Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book III

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 3rd October, 2010. Premier League - Game 8, at Liverpool.

All was not well at New Anfield, as the Reds had struggled to score this season, in sharp contrast to the success manager Peter Taylor had had at Manchester United. Though they'd been in 7th on Friday, they were in ninth after the Saturday matches had been played, and one couldn't help but get the feeling that the fans and management are growing impatient: the club hasn't won a title since 1990, and have placed no better than fourth the past three seasons, including fifth last season. Though last year's late charge had seen them into the UEFA Cup, they need the lucre from a Champions League berth. They'd beaten us in our last visit to Anfield, with Jason Koumas scoring the winner in the 75th minute for a 3-2 final.

After a Thursday game, and with a key showdown against Chelsea coming on Wednesday, I couldn't name my top eleven against Liverpool. Roy Carroll again got the nod in goal, but his defense was young, starting with Sean Dillon at left back. In the center, Abubakar Shittu made his first start of the season, partnered with Ben Hammond, and Danny Payne was the right back. Mathieu Berson provided veteran leadership as the defensive midfielder, and Victor Sikora and Joe Hamill provided some first-team experience on the wings. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Iain Hume made a dangerous partnership in the attacking midfield. Imre Szabics got his first start since August as the lone striker in the 4-5-1.

The match started tentatively, though with Liverpool at home in a 4-4-2, the Reds began to take control after a quarter hour. I'm sure I developed gray hairs in the 19th minute when Steven Gerrard fed Milan Baros. The Czech striker fired from the arc, but Roy Carroll made a great save diving to his right to save our blushes. A minute later, left winger Robin van Persie hit Carroll's side netting from range, and the Anfield crowd was baying for blood. Our usual strategy is to hit them on the counter, but we seemed unable to penetrate the hard-working midfield. Gerrard was everywhere and Kim Källström was proving equally formidable despite his reputation as an attacker - we couldn't seem to string three passes together, and rarely threatened Paul Robinson's goal.

The breakthrough came in the 37th minute, when Baros launched another long range effort. It was batted away by Carroll, but fell right to the feet of 23-year-old striker Adam Joyce. From ten yards, he hammered home past the sprawling Carrol, his first goal of the season a reward for his first start of the campaign. A £5M signing from Chelsea, he'd scored as many goals out on loan as he had for the Reds, but that didn't stop the Anfield crowd from celebrating the 0-1 lead in fine fashion. Peter Taylor brought Van Persie off immediately, sending Andy van der Meyde on the left wing as the Dutch winger had been limping.

The fans were still in full song at halftime, when Taylor decided to shift things around, making his final two substitutions, splitting Baros out wide left, and shifting to a 4-5-1 to protect the lead. I countered in the 50th minute by bringing Peter Weatherson on for the silent Imre Szabics, and pushing Hume up front in a diamond-shaped 4-4-2. Weatherson had yet to make a touch, mere moments after he came on, when Van der Meyde proved an inspired change. He hit a spectacular curler from all of 32 yards that beat Carroll, a few yards off his line, to the top left corner, for an 0-2 deficit.

I gave the lad ten minutes of the 4-4-2, then brought Sean Dillon off for Bruno Cheyrou, hoping the playmaker would inspire a comeback in the 3-5-2 shape. With Liverpool solidly committed to defense, we had a few chances, but the majority flew wide, never troubling the England keeper. It was clearly not our day, and as time wound down, 57,800 gave a rousing rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Perhaps inspired, two Reds struck on a 2-on-3 breakaway. Van der Meyde raced up the left wing, then beat Danny Payne with a wonderful pair of cuts, once to the inside, then completely turning Payne around as he broke outside again. He drove a low cross central for Baros, who had found space between the inexperienced pairing of Ben Hammond and Abubakar Shittu. The Czech superstar laced it home for his 103rd goal in Liverpool red, the 125th of his career all told, to make the final score a dismal 0-3.

Liverpool 3, Sheffield United 0

Joyce 37, van der Meyde 52, Baros 88; ----

MoM: Edú (Liverpool MR)

It was a silent and gloomy locker room, and I ripped into the lads, telling them it was a good thing Mister Dooley hadn't made the trip to see such mediocre play. I think I threatened everyone with loans to the Conference if they didn't shape up - Hammond looked on the verge of tears, and the look on Shittu's face was inscrutable, though the Nigerian had to know he wasn't likely to get another chance in my lineup anytime soon.

[O\'Hara_fan]

Just gone through all three books, and I must say they are absolutly brilliant. The finest on here, well done

But oh dear against liverpool

[madog308]

phew!! 68 pages (sigames forum pages) and 1 week later i am finally up do date. having just looked into the stories forum for the first time your title did look the most interesting(mainly cus it reminded me of saw three \o/) however this is the best story on the site and i seriously think you should think about writing for money (not suggesting that u make us pay for this epic story.

p.s

a mistake i noticed on page 7 of book three Chelsea vs f united xabi alonso was named as xabi alonson

cant wait for next instalment ...love it

[madog308]

p.s.s

its soo good i am preferring to read this than play my FM08 game

[soupaman]

Brilliant, highly addictive story. The only bad bit is that I want bigger updates because I don't like waiting for them. However, this is probably a good thing as otherwise I wouldn't get any work done at all. Keep it up.

[Amaroq]

Wow, congratulations on making it all the way through all of those - in a week? Wow! I do appreciate the sentiment, too. When I set out to write it I did tell myself that I wanted it to be the best story on the boards, so its very flattering to hear compliments and to win the acknowledgment of my peers.

Madog, I am starting a novel with intent to publish .. I'll certainly update you guys here if there is anything to report.

Soupaman - I apologize that the last couple weeks have been somewhat spotty in terms of when and length-of update; life overtook me in a couple of places. I think I should be able to guarantee a bit more reliability upcoming.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 5th October, 2010.

Chelsea had beaten Aston Villa, 2-0, so we were dumped unceremoniously back to second place. I hardly felt hopeful about our game in hand, with two days separating our three-nil defeat from the critical game against the league-leading Blues.

To make my problems worse, goalkeeper Allan McGregor, clearly upset at being replaced, was absent from training this morning. He didn't even call to let us know he wasn't coming, and when I finally raised him, his laconic "I wasn't feeling well" sounded the thinnest of excuses.

I informed him that his attitude had just cost him a week's wages, a fine which he accepted without comment, but the sinking feeling in my gut warned me not to let the situation fester.

There was a bit of good news on the Under-18 front at least. On Sunday, back home at Saltergate, Sheffield U-18s beat Mansfield U-18's,. John Berry, normally a fullback, had played on the left wing due to injury, and scored the only goal on a header.

Striker David Fleming, who had just turned 17, came off with an injured shoulder, but it turned out to be merely dislocated, an injury which would keep him out for a week or so. He celebrated his birthday, however, by signing a 3-year contract.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 6th October, 2010. Premier League - Game 9, vs Chelsea.

Quite a rivalry was developing between us and four-time champions Chelsea: first and second in the Premier League, in a rematch of last year's F.A. Cup Final. In fact, we'd met four times in the past thirteen months, with a pair of draws in the League encounters last season, a sensational 2-0 win over the favored Blues in the F.A. Cup Final, and a 1-2 defeat to them in the Charity Shield to kick off this season. Their offense was keyed by Mateja Kezman, who had been a terror thus far this season with 9 League goals.

My favorite eleven were on the pitch, with Roy Carroll in goal, and Celestine Babayaro, Hayden Foxe, and Keith McCormack arrayed in defense. Centre back David Marek Rozehnal was celebrating his 50th league match as a Blade. Colombian Freddy Guarín was the defensive midfielder, with Joe Hamill and Jermaine Pennant on the wings. Bruno Cheyrou remained the playmaker, and Robert Cousins was his partner. Florent Sinama-Pongolle, his scoring streak ended against Dortmund, returned as the striker after resting against Liverpool.

Peter Cech was on form in the Chelsea goal, showing why he's often rated the best goalkeeper in the world by denying a low Florent Sinama-Pongolle finish, a Freddy Guarín free kick, and a Bruno Cheyrou trademark 20-yarder all in the first eight minutes. Tensions were very high, and though arguing with the referee is not normally a problem for our squad, Keith McCormack and Sinama-Pongolle both picked up yellow cards for it in the first twenty minutes.

In the 27th minute, Sinama-Pongolle drifted wide left, reminiscent of Thierry Henry, and carried it up the left wing. He made right back Glen Johnson look foolish with a series of step-over moves that had the crowd at their feet. Johnson was thoroughly beat as Sinama-Pongolle reached the corner, but the six was tightly packed with defenders. Instead, the Frenchman lofted a cross slightly behind the clustered defense, for Robert Cousins to head home from eight yards. We were clearly a different side from the one that had lost to Liverpool: the crowd erupted in joy as we took a 1-0 lead!

Bruno Cheyrou nearly made it two-nil in the 31st minute, but hit side netting, but then Chelsea took over. Michael Ballack, a £9M signing from Bayern Munchen back in August of 2004, put a header just over the net in the 33rd - even at 34, he's been a force in central midfield. In the 35th minute, Kapo drove a shot from ten yards on a Chelsea corner kick, but Celestine Babayaro saved the day by heading it off the line. Chelsea were really piling on the pressure as halftime approached, and Kapo nearly scored again just before the whistle, a curling 25-yarder met by a spectacular diving stop from Roy Carroll.

