too much of an idealist.

[flipsix3]

30 May 2006

I've just read through the first season. Quality stuff . I haven't been on here in ages and now I wonder why.

The only down side is that reading this is taking priority over over me playing the game.

5 pages down of 20 therefore roughly 3 seasons to go. Can't wait

Cheers Jimbo, and whaddya know - I've left it a few more days between updates - apologies once more folks

[flipsix3]

“It’s ‘new manager’ syndrome Proc, trust me – we’re going to have a tough time down there tomorrow”

“You really think so?” his assistant asked as they looked over the St Etienne scouting report, “I mean they’re only three points off the bottom of the table and Tigana doesn’t have the best record does he? He got sacked for taking Marseille into the drop-zone and they’re two places lower than Etienne”

“Yeah but how often do you see it? All you’ve got to look at is what happened when I came here…”

“There’s a difference there though boss…” Proctor winked, obviously waiting for him to bite

“Go on…”

“Well I’d have thought that was obvious, you’re a certified footballing genius” Proctor broke into a wide grin and Ed couldn’t help but join him

“Thanks Proc, nothing like setting me up for a fall,” he joked, “How are we looking on the squad anyway?”

They pulled up the squad roster and looked at the information for the trip, Zonneveld was still out injured and N’Zogbia wasn’t back to match fitness after his recovery, other than that it was just the list of players on the verge of suspension; Mabizela, Marange, Lavie, Rio Mavuba, Meriem, Chamakh, Labat and Baros. Fernandes and Feindouno had both picked up cautions against Monaco, and would already miss the first league game in December.

-----

New manager or not, the threat from St Etienne had come to nothing, they had started brightly enough – obviously out to impress Tigana – and a whipped cross from Rubins had allowed Compan to give them the lead in front of thirty thousand or so home fans, but they still lacked confidence at the back and Chamakh soon headed Bordeaux level.

The second half was less evenly balanced, Ed had watched his team grow in stature as their struggling hosts found themselves mounting an ever more desperate defence, a trip on Chamakh – who had begun to show signs of the previous season’s form – produced a penalty that Feindouno tucked away before Camel Meriem put the game out of reach late on.

Defeat sent St Etienne into the relegation zone, ironically elevating Marseille to safety in the process, for Bordeaux the points cemented their place at the top of the pile. With just two league games before the winter break the gap was a healthy ten points and the bookmakers were starting to shorten the odds on a successful defence quite considerably.

[flipsix3]

NOVEMBER 2009 SUMMARY

Bordeaux 4 (Feindouno 25, Baros 43, Chamakh 46, Deivid 78)

Rennes 2 (Dagano 32, 53)

League Cup

Man of the Match: Feindouno

Bordeaux 2 (Mavuba 74, Baros 90+)

Toulouse 0

Man of the Match: Zick (Toulouse) [GK]

Bordeaux 2 (Baros 39, Chamakh 88)

Valencia 0

Champions League, Group G

Man of the Match: Fernandes

Bordeaux 2 (Mavuba 15, Deivid 84)

Monaco 0

Man of the Match: Pierre Martin [GK]

St Etienne 1 (Compan 26)

Bordeaux 3 (Chamakh 38, Feindouno pen 58, Meriem 77)

Man of the Match: Meriem

[flipsix3]

”There it is then lads,” Ed said, looking out over the frozen playing surface of the RSC Olympiyskyi stadium in Donetsk, “I won’t pretend that it’s going to be a pleasant experience for anyone, the forecast is two below zero so get your thermals out, and remember that we need something out of this game to give ourselves a cushion. A win and we’re through, a draw and we’re relying on United in Spain”

Originally he’d thought that a draw against Shakhtar would be enough to guarantee their progress, but having looked at the UEFA rules more closely he’d realised that they could possibly go out even then. The squad was strong, he had no major concerns except the forced absence of Zonneveld who was finally recovering from a head injury, and there would be little doubt about their will to win – the only question would be over their ability to produce in such hostile conditions, against a team who played their football in them week in and week out.

”I’ll tell you something Proc,” he said to his assistant as the players went to get their pre-match rub downs, “I played in some pretty bleak games back at Huddersfield but never anything close to this, I mean Pau was in the shadow of the mountains but even that didn’t get this cold, I don’t envy them”

“Well at least they’ll be running around out there,” Proctor laughed, ”We’re the ones who are just going to sit and freeze our butts off for the best part of two hours”

LES GIRONDINS COME IN FROM THE COLD

On the back of their stunning league form, which sees them top the table with only one defeat – and, even more incredibly, only eight goals conceded in seventeen games – Bordeaux booked their place in the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League last night with a goalless draw in the sub-zero temperatures of the Ukraine.

It wasn’t an easy night for Edgar Allen’s men, whilst they dominated the game they found it hard to convert their chances as bodies rebelled against playing in conditions that touched five below on the thermometer. Deivid, who grew up playing in the glitz and sunshine of the Brazilian leagues, worked himself into space a number of times but was clearly uncomfortable in the conditions, the same can be said of Marouane Chamakh, and even Baros when he came on late in the game.

Bordeaux’s best chance fell to Guinean winger, Pascal Feindouo, who cut into the box shortly after half time and fired a low shot that skidded on the frozen surface of the pitch, Artem Kusliy got down well and turned the ball around the post but it was a clear sign of intent from the French side. At the other end there was virtually no action to talk of, despite Shakhtar Donetsk being the side that sent Real Madrid out of the competition in the qualifying stages they had little to threaten the visitors. Ciprian Marica produced the only save of the night from Jan Lastuvka, an easy block from a poorly headed cross.

Whilst they were playing out their game, still looking for a win, the Bordeaux players would have been acutely aware of their dependence on the result in Spain, but they needn’t have worried on that front. A Mikael Forsell inspired Manchester United had Valencia on the back foot inside fifteen minutes and, though Nilmar pulled one back, a hat-trick for the former Chelsea striker rounded off a four-one win for the English Premiership side.

The Bordeaux players will arrive back in France today, and will no doubt appreciate the more temperate conditions as they prepare to play host to Auxerre in Le Championnat – a game that could have the champions looking very comfortable indeed over Christmas.

[flipsix3]

OK that's half of the archived story restored - only took me about 5 hours

I'll get the rest done asap, and then get on with posting new updates.

As I said at the start, would prefer that no new comments were dropped in until I've brought it up to date - just to maintain the continuity - but I'll leave it up to you guys.

flipsix3 July 2008

[flipsix3]

For the visit of Auxerre Ed was without; Fernandes, Feindouno, and Baros through suspension. In addition injuries to Seitaridis and Antonsson meant a central defensive pairing of Planus and Neervoort whilst N’Zogbia returned on the wing and Ted Lavie started, allowing Rio Mavuba rest. With only three games left before Christmas, two in the league, and two being away from home, he was looking for a strong performance against a struggling side to maintain their momentum and he got exactly that.

Ted Lavie was the surprise package of the day, he twice threatened Davy Schollen’s goal before smashing in the eventual winner from nearly thirty yards out. At twenty-three Ed had found it difficult to fit Lavie in often, being in direct competition for a starting place with the magnificent Antonio Rio Mavuba, but the younger man always seemed happy to play a supporting role and come out of the shadows when given the opportunity – that said, he couldn’t help thinking that in a couple of years there might come a time when he would have to make a tough decision. Mavuba was only two years older than Lavie and when the youngster started to crave first team action it was going to be a difficult call to make. Not to worry for now Ed, the familiar voice spoke in his head, don’t create problems, just deal with them if they arise.

With Chamakh looking threatening again, and N’Zogbia making the most of his chance after nearly seven weeks out, Ed was somewhat surprised when Jan Lastuvka was named as ‘Man of the Match’ for a fairly ordinary – by his standards – performance in keeping yet another clean sheet, but he wasn’t in any kind of mood to argue against the decision, he was just enjoying their continued dominance in the league table.