Halftime gave us a few minutes to gather our wits, and I tried to marshal the defense. I brought McCormack off after his yellow, putting Danny Payne on at right back. In fact, Sinama-Pongolle got the first shot of the second half, easily saved by Cech, but then the momentary respite faded. Chelsea, shifted forward into almost a 4-3-3, were right back to pressuring our net, and Kapo could have had a hat trick in the 54th minute, but another fantastic stop from Carroll kept our 1-0 lead.

I hoped fresh legs might turn the trick, and I tried Jonathan Forte for Hamill on the left wing, with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson replacing the tiring Cheyrou in midfield, both changes coming on the 56th minute. That bought eight more minutes, but in the end the pressure was just too great. David Marek Rozehnal was whistled for holding onto Mateja Kezman's shirt just outside the 18, and little-used Chelsea substitute Wayne Bridge, who had been quite the forgotten man in José Mourinho's empire, took the free kick. Bridge whipped it past Carroll to score his first goal since October of 2006, a drought of almost four years! He'd picked quite the time for it, equalizing the match at 1-1.

Things settled down a bit after that - on the road, Mourinho was a bit more cautious once defeat was averted, but Andrea Gasbarroni should have had the winner in the 83rd minute. The midfielder, on as a second-half substitute, grazed the top of the bar from 16 yards. We had our chance in the final moments as well, but Bridge-Wilkinson's pass was an inch too far for Sinama-Pongolle, and Peter Cech dove on it gratefully before the French striker could add to his tally.

That was the final opportunity, and the match ended a respectable 1-1 effort, our third straight league draw with the mighty Blues.

Sheffield United 1, Chelsea 1

Cousins 27; Bridge 65

MoM: Aimar (Chelsea AMC)

It may not have been a victory, but it was a good effort nonetheless, and Mister Dooley made a respectful visit down to tell the lads he'd been impressed.

Afterwards, I met with Ray Houghton in my office. "Well, that was certainly a Jekyll-and-Hyde change from our performance against Liverpool."

"Indeed," the Irishman answered. "You did play ten different outfield players against the Reds. Perhaps there's such a thing as too much squad rotation."

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 6th October, 2010 (evening).

The result, coupled with the other matches of the day, tumbled us to fourth, two points back of Chelsea and one each behind Fulham and Blackburn.

In the other match, Wednesday evening, Sheffield United Reserves beat Man City Reservers, 2-0. 19-year-old striker Sean Wood scored early, but left with a bruised jaw. Left wing Paul Alexander scored a late clincher. Darren White was the Man of the Match, but twisted his ankle - he would miss two weeks.

I watched the last few minutes of the match, and noted that Allan McGregor had earned a shutout in what would turn out to be his last action as a Blade.

I caught up with him in the changing room - he was still dressed in a muddy kit when I invited him in to my office for a quick chat.

"Look, Allan. Its clear you don't want to be here as a backup, and I don't want to hold you here against your will - but we haven't been getting any bids for you."

He looked grim at this pronouncement, but I pressed on. "I'm willing to offer you a settlement: three hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and you can leave now."

He gave a sigh that seemed to deflate his entire body: he's a big man, but it seemed he grew smaller before my eyes. He gave only a single word answer, though his eyes flashed with a hint of steel.

"Agreed."

So it was with very little ceremony that our longest-tenured player, or at least, the one with the most appearances for the club, left Bramall Lane.

Allan McGregor, GK, 28: 155 games, 153 conceded, 63 clean sheets, 21 Man of the Match, 7.14

[Kairyu]

Its sad to see Allen go out of the club this way.

He has been royal player for long time.

[Wegason]

Did you offer him out on a free transfer? Surely clubs lower down would have been snapping at your heels for a keeper the quality of McGregor down in the Championship? Would of saved £350,000.

[Amaroq]

Yes, it was very sad for me, too. In fact, this was one of the first points where I really let the story dictate my actions in-game. Normally, I would take the "fine 2 weeks and let him rot" approach, but after he'd given such fine service and after I'd articulated in his words why he was upset .. I really couldn't blame him one bit, and I thought it gave him more dignity to let him go.

Weg, yes I did; at the end of August he had turned down an offer from a Championship side because he wasn't willing to drop down a division, and by this point clubs were saying they didn't feel they could attract him. It did actually save the club money over him seeing out the final two years of his contract.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 7th October, 2010.

"Look, boss, I thought you were going to be playing me this year."

I had thought releasing McGregor had ended my troubles with goalkeepers who wanted first team action, but not a day later, 19-year-old Stephen Cummins was frustrated at not seeing action with the senior side.

"Yes, Stephen, I am, I just didn't want to dump any of these key games on you."

"Well, I think I'm ready, and I'll be looking to leave the club if I don't start getting first team action soon."

"I know, that's part of why I let Allan go."

It was a rough conversation to have while I was still emotional about Allan's departure.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 8th October, 2010.

It was time for a brief vacation, and I, like football fans across Europe, took a bit of a break from my work to watch the international matches. Sure, I might watch with a bit more interested eye than the casual fan! It would be six days of international action, starting with European Under-21 Championship qualifying.

England's Young Lions started off their European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign off with a solid 1-0 road win over Kazakhstan. Neil French, a promising 20-year-old midfielder for Tottenham, scored the goal in his first-ever U-21 match, while Villa left wing Ian Wills, already on my shortlist, earned Man of the Match. Greece U-21s won over Georgia to maintain their stance at the top of the group, on six points.

Darren Gibson faced off against Stephen Cummins as Scotland U-21s played host to Ireland in Edinburgh. Ireland scored in the 14th minute, and that left the Scots chasing the match. Gibson was brought on at halftime as the Scots shifted from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 to try and mount more pressure, and they certainly had the better of it, finally breaking past Cummins in the 71st minute. Gibson wasn't involved in the goal, and the match finished 1-1, enough for Scotland to take the group lead by a single point over Croatia.

Wales U-21s had an eleven-on-nine advantage thanks to two red cards issued to Northern Ireland, so goalkeeper Richard Thomas wasn't called upon to make even a single save. It took the Welsh side until the 89th minute to find the breakthrough, but they did eventually, running out 1-0 winners at Wrexham. With six points, they retained a solid lead in their group, though a big match against Italy U-21s loomed on the horizon mid-week.

At Bramall Lane, 16-year-old striker Neil Clarke had suffered strained knee ligaments in training: he would miss about a month with physiotherapy.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 9th October, 2010.

The internationals continued on Saturday with European Championship Qualifying action across Europe.

England had a rough match in Kazakhstan, with Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand conceding soft penalties, and Ashley Cole sent off for tripping in the 29th minute. Despite the poor officiating, and Kazakhstan's Maxim Pak converting both spot tries, Lampard's early goal and Luke Moore's brace - in only his fifth appearance for England - were enough to give the shorthanded side a 3-2 win in their first match. Greece, with two wins, including a 1-0 over Georgia, were the Group 5 leaders, and Cyprus, idle on three points, also had not lost a match.

In Group 6, Scotland beat Ireland 1-0 thanks to James McFadden despite a gale in Glasgow. Keith McCormack was disappointed to have been ruled out of the match, after suffering a chest injury in training on Thursday - he was doubtful for Ireland's Wednesday match, as well. Portugal and Croatia played a scoreless draw, which left the Croatians atop the group on four points, and Scotland and Ireland on three points each in second.

In Group 8, beleaguered Welsh keeper Lee Martin maintained a clean sheet for the first time this season as Wales hammered Northern Ireland, 3-0. Roy Carroll made nine saves in goal for Northern Ireland, but his side was simply outclassed at the Millennium Stadium. Belgium, who had drawn with Wales in their first game beat Malta, 2-1, so the two sides were equal on four points, with idle Italy still on just one, in third.

In Group 1, France didn't play Florent Sinama-Pongolle - he made the trip to Belgrade but sat on the bench as Thierry Henry scored in a wet, 1-1 draw with Serbia & Montenegro. Les Bleus played better, and dominated chances, but were unable to put many shots on target on the muddy pitch. The draw left the sides co-equal on four points as group leaders. A late equalizer for Israel gave them a 1-1 draw in Andorra, but they were still in last place. Bosnia beat Armenia, 2-1, becoming only the third team in the group to acheive a decisive result, and moved into third place.

A scoreless draw in Amsterdam left Holland and Denmark in a similar state, co-equal atop Group 2 with four points apiece. A 2-1 win by Schevchenko-led Ukraine over Albania left them third in the five-team group.

David Marek Rozehnal came on in the 61st minute after a first-half goal had given the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead over Macedonia. He replaced an attacking player as the side shifted to a defensive outlook, and they maintained the clean sheet to secure their second win: six points put them solidly in first, as Estonia were idle on three points, and Poland, who beat Slovenia 3-0, had lost their opener.

In Group 4, idle Finland were the 'winners', as they saw teams that had lost their opener win in both matches: Belarus beat hapless San Marino, 2-1, while highly rated Ajax striker Johan Vonlanthen powered Switzerland to a 1-0 win over Turkey. With four teams on three points each, the Finns, as the only side with a game in hand and no defeats, were in the driver's seat.

Sweden looked solidly in command of Group 7 after a 2-0 home win over Lithuania gave them six points, though Romania, on three points, had a game in hand. Slovakia notched 3-2 win over Luxembourg, their first points moving them to third.

Germany opened their qualifying campaign with a 3-0 pounding of Austria. Lukas Podolski scored twice in the first ten minutes in Vienna, and Kevin Kuranyi added the third goal late. Still, the talk of Group 9 was Iceland, who, with a 2-1 win over Moldova, sat first on six points! They would travel to Germany on Wednesday, when the fairy tale would surely end, but for now they got to enjoy the fruits of two one-goal victories.

Finally, in Group 10, Russia dismantled Hungary 2-0, dominating the game in midfield to such an extent that no Hungary player ever managed a single shot, and the final tally should have been far worse. Imre Szabics looked deserted and alone up front, and rarely got a touch. On six points, Russia looked completely unstoppable. Spain required an injury-time winner from veteran midfielder Rubén Baraja to beat Azerbaijan, 2-1, but moved second on four points. Baraja earned his 100th cap at the age of 35, and celebrated the milestone with his 25th international goal.

With the best youngsters out on loan or playing U-21 internationals, our Under-18 side was badly depleted for their match against Stoke City at Newcastle-under-Lyme. They conceded an early goal before settling in together, and were unable to make it back, especially after 18-year-old striker Michael Cross picked up a second yellow card in the 87th minute, reducing us to ten men in an 0-1 defeat. It was the lads' first lost of the season, and brought to a halt an incredible 20-month string of 38 league games unbeaten for the youth side! It also moved Stoke up to second place, four points back of us with a game in hand.

Four of our on-loan players weren't seeing sufficient playing time where I'd sent them, so I recalled them. Striker James Bradley had gotten only a single match, as a substitute, for Leeds, while Gary Thomas had made one start and two substitute appearances for them. Attacking midfielder Gareth Davies had started three games for Barnet, in League Two, but despite a goal and an assist, wasn't a regular selection. Goalkeeper Simon Parker hadn't played a single match for Tranmere. All four returned to Bramall Lane by Saturday afternoon.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 12th October, 2010.

International action wasn't the only thing happening, of course. We had full days of training, primarily involving the second team, the one which had been so embarrassed against Liverpool. Of course, they ran riot against our Reserves and U-18s, despite the return of 16-year-old fullback Simon Gray to the training pitch.

After training yesterday, Graham Allen visited my office.

"Did you see me out there, coach?" The winger asked.

I nodded - he'd looked good on the right.

"I just wanted you to know, I'm ready to get back on the pitch."

"You haven't looked match fit, yet - I know its been a long recovery from your surgery, but you have to stay patient."

"NO! I belong in the first team, and I know I'm losing my place to this Pennant fellow."

"Jermaine has done very well - if you're going to take playing time away from him, you'll have to earn it."

It was surprising me how many of my players were concerned about playing time - I was keeping a large squad, but it seemed every week there was somebody else who was concerned about being squeezed out of the first team.

In the European Under-21 Championship Qualifying, England notched their second victory, a solid 3-1 over Georgia where the only goal allowed came on a penalty. Greece, however, won their third game, all by a single goal, to retain the group lead.

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

1 Greece U-21s 9 3 0 0 5 2 + 3

2 England U-21s 6 2 0 0 4 1 + 3

3 Cyprus U-21s 1 0 1 1 2 3 - 1

4 Georgia U-21s 1 0 1 1 3 6 - 3

5 Kazakhstan U-21s 0 0 0 2 0 2 - 2</pre>

The high-flying Wales U-21 side met their match in Italy. Richard Thomas, in goal, was hammered for three goals in the first twenty-two minutes, and only the fact that he recovered and made several nice stops beyond that kept him from being pulled from the game. Their strong start meant they were still in the lead, but Italy, with a game in hand, had to remain the group favorites.

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

1 Wales U-21s 6 2 0 1 4 4 0

2 Italy U-21s 4 1 1 0 3 0 + 3

3 N.Ireland U-21s 4 1 1 1 2 1 + 1

4 Belgium U-21s 3 1 0 1 2 3 - 1

5 Malta U-21s 0 0 0 2 0 3 - 3</pre>

Stephen Cummins had a better match in goal for Ireland U-21s, as he was not at fault in Portugal's early goal, left stranded by his defense, and Ireland fought back to score an equalizer in the 69th minute, scoring their third draw in as many games. Scotland U-21s, with their second win, had opened up a clear lead in the group.

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

1 Scotland U-21s 7 2 1 0 5 2 + 3

2 Ireland U-21s 3 0 3 0 2 2 0

3 Croatia U-21s 3 1 0 1 2 3 - 1

4 Faroe Islands U-21s 1 0 1 1 1 2 - 1

5 Portugal U-21s 1 0 1 1 1 2 - 1</pre>

Germany beat Iceland, 2-1. Benjamin Herzog, on as a substitute, was reportedly disappointing in his play, as the Germans conceded a late goal after taking a two-goal lead.

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

1 Germany U-21s 6 2 0 0 4 1 + 3

2 Bulgaria U-21s 4 1 1 0 3 2 + 1

3 Iceland U-21s 3 1 0 2 4 4 0

4 Moldova U-21s 2 0 2 1 2 4 - 2

5 Austria U-21s 1 0 1 1 1 3 - 2</pre>

In the other groups, France, Holland, Slovenia, Turkey, Sweden, and surprisingly, Latvia (over Spain and Russia) were the leaders.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 13th October, 2010.

The third match day of the European Championship Qualifiers was on Wednesday.

A simple 4-4-2 and sheer quality was enough for England to triumph, 3-0, over Georgia at Wembley. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with his 35th goal for England - with 70 caps before his 25th birthday, he's well on pace to break the all-time England scoring record. Steven Gerrard made it two-nil just before halftime, and Alan Smith rounded out the scoring fifteen minutes from time. When Greece stumbled against Cyprus, getting only a 2-2 draw despite home field advantage, it looked inevitable that England would triumph easily in Group 5.

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

1 Greece 7 2 1 0 5 3 + 2

2 England 6 2 0 0 6 2 + 4

3 Cyprus 4 1 1 0 5 3 + 2

4 Kazakhstan 0 0 0 2 3 5 - 2

5 Georgia 0 0 0 3 1 7 - 6</pre>

In Tórshavn, Scotland ripped four goals past the home side, led by Barry Ferguson, Darren Fletcher, James McFadden, and Man of the Match Scott Agnew, who scored his first international goal at the age of 23. The solid result, 4-0 over the Faroe Islands, saw Scotland easily atop the group, especially as Portugal continued to struggle. They'd taken a 2-0 halftime lead at Lansdowne Road, only to see Ian Harte claw one back for Ireland in the 78th minute. Stephen Elliot scored the dramatic injury-time equalizer, delighting the Dublin crowd of 49,724 with a 2-2 draw.

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

1 Scotland 6 2 0 1 6 3 + 3

2 Ireland 4 1 1 1 5 3 + 2

3 Croatia 4 1 1 0 3 1 + 2

4 Portugal 2 0 2 0 2 2 0

5 Faroe Islands 0 0 0 2 0 7 - 7</pre>

In the northern Italian town of Udine, Italy proved too much for Wales to handle, and two goals by Fabrizio Miccoli secured a 2-0 victory that slipped the Italians past Wales at the top of the group. Northern Ireland made the most of their chances against Malta, with Roy Carroll getting only his seventh international clean sheet of the past six seasons in a 3-0 win. It was the expected result, but the Belfast crowd were overjoyed to see it made true.

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

1 Italy 4 1 1 0 3 1 + 2

2 Wales 4 1 1 1 5 4 + 1

3 Belgium 4 1 1 0 4 3 + 1

4 N.Ireland 4 1 1 1 4 4 0

5 Malta 0 0 0 2 1 5 - 4</pre>

Florent Sinama-Pongolle scored his second international goal, in only his third cap, but was completely overshadowed by Patrick Vieira, who scored four goals in a 9-0 pounding of Andorra. Sinama-Pongolle started, but was subbed out by halftime as France shifted to a more defensive arrangement. That didn't stop Nicolas Anelka from adding a brace; Theirry Henry and Man of the Match Steed Malbranque scored the other two. In the other matches, Israel beat Armenia 3-1, while Serbia & Montenegro won in Bosnia, 1-0, to hold on to second place.

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

1 France 7 2 1 0 13 2 +11

2 Serbia & Mont. 7 2 1 0 4 2 + 2

3 Israel 4 1 1 1 5 4 + 1

4 Bosnia 3 1 0 2 3 5 - 2

5 Andorra 2 0 2 1 3 12 - 9

6 Armenia 1 0 1 2 4 7 - 3</pre>

Group 2 had a shocker in Kiev, as Andriy Schevchenko scored the only goal, and Ukraine limited the powerful Dutch offense to just six shots in a 1-0 win that snatched first place in the group away from Holland. With Denmark idle, the Oranje had to be considered in third place, as the Danes still had a game in hand. Albania got on the plus side with a 2-0 win over hapless Liechtenstein.

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

1 Ukraine 6 2 0 1 4 3 + 1

2 Holland 4 1 1 1 7 1 + 6

3 Denmark 4 1 1 0 2 1 + 1

4 Albania 3 1 0 1 3 2 + 1

5 Liechtenstein 0 0 0 2 0 9 - 9</pre>

The upsets continued in Group 3, where FYR Macedonia stunned Poland, 2-1, a late goal providing the winner. The result played perfectly into the hands of David Rozehnal's idle Czech Republic side, who now had a three-point lead and a game in hand over the second-place Poles. Slovenia netted their first goals in a 2-1 win over Estonia, though it wasn't enough to see them out of last place.

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

1 Czech Republic 6 2 0 0 3 0 + 3

2 Poland 3 1 0 2 5 4 + 1

3 FYR Macedonia 3 1 0 1 2 2 0

4 Estonia 3 1 0 1 3 3 0

5 Slovenia 3 1 0 2 2 6 - 4</pre>

In Group 4, Finland were unable to capitalize on the misfortunes of the other top teams over the weekend, and in fact required a late equalizer by 23-year-old Tim Sparv to forge a 1-1 draw with Turkey in Helsinki. Switzerland, with a 1-0 win over San Marino, nicked into the group lead, though the Finns retained a game in hand.