Three days later his mood was lifted further as the first-team squad assembled after training to hear the Champions League draw. There were a good number of names in the hat that he’d hoped to avoid; Juventus, Barcelona and Chelsea to name three – he was more than happy to face any of those sides at some point, but the later the better in his opinion, and when Glasgow Rangers came out of the hat he was pleased to say the least. Winners of two titles in the last five years, the other three going to their fierce rivals, Rangers were now ‘struggling’ in fourth place in Scotland and – although they’d surprised everyone by winning their Champions League group – Ed didn’t see them as a team to fear for their meeting in February.

[flipsix3]

............

[flipsix3]

Whilst, true to Ed’s concerns, Sedan offered a very real test the presence of a truly magnificent Jan Lastuvka saw their potent counter-attacking style come to nothing. The Czech international made save after save to negate the threat of Aliadière and company, whilst Mbulelo Mabizela gave Bordeaux the lead with his first goal – from the spot – before Baros secured the points.

The result was perhaps unfair on the hosts, Ed had to admit that they had created by far the better chances, but it was finishing that counted and in Baros – thirteen goals in 27 appearances – they had one of the most effective strikers in the league.

Three points away from home, it was a great way to finish off the year and see in the Christmas break, but Ed still had work to do – the sort he liked least – he’d scheduled three days of contract renewal talks, along with negotiations to try and secure some new faces in the summer.

For the most part he was quite pleased, there were those who were looking for unaltered deals, those who wanted moderate increases, and then there was Deivid… and his agent. An initial meeting had already let Ed know that this was going to be a tough one, and so he’d postponed talks until he could clear all of his other dealings and focus on the Brazilian.

After the fun and games with Stewart Downing’s agent he was already getting a dull ache at the back of his head. Admittedly Deivid was earning a good deal less than some of his team-mates at present, but the opening gambit from his agent would put him at least sixty percent clear of anyone else on the playing staff!

[flipsix3]

Ed was growing more and more annoyed, but he urged himself to remain professional and not let his player see it. He didn’t care about Deivid’s agent, just as bad as the rest of them in his opinion – if not worse, but when all was said and done he wanted to retain the Brazilian’s respect whatever the outcome.

For two hours now they’d sat and discussed the situation, and this agent, this… money obsessed leech, had budged not one inch. Given his way Deivid would be earning £60,000 per week, and whilst the funds were available Ed was simply not prepared to meet such demands, knowing that it would set in motion a chain of new contract negotiations that would soon break the ceiling that he’d so far managed to maintain on his wage budget.

Ed reached across the table and filled his glass from the pitcher of water on the tray. He closed his eyes and took a swallow, followed by a couple of slow and deliberate breaths.

“Mr Menezes, I’m sorry but we’re going around in circles here. Let me ask you to think about what I’ve already said, I’ve made various offers and I’m not closing the door on more negotiation, but you need to understand that you have got to give a little. So, with that in mind, what do you want for your client?”

“Sixty thousand per week, I have said this over and over, and for no less will you get the signature of Deivid de Souza beyond this summer”

Ed pinched the top of his nose, closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. Two and a half days to sort out new deals, or at least offers, for eight players, but this mess was dragging on and on. Again he composed himself, and decided to try a different approach, he looked at his striker in silence, watching him shift uneasily in his seat, and finally spoke

“Deivid, are you sure you know what you’re doing? You must realise that I am not going to meet these ridiculous demands”

For a moment the Brazilian looked back and forth between Ed and his agent, and then he took a sharp breath and made as if to speak. Before he could utter a word, his agent’s hand was on his wrist.

“Mr Allen, with all due respect, you speak through me, my client has instructed me to transact his business and so it shall be”

That was it, he’d tried – God only knew how he’d tried – but there was simply no talking to this man and the frustration had tipped passed the critical point. Ed shot to his feet, his chair crashing over backwards into the wall.