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

1 Switzerland 6 2 0 1 4 3 + 1

2 Finland 4 1 1 0 4 3 + 1

3 Turkey 4 1 1 1 3 3 0

4 Belarus 3 1 0 1 3 3 0

5 San Marino 0 0 0 2 1 3 - 2</pre>

In Group 7, Sweden drew with Slovakia, 1-1, keeping their place at the top of the group. However, Romania's 2-1 win in Lithuania left them a solid second, with a game in hand and nary a point dropped. The two sides would not meet until June, and looked set for a group-deciding match next October.

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

1 Sweden 7 2 1 0 5 1 + 4

2 Romania 6 2 0 0 5 1 + 4

3 Slovakia 4 1 1 1 4 6 - 2

4 Luxembourg 0 0 0 2 2 5 - 3

5 Lithuania 0 0 0 2 1 4 - 3</pre>

Iceland's dream came to an end in Nürnberg, as both Lukas Podolski and Miroslave Klose scored braces before being subbed out at the 57th minute. Rarely used fullback Hanno Balitsch got his first international goal to close out the action in a 5-0 win for Germany. Moldova hadn't won a match in nearly a year, but changed that trend with a 2-1 home win over Bulgaria.

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

1 Germany 6 2 0 0 8 0 + 8

2 Iceland 6 2 0 1 4 7 - 3

3 Austria 3 1 0 1 2 4 - 2

4 Moldova 3 1 0 2 4 5 - 1

5 Bulgaria 0 0 0 2 2 4 - 2</pre>

In the final group, Group 10, Spain pulled off the most important upset of the day. Russia had appeared an unstoppable juggernaut through their opening games, and the betting, especially with the match played at the small Nuevo Colombino staduim in Huelva, where only 19,839 could support their side, was against Spain. Xavi put them ahead at the end of the first half, but Russia equalized through a penalty just before the hour. It looked as though the match would end knotted at one, but deep in injury time, midfielder Andrés Iniesta scored when Igor Akinfeev couldn't quite gather in a cross. The 2-1 win put Spain atop the group. Only fans of the two clubs took notice of Latvia's 2-0 win over Azerbaijan.

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

1 Spain 7 2 1 0 5 3 + 2

2 Russia 6 2 0 1 6 2 + 4

3 Latvia 3 1 0 1 2 3 - 1

4 Hungary 1 0 1 1 1 3 - 2

5 Azerbaijan 0 0 0 2 1 4 - 3</pre>

Meanwhile, in Southport, our Reserves scored for fun against Everton Reserves. Graham Allen backed up his argument for first-team action with a goal and ninety-minute performance, though he was clearly exhausted by the end of the night. Joe Newell made up for an early yellow with the second goal, before being subbed out at halftime. Peter Weatherson made it 3-0 at the break, fullback Danny Payne added a spectacular volley from outside the area, and Gary Thomas wrapped up the scoring in a 5-0 rout. Gareth Davies, back from Barnet, had run the offense from the attacking midfield role, and despite not directly contributing to any of the goals, earned Man of the Match honours.

Unfortunately, left back Sean Dillon, on simply to keep his match fitness, broke his collarbone, and would miss two months.

James Bradley had been called up to the England U-19 side, and though he didn't expect to be used, had made the trip to Minsk, where he took the field for his first international action, as a substitute in England U-19s 1-0 win over Serbia.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 15th October, 2010.

"Doesn't my performance on Wednesday mean anything?"

21-year-old Gareth Davies was the latest visitor to my office, and he, too, was demanding first team action.

"Certainly it does, but its one thing to dominate Everton's Reserve side, and another to face Arsenal in the Premier League."

"What more could I possibly do? I have 13 goals and 11 assists the past three seasons out on loan, I played the game of my life against Everton..."

"Its no easy thing to push aside the likes of Bruno Cheyrou and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Gareth. Tell you what, I'll make sure you get at least a Cup match this season. I'll pencil you in against Burton Albion in two weeks time, and we'll see how you do."

Burton was in the middle of League Two, but we'd drawn them in the League Cup third round game.

Davies wasn't the only player to cross my desk: Gary Thomas, a 19 year old, and also an attacking midfielder, had almost the same conversation with me, though I was careful not to make any promises to him.

Meanwhile, I had another think coming, as Arsenal manager David O'Leary tried to rile the side up with his comments to the media. "Sheffield United face a difficult season," he said, "But I'm fully confident that Richards is a manager capable of saving them from relegation."

The press, of course, wanted a response, and I was quite happy to tell them "I'm very confident Sheffield United can avoid relegation. I think my side has far too much quality to even consider relegation as a possibility."

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 16th October, 2010. Premier League - Game 10, at Arsenal.

Arsenal stood eighth in the Premiership, four places lower than we were. Luckily, Theirry Henry and Patrick Vieira were too tired from the mid-week international games to make the starting lineup, and that left their lineup a bit too depleted to really worry about.

My biggest challenge was picking the starting XI, with a UEFA Cup match in Athens to follow mid-week. I decided to start my top side anyways, and with minor injuries to Ben Hammond and Jermaine Pennant keeping them out of the lineup, the starting eleven just about picked themselves. Roy Carroll was now the only choice at goalkeeper. His defense was a veteran array of Celestine Babayaro, David Rozehnal, Hayden Foxe, and Keith McCormack. Freddy Guarín would man the defensive midfield role, with Joe Hamill on the left wing and Victor Sikora getting the nod over Allen on the right. In attack, I paired veterans Bruno Cheyrou and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, behind, of course, Florent Sinama-Pongolle.

We took immediate command of the match, as Victor Sikora intercepted a pass in midfield. He launched a quick counter-attack through a creative exchange - Bridge-Wilkinson to Cheyrou to Bridge-Wilkinson, who then lofted a telling pass forward for Florent Sinama-Pongolle. The French striker shot from the eighteen, and it banged in off the near post, leaving Shay Given utterly stranded. We'd taken a 1-0 lead to shock the London crowd into silence, and David O'Leary immediately brought Patrick Vieira on!

If a sixth-minute substitution is a sign of managerial second thoughts, O'Leary must have been having more, as we continued to control the play. It was quite an impressive display, as the lads kept Given busy, and continued to dominate the midfield. It was Bridge-Wilkinson again in the 25th minute, with a great pass to find Sinama-Pongolle splitting the central defenders. Again the Frenchman fired from the 18, and again he found the back of the net to make it 2-0!

We weren't going to pound six goals past Arsenal, but the lads let their foot off the gas a bit after the second goal, and Vieira nearly made them pay just before the half. Only a great save by Roy Carroll kept the clean sheet into the intermission. There was little to change, with the 4-5-1 clearly working, though I exhorted the lads not to concede in the second half.

Unfortunately, we suffered quite a blow in the 61st minute, when Victor Sikora went down, clutching at his right thigh. He was clearly in agony, and unable to continue. Luckily, I'd had on-loan winger Scott Allen warming up, to disguise the fact that I was readying Imre Szabics so that Sinama-Pongolle could stay fresh for our UEFA Cup match on Thursday. Both changes went in, plus two for Arsenal as they looked to get more attacking.

It looked like the injury had taken the starch out of our lads, as the Gunners began to completely control the run of play. Ten minutes passed, and then I brough on Robert Cousins for the tiring Cheyrou to try and stem the tide. No dice. In the 75th, Freddie Ljungberg headed down for substitute Jhon Jairo Mosquera at the eighteen. The young Colombian dipped passed Hayden Foxe, then fired it low and inside of Roy Carroll at the near post, cutting our lead to 2-1. In the span of fifteen minutes, we'd gone from cruising towards an easy victory to crumbling towards draw or even defeat.

I shouted to the lads to shift more defensive, hoping to hold the one goal advantage through the final fifteen minutes, but the lads had other ideas about how to protect a lead. David Marek Rozehnal cut out a pass in defense, then played it up to Freddy Guarín at the center circle. Our Colombian launched a beautiful long ball which Cousins took in stride, then knocked left-footed past Shay Given to secure a 3-1 lead. The 56,700-strong crowd, so vocal just a moment before, were all but silent save for the contingent of visiting support, which the young midfielder raced to celebrate with. Amazingly, he'd scored five goals in five league games this season, and was certainly making his case for more playing time.

As you might expect, that final goal took the wind entirely out of Arsenal's sails, and we had an easy cruise to the final whistle from there, playing keep away.

Arsenal 1, Sheffield United 3

Mosquera 75; Sinama-Pongolle 6, 25, Cousins 77

MoM: Guarín

24-year-old Freddy Guarín had earned Man of the Match honours with that spectacular pass, and in the locker room afterwards I couldn't help myself, exuberantly sharing my delight with the lads. "That shows just how far we've come!" I crowed to them.

[madog308]

good score. Cousins is doing really well

[Amaroq]

Thanks, maddog. Yes, yes he is: I finally had a plethora of good options in attack at this point!

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 19th October, 2010.

Unfortunately, my delight lasted only until I met with the physio afterwards. Veteran winger Victor Sikora had pulled his hamstring, and would miss at least two months, possibly more, in physiotherapy. On the bright side, that would give Graham Allen a way to satisfy his desire for first-team action, but its never good news when a player is seriously injured. I was thankful I'd signed those two backup wingers on loan.

On the scoreboard, Chelsea had won on Saturday, and with Blackburn triumphant on Sunday, our victory over the Gunners had only lifted us ahead of Fulham, into third in the Premiership.

Tuesday was Champions League night, and I took a break from preparations for my own European encounter to watch Manchester United face Brøndby in Group F. Wayne Rooney scored a brace, opening the scoring in the 10th minute, and Alan Smith finished things off in the 90th minute as the Red Devils handed the Danish side a 3-0 drubbing. Steve Bruce's side had looked comfortably in control throughout the match, and when FC do Porto upset their Iberian neighbors Valencia, 3-1, United found themselves in the group lead.

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

1 Manchester United 5 1 2 0 3 0 + 3

2 FC do Porto 4 1 1 1 3 3 0

3 Valencia 4 1 1 1 2 3 - 1

4 Brøndby 3 1 0 2 2 4 - 2</pre>

Newcastle United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen in Group E, with Vzjezdan Misimovic and Benjamin Lauth scoring for the German hosts. The good news for the English side was that Barcelona won in Turkey, 3-0 over Trabzonspor, leaving second place wide open for any of the three lesser sides.

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

1 Barcelona 9 3 0 0 12 0 +12

2 Werder Bremen 3 1 0 2 2 6 - 4

3 Newcastle United 3 1 0 2 2 6 - 4

4 Trabzonspor 3 1 0 2 1 5 - 4</pre>

Roma continued their smooth sailing in Group G with a solid 3-0 victory over second-placed Maccabi Haifa, with the Israeli side looking completely overmatched. Luckily for the Israelis, Panathanaikos held Olympique Lyonnais to a scoreless draw in Greece, allowing the Haifa squad to retain second place

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

1 Roma 9 3 0 0 6 1 + 5

2 Maccabi Haifa 4 1 1 1 1 3 - 2

3 Panatinaikos 2 0 2 1 1 2 - 1

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

Group H saw a titanic struggle between Ajax and A.C. Milan, which was broken open by Andriy Shevchenko late in the second half. The Ukrainian superstar, now 34 years of age, scored a brace to give Milan a commanding 2-0 victory and first place in the group. Swiss side Young Boys took second in Bucharest when a late goal by Martin Haller decided a match that had appeared headed to a 1-1 draw. The 2-1 victory over Steaua gave the Swiss side four points and second place.

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

1 A.C. Milan 7 2 1 0 4 0 + 4

2 Young Boys 4 1 1 1 4 5 - 1

3 Steaua Bucharest 2 0 2 1 2 3 - 1

4 Ajax 2 0 2 1 3 5 - 2</pre>

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 20th October, 2010.

On Wednesday, we flew to Athens, but despite the morning flight and an afternoon of light practice at the stadium, I was settled in the hotel in time for kickoff as the Champions League reached its halfway point.

Arsenal, whom we had just proven ourselves better than, were at home again, this time against Bulgarian side Lokomotiv (Plovdiv). Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira were back in the starting lineup for the Gunners, but it was Claudio Pizarro who opened the scoring just five minutes into the match. Henry added a penalty just before halftime, and the Gunners cruised to a 2-0 victory which saw them top of the table at the halfway mark. They were helped dramatically by a 0-0 draw between giants Sevilla and Juventus, with the Italians unable to find a breakthrough against the home side.

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

1 Arsenal 6 2 0 1 4 2 + 2

2 Sevilla 5 1 2 0 3 2 + 1

3 Juventus 4 1 1 1 3 2 + 1

4 Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) 1 0 1 2 2 6 - 4</pre>

That gave me real hope, belief that our side, at least my first-choice XI, belong in the Champions League next year. Of course, if it was giving similar thoughts to my board, failure to earn that spot might cost me my job...

In Group B, Bayern München rolled over Benfica 3-0, with 29-year-old Roque Santa Cruz opening the tally with the 124th goal of his career, all but three with the German giants. Bosnian defender Hasan Salihamidzic, little-used now that he was approaching the tail end of his career, added the second on a corner kick, and Dimitar Berbatov closed out the scoring. Fenerbahçe moved second with a 2-1 win over Dinamo Bucharest in Romania.

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

1 Bayern München 9 3 0 0 6 0 + 6

2 Fenerbahçe 4 1 1 1 2 2 0

3 Dinamo Bucharest 3 1 0 2 3 4 - 1

4 Benfica 1 0 1 2 0 5 - 5</pre>

Chelsea had been having an easy time of it in Group C, but when Pablo Aimar was sent off in Paris, it gave Paris Saint-Germain every opportunity. Mateja Kezman put the Blues ahead anyways, early in the second half, but Alessio Cerci scored a brace and Benoît Collet ensured that Michael Ballack's late goal was meaningless - Paris Saint-Germain had beaten Chelsea, 3-2! It hardly seemed to matter to the results, when Dinamo Kiev and Dutch side PSV drew 0-0, leaving Chelsea a large gap between second and third.

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

1 Paris Saint-Germain 7 2 1 0 5 2 + 3

2 Chelsea 6 2 0 1 7 4 + 3

3 Dinamo Kiev 2 0 2 1 0 2 - 2

4 PSV 1 0 1 2 1 5 - 4</pre>

In Group D, Internazionale beat second-placed Basel 1-0 to take a commanding lead in the group, while Dutch side Feyenoord kept their fading hopes alive with a 2-1 win over FC København in Denmark.

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

1 Inter Milan 9 3 0 0 10 4 + 6

2 Basel 6 2 0 1 6 2 + 4

3 Feyenoord 3 1 0 2 5 9 - 4

4 FC København 0 0 0 3 3 9 - 6</pre>

Tomorrow, however, was the day: our first match of the UEFA Cup group stages!

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 21st October, 2010. U.E.F.A. Cup Group B - Game 1, at AEK Athens (Greece)

Fourth place in Greece was enough to see AEK Athens into the UEFA Cup qualifying segment for the seventh straight year. The last two seasons, Athens had been knocked out in the First Round, but in the 2007/08 season, they made it through the group stages and on to the knockout rounds. This year, uninspired wins over Skonto Riga (Latvia) and HNK Rijeka (Croatia) had seen them advance to the group stage, where they were our first opponent.

I took no chances, naming a veteran lineup with every chance to win. Roy Carroll of course stood in goal, with Celestine Babayaro, David Rozehnal, Hayden Foxe, and Keith McCormack his stalwart defense. Freddy Guarín remained in the defensive midfield role, with Joe Hamill on the left wing. On the right, I had a tough choice between the tired Jermaine Pennant and the not-yet-match-fit Graham Allen, but I chose Pennant. In attacking midfield, Joe Newell replaced Bridge-Wilkinson, partnering with Bruno Cheyrou. The lone striker was of course the indomitable Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who had just turned 26 the previous day.

I had butterflies the size of Boeings as the opening whistle blew, and it seemed the lads did, too - mere moments into the match, Antonis Platakis came up the right wing unchallenged, and his cross was headed behind by Hayden Foxe. The resulting corner pinged around the box interminably, with none of our defenders able to quite clear. Finally, fullback Charalabos Karagiannis powered a header on goal from 12 yards out to set us down, 0-1, before some of the fans had even found their seats.

Sometimes an early goal can rattle a team, but not us. It actually seemed to settle the lads down, and within minutes we were taking the match to our Greek hosts. Sinama-Pongolle's cross in the eleventh minute found Bruno Cheyrou in the eighteen, and he was unlucky to head it over. Still, things weren't going exactly well, as we struggled to find space in the final third, and our hosts were getting the better of possession.

In the 37th minute, however, Jermaine Pennant justified my decision to include him, just getting the tip of his boot onto a careless backpass in the Athens defense. Sinama-Pongolle was the first to react, tracking down the loose ball in space. Michalis Konstantinidis was the only man with a chance of stopping him, but the Frenchman dribbled past the defender, and hammered home his tenth of the season to level the scores at 1-1.

That was how it stayed through half-time, and I left things as they were, thinking we'd solved our problems. However, the second half started just as poorly as the first had. Just after the restart, Roy Carroll played a poor outlet pass, which allowed Platakis' header to find Sakis Georgiadis. He was in behind the defense, and before anybody could react, the 23-year-old fired home from eighteen yards to put us back down, 1-2!!

With 9,000 fans howling in Greek, an instant reply was just the medicine the doctor ordered, and as he had so many times before, Bruno Cheyrou played provider. He knocked a brilliant pass into space, and speedy Sinama-Pongolle slipped behind the defenders. Just before the onrushing keeper could reach it, he used his left foot to knock it right, and suddenly he had an open goal and a simple finish. Me had no mistake, leveling things at 2-2 after just 48 minutes!

I love a defensive struggle, but such was not on tap in Athens tonight. In the 63rd minute, Cheyrou was just unable to reach Sinama-Pongolle's cross through the six, a wonderful effort which really should have given us the lead. The Greek strikers could feel equally hard done by, as a pair of incredible saves by Carroll, in the 70th and 73rd minutes, kept our hosts from taking the lead.

It was wonderful end-to-end stuff, a truly magical evening. In the 75th minute, Sinama-Pongolle raced into the Athens box. He fed it left for young Joe Newell, and I'm sure everyone in the stadium expected the lad to shoot. Instead, he teed it up for Bruno Cheyrou, who launched a wicked effort from just inside the eighteen. Pavlos Manikas, diving to his left, palmed it away, but Sinama-Pongolle pounced on the rebound to complete his hat-trick from all of six yards out. We'd taken a 3-2 lead, and with fifteen minutes to go, found ourselves again protecting our first lead of the day!

Substitutions were on order, and Danny Payne took the right wing, with Jonathan Forte on the left, and finally, late in the match, Iain Hume replaced Newell in the attack. Athens was pushing forward, desperate for an equalizer, and though they forced one more great save by Carroll, it was just opening things up at the back.