“Listen!!” he bellowed “I’ve no idea where you get the balls to talk about respect to me, you sit there sucking fat chunks of cash out of the game and risk your client’s career – make no mistake that is exactly what you are doing. Well I suggest that the two of you discuss things over Christmas…” he turned to Deivid “...or maybe you should reconsider who does your business for you! Either way my last offer stands, sign it or don’t, but we will not be talking again at this length in the New Year, not unless someone decides to negotiate at a realistic level”

He didn’t stop long enough to allow a reaction, he stormed out of the meeting room slamming the door so hard that the glass-panelled walls shook in their frames. As he passed through the foyer one of the receptionists tried to get his attention.

“Monsieur, monsieur Allen, your wi…”

“Not now!! Tell Triaud I’ll be back in tomorrow”

It was almost dark as he strode across the car park, the damp air just beginning to show signs of drizzle. He unlocked his car, jammed an old Corrosion of Conformity CD into the stereo, and reversed out of his parking space. There was a knock on the passenger side window that made him jump, looking across he saw Catherine’s smiling face. He waited whilst she climbed into the seat next to him and shut the door behind her.

“Hello darling, how was your day?” She sounded out of breath as if she had been running to catch up.

“I’m sorry, really, but nows not the time”

He felt terrible cutting her off, but he was afraid that he would transfer his lost temper to her if he didn’t clear his head first. He rammed the gear stick into first and, for a second, the tyres spat gravel as the car lurched forward and into the growing darkness.

-----

“So are you going to talk to me about it?”

She’d waited for ten minutes, listening with no interest to the grinding riffs blasting from the car’s speakers.

“No, not right now, I told you -”

“I know what you told me…” she cut him off “…but this isn’t doing you any good, you need to relax and -”

“Catherine, I said no!” he immediately felt bad for yelling at her, it was exactly what he’d been worried about, but she seemed to take no notice anyway.

“So what’s the big deal? Has someone -”

“Sweetheart please, just leave me -”

“Ed!”

“I said not now!”

“Ed!!”

[flipsix3]

Damn cliffhangers!!!!

Sorry SP

[flipsix3]

…not sure really. He ought to be coming…

…you too, and don’t worry I’m not going…

…Ed, Ed? Are you with…

…wasting your time, it’ll never…

His dreams were troubled, voices, shifting shadows, but not much more – he could make no sense of them but in them he felt like he’d been asleep for days – vaguely aware of a dull ache in his back.

Thoughts came to him, half-formed, his plans for Christmas and for the New Year celebrations, the fixture list for early January. It was a surreal experience, throughout his life he’d frequently had vivid dreams, ones that were cemented very much in the waking world, but never before could he recall having consciously thought about what was going on in his life whilst dreaming.

He knew that they were dreams of course, along with familiar voices such as those of his parents, and Catherine, he heard Sonja and even one of his teacher’s from school.

You know what? He told himself, you just need to let them play out, when tomorrow rolls around you need to be ready to go, you’ve got a lot to do.

[flipsix3]

DECEMBER 2009 SUMMARY

Shakhtar Donetsk 0

Bordeaux 0

Champions League Group G

Man of the Match: Feindouno

Bordeaux 1 (Lavie 42)

Auxerre 0

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

Lyon 3 (Ben Arfa 16, Essien 48, Cris 56)

Bordeaux 1 (Deivid 33)

League Cup

Man of the Match: Riou (Lyon) [GK]

Sedan 0

Bordeaux 2 (Mabizela pen 18, Baros 45)

Man of the Match: Lastuvka

League Position: 1st

Champions League Group: 2nd

[flipsix3]

At the end of year awards there wasn’t a great deal for Bordeaux, Jan Lastuvka was pipped to the foreign player of the year award by PSG’s Yildiray Bastürk, and none of the other players figured. There was no surprise though, that the award for the best management performance over the last twelve months was going to Le Stade Chaban-Delmas.

“…and the award for the manager of the year goes to Edgar Allen of Bordeaux” the compere announced, there were muted applause from around the suite, and murmured conversations broke out at various tables. “Mark Proctor will accept the award on behalf of Monsieur Allen who, of course, can’t be with us tonight and I’m sure you’ll all join me in sending your thoughts out to him.”