In the 88th minute, Celestine Babayaro secured the ball in his own half, and launched a lovely ball over everyone. It curled elegantly across the pitch, directly into the path of Sinama-Pongolle, and this time he took a chance from 25 yards out. The shocked keeper had already started coming off his line, and was unable to recover in time to prevent the Frenchman's fourth goal of the match!!!

Surely that was it - and minutes later, it was!

AEK Athens 2, Sheffield United 4

Karagiannis 3, Georgiadis 46; Sinama-Pongolle 37, 48, 75, 88

MoM: Sinama-Pongolle

Florent Sinama-Pongolle celebrated his birthday in fine fashion, with his 50th goal as a Blade and his four-goal performance was the most by a single player in modern Blades history. He was definitely the Man of the Match!

Better, we'd won our first match of Group play, and with only four games total on offer, and the top three teams advancing, we were in great shape early:

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

1 Sheffield United 3 1 0 0 4 2 + 2

2 Levski (Sofia) 3 1 0 0 2 0 + 2

3 VfB Stuttgart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

4 AEK Athens 0 0 0 1 2 4 - 2

5 Red Star Belgrade 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 2</pre>

[Damien77]

Great return of 7 points from the big four...

sinama-pongolle looked like continuing his form from previous season...great buy

KUTGW

[Kairyu]

Woot Woot

[Amaroq]

Yes, Damien, that's probably as good as we could have hoped for, especially after that trouncing by the Reds!

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 23rd October, 2010.

After celebrating our victory in Greece Thursday night, we were back in England on Friday, and by Saturday we were back in our usual training routine. The F.A. had kindly postponed our next game until Sunday, giving us an extra day of rest to recover from the European schedule.

Most of the league had a full schedule, however, and Chelsea kept up their winning streak with a 1-0 win over Manchester City. Blackburn, however, dropped points at home to West Ham United, leaving us space to move back into second with a win against Bolton on Sunday.

There were a few moves on the youth side, as well. 19-year-old striker Sean Wood went on loan to Blackpool. After scoring seven goals in eight Reserve matches, it was clear that he needed first-team work, and the Championship side was willing to offer a starting position despite his lack of experience.

Unfortunately, the news about 17-year-old striker David Fleming was not so good. While I'd been in Athens, he'd suffered a fractured skull in training, and the doctors were unwilling to let him play for at least five months, lest he risk serious brain injury.

Fullback Kevin Price, also 17, made his return, recovered from a torn groin.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 24th October, 2010. Premier League - Game 11, vs Bolton.

Bolton had been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2008/09 season, a mistake which had seen the end of Bobby Williamson's tenure as manager a week later. Dick Campbell had guided the team to second in the Championship last year, earning automatic promotion, and had them in a solid 13th so far this season - which was especially impressive considering they had the youngest starting lineup in the Premiership. They were finding goals hard to come by after selling last year's leading scorer, Filipe Oliveira to Newcastle for £6.5M.

Some of our top XI deserved a rest after the match they'd played in Athens, but I kept the defense together as best as I could. Roy Carroll was of course in goal. Danny Payne spelled McCormack at right back, but David Rozehnal, Hayden Foxe, and Celestine Babayaro would provide a solid core to the defense. Mathieu Berson gave Guarín a night off in defensive midfield, while Graham Allen got the start he'd been clamouring for opposite his long-time partner Jonathan Forte. Robert Cousins's play had certainly earned him a start in attack, paired with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson behind Imre Szabics. It was a second-team lineup: most of our key players were still too tired for another match so quickly.

As expected, we stamped our control on the match early, controlling possession just about from the opening kickoff. There were few chances in the opening quarter hour, however, as Bolton played solid defense that would have made Sam Allardyce proud to see. They couldn't do much offensively, however, seeming to rely on a hit-and-hope philosophy more suited to a lower division.

In the 18th minute, Imre Szabics drifted wide left, took a pass from Babayaro, and dribbled into the corner. Some of the Bolton defense drifted wide, while others marked Bridge-Wilkinson and Cousins crashing into the box. Szabics spotted Jonathan Forte trailing the play, overlapping inside, and cut it neatly back to the winger. Forte tried his luck from the eighteen, but it caromed off the hip of the well-positioned Tal Ben-Haim. The rebound fell to Graham Allen, who hammered it in low from the arc. This shot, too, took a deflection off of seventeen-year-old winger Alex Booth and this one ricocheted into the back of the net! It was Allen's first goal in four seasons with Sheffield United, and put us ahead 1-0!

Allen was playing an inspired game, and he had two more shots saved or blocked over the following quarter hour. The second, blocked out for a corner, led to the second goal, in the 34th minute. Allen sent a low corner for Bridge-Wilkinson, who was charging towards the near post from outside the eighteen. Twelve yards out, he chested it down, and fired on the volley. It took a wicked deflection off of Ben-Haim, wrongfooting hapless keeper Craig Gordon yet again, and it was 2-0 going to the half.

Robert Cousins sandwiched a pair of chances on either side of the break, but couldn't convert, seeing both shots go just wide of the post. Adam Robinson had the best chance for Bolton, in the 50th minute, when Michael Carrick's wonderful ball split our central defenders, but Robinson, a mere 17-year-old himself, put too much behind it and blasted it well wide of Roy Carroll's net.

The Bolton XI, it seemed, could pass for a youth team, and though I didn't doubt they might mature into a better squad in the future, they hardly troubled us after that. In fact, even the 31,804 supporters on hand seemed to lose some interest in the proceedings, though they gave us a half dozen rousing renditions of "The Greasy Chip Butty Song".

Sheffield United 2, Bolton 0

Allen 19, Bridge-Wilkinson 34; ----

MoM: Forte

Though Graham Allen had a goal and an assist in his return to the starting lineup, the Man of the Match was his opposite number, Jonathan Forte, whose hard work on the left had caused constant trouble.

Chairman Dooley made another appearance in the locker room to indicate his pleasure to the lads, though honestly I felt unsurprised at the result: given the youth in Bolton's lineup, it would have been a real embarrassment if we hadn't succeeded.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 26th October, 2010.

"How bad is it?"

It seemed like our players had been dropping like flies the past two days, but the worst blow by far was this afternoon's injury, which had seen Florent Sinama-Pongolle down and off clutching his forearm.

"I've just finished chatting with the physios," Ray Houghton told me. "We got lucky. Its only a strained wrist."

"What a week," I complained.

The rest of the list included left winger Joe Hamill, who had stubbed his toe, winger Darren White, who had pulled a muscle in his side, and midfielder Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, with a strained neck. All three would, like Sinama-Pongolle, miss both the League Cup game tomorrow and the weekend Premiership tie against Middlesbrough.

The news was not softened by the return of Neil Clarke, the 16-year-old having recovered from strained knee ligaments enough to rejoin the training squad.

"At least none of them were serious," Ray offered.

I shook my head.

"I'm mostly worried about Florent losing his form."

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 27th October, 2010. League Cup - Third Round, vs Burton Albion

Burton Albion lay tenth in League Two, making this match the largest potential giant-killing in the League Cup; no other teams from League Two had reached the third round. Fortunately, Burton hadn't beaten anybody of consequence on the way - Huddersfield and Torquay United were both fellow toilers in League Two, and if they had a modest two-game winning streak, that didn't much worry me.

I started a collection of players who were unhappy with their playing time, it seemed, and the pre-game speech amounted to 'Prove to me you belong in the side.' 19-year-old Stephen Cummins was making only his third start for United in goal. Joe Keenan anchored his defense, making his first start of the season, while Ben Hammond and Abubakar Shittu got a second chance as a central defense partnership. Benjamin Herzog, now 18, made his second start of the year as the right back. Defensive midfielder Martin Ellis was making the first competitive start of his career, and the 19-year-old looked very nervous in the changing room. On the wings, Graham Allen made his second start in four days, while speedster Paul Alexander was making his competitive debut. I made good on my promise to Gareth Davies, partnering him with Joe Newell in the attacking midfield, and veteran Peter Weatherson was the lone striker.

It was a clumsy, poorly played game, but nonetheless the crowd of 8,728 got their money's worth and then some. Peter Weatherson had the first good chance of the match, in the 10th minute, when Ben Hammond's long ball found him unmarked on the eighteen. He had plenty of time, but didn't realize it, and hurried his shot wide. He might well argue that he didn't expect to be so entirely alone, but I'd expect a striker to do better with that sort of quality chance.

In the 17th minute, a burst of pace from Burton's Chris Taylor forced Joe Newell to trip just 30 yards from goal. When Taylor fired the resulting free kick directly on goal, it seemed to catch Stephen Cummins by surprise, and he was very late to react, letting Taylor's strike find the top corner for a goal delightful to the visiting Burtonians who made up nearly a quarter of the paid attendance. I was disappointed; Cummins is better than that, but it looked like his concentration had wavered, and we were in a 0-1 hole.

Paul Alexander should have equalized on the 28th minute, as Hammond played a throw-in from the left side to Weatherson, with his back to goal on the end-line, wide of the six-yard box. He turned and fired a low pass for Alexander, who was entirely unguarded ten yards from goal. Perfectly centered, he had the goal literally at his feet, but hit it right at the keeper, and as weakly as a kitten.

I wondered if we would rue the missed opportunity, but just before the intermission Graham Allen curled a wonderful 25-yard strike into to the top right corner to equalize. It was nicely set up by Gareth Davies, but the goal was magnificent, worth the price of admission alone. Allen was certainly staking a claim for a regular place, and is effort made it 1-1 at halftime.

The second half, however, was equally poorly played, as both sides struggled to put together any sort of rhythm and flow. It was turning into a scrappy slug-fest, and our youngsters seemed out-toughed by the resilient Burton side. When Abubakar Shittu went down, injured, in the 63rd minute, I took the opportunity to send Danny Payne on with the captain's armband. Peter Weatherson seemed diffident at best, and I took him off for James Bradley at the same moment. On the 75th minute, I made my final change, sending Iain Hume on for Gareth Davies.

Bringing veterans off the bench and a pacey forward on would seem like the correct recipe for success, but nothing seemed to help, and both sides seemed somnambulent. Nothing could wake the sleepwalkers. In the 88th minute, Alexander, invisible all day, finally made an appearance, sprinting up the left wing, and floating a surprisingly deft cross into the box - his last cross had hit the back of the net.. from the outside.. so when this one found Joe Newell's head, the midfielder seemed almost surprised. Goalkeeper Michael Baker managed to tip Newell's header just barely over the bar, and that sent the match careening towards extra-time, still knotted at one apiece.

As the first extra period passed, it seemed that we had the better fitness, and spaces began to appear in the exhausted Burton defense. In the 97th minute, Iain Hume nodded a pass along for Bradley, who raced into the box, and looked to dribble around Baker. Unfortunately, he lost his balance as he completed the move, and his shot floated over the bar, to the agony of the fans who'd stayed loyal to us throughout. The whistle blew at the 105th minute, and the match appeared headed for penalties.

It was not to be, however - finally, in the 112th minute, Bradley scored his first-ever goal as a Blade, and fittingly it was Graham Allen who got the assist. Joe Keenan had played a ball forward for Bradley, who nodded it down to Allen. The right winger made an exhausted visitor look bad, dribbling nearly in circles before spotting the speedster splitting the two central defenders. His ball was perfectly timed to avoid the offsides trap, and Bradley slotted it home from the eighteen with his first touch, a wonderful goal to put us ahead, 2-1.

There was still time for Burton to equalize, as the Golden Goal never made it to the League Cup, and two minutes later Newell nearly put the game out of reach thanks to Bradley's hard work up the left side. He did all the work, firing the cross in for Newell, and the 21-year-old had only to finish the chance, but put it wide. In the 116th minute, Burton came inches away from the equalizer, as James Lloyd - the same Charlton striker who had scored four goals for the Blades back in 2007/08 - broke free onto a long ball, slipping by Danny Payne and firing past Stephen Cummins. Luckily for us, and unluckily for him, it hit back off the right-side post, kicking all the way over to our left back, Joe Keenan, who put it out of play.

In the waning minutes, Bradley went down in the Burton box, but the referee was having none of it, and in fact booked the 18-year-old for diving. No sooner was he done with that, however, than he blew for full time, and we were through to the Fourth Round!

Sheffield United 2, Burton Albion 1, A.E.T.

Allen 45, Bradley 112; Taylor 17

MoM: Allen

With the goal and the assist, Graham Allen was deservedly Man of the Match, but with one other exception, the reservists had failed to impress.

I'd expected my goalkeeper to have gotten to Taylor's free kick, and Peter Weatherson had looked decidedly disinterested in the proceedings. Though Bradley had scored the game-winner, he hadn't impressed on his earlier effort. Paul Alexander on the left wing showed repeated lack of technique and talent, and our defense had looked leaky at best, though Benjamin Herzog was a bright spot.

[Amaroq]

Bonus match today, just 'cause I'm in a good mood about something IRL!

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 30th October, 2010.

With most of our Reserves playing in the League Cup, the Sheffield United Reserves fielded a side mostly of U-18 players for their Wednesday night match with Stoke Reserves, and paid the price. Frédéric Kanouté scored the only goal, a header in the 25th minute, as Stoke handed our Reserves their first defeat of the season, 0-1.

Striker James Reed celebrated his seventeenth birthday by inking a new contract, one that would keep him at the club through 2014, though privately I expected he might get bored of a backup's role by that time.

Saturday morning started with the draw for the Fourth Round of the League Cup. Only three teams from outside the Premiership remained alive, and it was just our luck that we drew one of them, at home: Wycombe Wanderers, from League One.

I took a moment to watch some of the Premiership matches - Arsenal and Man City fought a wild 4-4 draw, Chelsea steamrollered Everton, 3-0, and Liverpool nicked ahead of us with a 2-0 victory over Fulham that dropped the Cottagers to fifth.

Saturday evening, at Saltergate, Sheffield U-18s had every chance to finish off the Tranmere youth side, as they were gifted an own goal and a man advantage thanks to a red card. However, tired legs - most of them had played mid-week in the Reserve match - led to a late equalizer from Tranmere U-18s, and the match finished 1-1.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 31st October, 2010. Premier League - Game 12, at Middlesbrough.

Two seasons ago, Middlesbrough had finished third in the Premier League, so that last season they were stretched thin with a Champions League campaign alongside their usual league schedule. Though they were successful in the Champions League, advancing past the group stages before falling to Roma, splitting their effort saw them slide from 81 points to a mere 53, as they plummeted to ninth in the league, missing out on any chance of European play this season. That was supposed to let them refocus their efforts and make a move back into the lucrative top six places, but so far it was not materializing - they lingered in eleventh place. Surely they would be keen to avenge the two defeats they'd suffered at our hands last season, including the 3-1 loss in the F.A. Cup Semi-Final, and we were missing our talismanic leading scorer.

To face them, I named the strongest XI I had healthy: Roy Carroll in goal, of couse, with Celestine Babayaro, David Rozehnal, Hayden Foxe, and Keith McCormack across the back. Freddy Guarín had really impressed so far at defensive midfield. Jermaine Pennant and Jonathan Forte were split out on the wings, while Bruno Cheyrou and Robert Cousins were partnered in attack. Imre Szabics would spell our injured striker at the top of the 4-5-1.

The day was cold but dry, the sort of afternoon where players feel they have boundless energy, and that bred an open, flowing game. There were more chances at either end in the first ten minutes than in the entire Burton match. In the tenth minute, Darren Johnston raced up the right wing for Middlesbrough, and sent the cross in. Captain Kevin Nolan knocked a header from 16 yards out which skated in just under the bar, over the fingertips of Roy Carroll, to send the home crowd of 24,400 into rapture with an 0-1 lead.

Their joy was short-lived however, as our own right wing, Jermaine Pennant, sent a ball up the sideline for Imre Szabics. Szabics dribbled towards the corner, then dropped it back to Pennant following. From the corner of the penalty area, Pennant squared it for Robert Cousins, who drilled it home from right upon the eighteen, equalizing it at 1-1 in the 14th minute.

Pennant nearly created another goal in the 21st with a fine move on the right side before feeding it through to Bruno Cheyrou, who was unlucky to see his shot pushed wide of the post by 'Boro shotstopper Paul Gallacher. Five minutes later, it was Pennant again, clearly answering Allen's challenge to his claim on the right wing position. This time he fed Cousins a miraculous ball which somehow found the youngster in the only twenty feet of open space in a crowded penalty area. He had only Gallacher to beat, but the Scottish keeper made a wonderful reflex save with his foot to keep it 1-1 at the break.

If we'd looked the better side in the first half, 'Boro looked the better in the second. In the 48th minute, Franck Queudrue found substitute right back Sascha Riether in the area, but Pennant showed he could get it done at both ends with a fine hook slide to clear it out for a corner. Graeme Souness seemed to have solved our five-man midfield, but for the most part he'd done it by stifling the game, and the supporters were getting bored as the substitutions began around the hour mark.

From about the seventieth minute, 'Boro mounted ten minutes of heavy pressure, pushing us back to a defensive perimeter and working the ball around patiently. Twice more Pennant cleared danger out of the box, and then he sent Imre Szabics free with a fifty yard pass. The long run could have been the game-winner, and would have had Sinama-Pongolle been fit, but Szabics lofted it over the net, to his evident dismay.

I wasn't satisfied with a draw, so as injury time approached I made my third and final substitution: bringing Peter Weatherson on for Cousins, and switching to the 4-4-2. Unfortunately, just as I did that the fourth official held up the sign: just two short minutes of injury time.

They elapsed without a breakthrough, and a 1-1 draw was all we could muster.

Middlesbrough 1, Sheffield United 1

Nolan 10; Cousins 14

MoM: Pennant

There could be no doubt from anybody who had watched that game that Jermaine Pennant had utterly earned Man of the Match honours - in fact, somebody watching football for the first time might have thought there were two twin brothers on the field, as he seemed to be everywhere at once.

After, Middlesbrough manager Graeme Souness told reporters he couldn't even believe there was talk of Sheffield United and relegation. "That's ridiculous," he was quoted as saying, which brought a big smile to my face. "From the effort I saw today, there's no way we should even be talking about it."

[Amaroq]

Monday, 1st November, 2010.

Garnering a single point hadn't helped us keep pace with Chelsea, and had in fact left us a point behind Liverpool. We were now looking fairly solid in third place, but had only netted eight points from five admittedly difficult games. Though I had to be pleased with the haul, considering the opposition, we'd have to do better than that if we wanted to challenge for a place in the Champions League next season.

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

1 Chelsea 31 10 1 2 30 9 +21 (13)

2 Liverpool 28 9 1 2 21 8 +13 (12)

3 Sheffield United 27 8 3 1 24 13 +11 (12)

4 Blackburn 24 7 3 2 19 12 + 7 (12)

5 Fulham 23 6 5 2 21 15 + 6 (13)

6 Manchester United 22 6 4 2 23 10 +13 (12)

7 Arsenal 20 6 2 5 31 24 + 7 (13)

8 Tottenham 19 4 7 2 18 15 + 3 (13)

9 Manchester City 18 5 3 5 21 17 + 4 (13)

10 Middlesbrough 18 5 3 4 15 15 0 (12)

11 West Ham United 18 5 3 5 21 25 - 4 (13)

12 Bolton 16 5 1 7 17 25 - 8 (13)

13 Aston Villa 15 4 3 5 10 12 - 2 (12)

14 Newcastle 13 4 1 8 22 25 - 3 (13)

15 Charlton Athletic 12 3 3 7 19 26 - 7 (13)

16 Everton 11 2 5 6 11 22 -11 (13)

17 Southampton 10 2 4 7 14 26 -12 (13)

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

18 West Brom Albion 8 1 5 7 12 21 - 9 (13)

19 Ipswich Town 8 2 2 7 8 17 - 9 (11)

20 Derby County 6 1 3 9 7 27 -20 (13)</pre>

I was a bit disappointed to notice Ipswich Town, part of that Championship class of 2007/08, down in the relegation zone; Micky hadn't been having much luck with City, either, slipping to ninth.

Despite his incredible start, Mateja Kezman had added only two more goals in the past two months, bringing his total to a still comfortable 11. That was five more than Florent Sinama-Pongolle, tied with seven other players for third with 6. Amazingly, Robert Cousins had more league goals thus far (6) than Wayne Rooney (5), Manchester United's leading scorer!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 1 Mateja Kezman 11 Chelsea Serbia & Montenegro

2 Thierry Henry 8 Arsenal France

3 = Florent Sinama-Pongolle 6 Sheffield United France

3 = Robert Cousins 6 Sheffield United England

3 = Dean Ashton 6 Middlesbrough England

3 = Jonathan Stead 6 Fulham England

3 = Robbie Keane 6 Tottenham Ireland

3 = James McFadden 6 Newcastle Scotland

3 = Nicolas Anelka 6 Charlton Atheltic France

3 = Dimitris Papadopolous 6 Manchester City Greece</pre>

To my frustration, Andy van der Meyde's 32-yard goal against us for Liverpool, part of the 3-0 crush which had started the month, was third best in the Goal of the Month sweepstakes, but at least Keith McCormack came second in the Young Player of the Month balloting, pipped at the last by Theo Walcott.

A review of the books was a bit disconcerting. We'd lost £1.4M for the month, and player wages alone - though they included the £350k buyout of Allan McGregor's contract - had exceeded our total income for the month. We'd now lost £4.3M for the season, a statistic which made a bit of a mockery of the £8.0M available in my transfer budget for the January window.

I had to remind myself that the accounting felt a bit off, and we'd turned a profit last year when everything was finished - the £21.7M in my bank balance was perhaps a better indicator of our financial health.

[Kairyu]

Wow Robert Cousins is really playing well.

6 goals with his limited playing time is amazing.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 2nd November, 2010.

The European schedule continued Tuesday evening with the next suite of Champions League matches.

In Group A, Bulgarian side Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) held Arsenal to a scoreless draw, while Juventus defeated Sevilla 1-0 at the Delle Alpi on Giuseppe Sculli's goal. With two matches remaining to play, that put Juve and the Gunners even on 7 points apiece, and Sevilla trailing just behind on 5.

Group B leaders Bayern München suffered the first blemish on their perfect record, a 1-1 draw to Benfica in Portugal. Though it was a moral victory for the hosts, it was the Germans who celebrated afterwards, as their tenth point had guaranteed their qualification to the knockout rounds. Fenerbahçe trounced Dinamo Bucharest 3-0, moving four points clear in second with 7 points.

In Group C, Chelsea, this time with eleven men, won the rematch against Paris Saint-Germain, 2-0. Xabi Alonso and Mateja Kezman netted the goals on a rainy night at Stamford Bridge. That put the Blues back into the group lead on nine points, with PSG on seven. PSV Eindhoven secured the maximum points from Dinamo Kiev with a 3-0 victory to put them on four points.

Group D leader Inter Milan booked their place in the next round with a 3-0 pounding over Basel, giving them 12 points from four matches. The Swiss club were left on six, even with Feyenoord after the Dutch thrashed FC København 4-1.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 3rd November, 2010.

Though eyes across Europe were on the Champions League matches Wednesday night, my eyes were at The Grove in Halesowen, where our U-18 side was playing the Under-18s Cup Third Round against West Brom. 18-year-old striker James Bradley used his amazing pace to generate several good chances early, but his lack of a finishing touch continued to let him down. He just couldn't seem to convert. In the 32nd minute, he turned provider, drawing several defenders to him before feeding Gary Thomas, who drilled it home for the early lead.

West Brom equalized just after halftime, and the score held steady at 1-1 through the remainder of the second half and through both periods of extra-time, sending it to a very strange shootout. I was in the stands watching, with youth coach Mick Jones calling the shots, and with the shootout tied 2-2, he sent goalkeeper Stephen Cummins to take the fifth spot kick. He converted, giving our lads a 3-2 victory, the first time in his career that he'd scored the winning goal of a match!

In the Champions League, Newcastle United manhandled Werder Bremen 3-0 at St. James's Park, with the goals coming from Peter Luccin, Craig Bellamy, and Fernando Cavenaghi. That moved them into second place on six points. Barcelona clinched their spot in the knockout rounds with a 4-0 demolition of Trabzonspor at the Nou Camp, leaving them 12 points from four games.

The decisive results continued in Group F, where Manchester United dispatched Brøndby thanks to Daniel Omoya Braaten, Mark van Bommel, and Kléberson, who all scored first half goals in a 3-0 result that delighted the Old Trafford faithful. Valencia played 73 minutes with ten men, but Adriano scored two short-handed goals as they sent FC do Porto packing, 3-0, in Spain. The decisive results belied the closeness of the group - the results left the tally 8-7-4-3, with United in first, Valencia second, and Porto third.

There was a stunner in Israel as Maccabi Haifa defeated Group G leaders A.S. Roma, 2-1, on a controversial second-half penalty. Romanian striker Ciprian Marica, just on as a substitute, was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area when a reasonable argument could have been made that the ball played his hand while it was in a natural footballing position. The referee's assistant judged otherwise, and the result allow Maccabi Haifa to reach 7 points, just 2 back of the Italian giants. In the other match, Lyon scored their first victory of group play, defeating Panathanaikos 3-1 in France. Still three back of the Israeli club, they would need to beat them head-to-head to have a real chance of advancing.

In Group H, A.C. Milan's 2-0 victory over Ajax all but mathematically guaranteed them a place in the next round, sitting on ten points. FC Steaua Bucharest surprised Swiss side Young Boys, 1-0, in the Alps on Valentin Iliescu's late goal, which left the Romanian side on five points to Young Boys' four. Ajax, floundering at just two points, needed at least a win and a draw from their last two matches to have any hope.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 4th November, 2010.

Tonight was UEFA Cup night, but we had the bye in Group B. That let me observe some of the other results, and I was a little disappointed to note that Red Star Belgrade crushed AEK Athens, 4-1, admittedly in Serbia rather than Greece. Mladen Djodjevic scored a penalty, Vladimir Marjanovic netted the second, and defender Ivan Djokovic netted a late brace to make the final score rather more lopsided than the match had been up to that point.

Group favourites VfB Stuttgart demolished Levski (Sofia) 5-1 despite a first-minute goal by Nikolay Kostov thanks to an early brace by Jurica Vranjes followed by a hat-trick from Kevin Kuranyi - it was 4-1 by halftime.

Our win may have come against a weak sister in the group, but we were looking reasonably good. The results left a four-way tie on three points thus far, and we had a game in hand over two of those teams.

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

1 VfB Stuttgart 3 1 0 0 5 1 + 4 ( 1)

2 Sheffield United 3 1 0 0 4 2 + 2 ( 1)

3 Red Star Belgrade 3 1 0 1 4 3 + 1 ( 2)

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

4 Levski (Sofia) 3 1 0 1 3 5 - 2 ( 2)

5 AEK Athens 0 0 0 2 3 8 - 5 ( 2)</pre>

In other news, we'd secured two loans out, one sending 19-year-old attacking midfielder Gary Thomas to Watford in League One. I was unsurprised to note a media article which said he was considering the move a 'way out', and that he was hoping to secure a permanent move away from Bramall Lane - he certainly hasn't been happy sitting in the Reserves.

17-year-old defender John Reid moved to the same division, joining my old club, York City.

Unfortunately, the Minstermen needed the help. Their defense had been woeful, and York were languishing in 20th place.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 6th November, 2010. Premier League - Game 13, vs Aston Villa.

If one were superstitious, playing the 13th game of the season against the 13th-placed team might have raised hackles. Fortunately, I wasn't superstitious, and had the 4-0 victory we'd handed them in Villa Park last season to remind the lads of. Still, they'd placed 8th last season, and qualified for an UEFA Cup spot - they weren't a club to take lightly.

My lineup was entirely unchanged from the Middlesbrough match. Roy Carroll of course remained in goal, with Celestine Babayaro, David Rozehnal, Hayden Foxe, and Keith McCormack protecting him from left to right. Freddy Guarín remained the defensive midfielder, with Jonathan Forte and Jermaine Pennant on the wings. Bruno Cheyrou and Robert Cousins continued their partnership in attack, while Imre Szabics looked to be in better condition than Sinama-Pongolle, and got a second start at striker.

Villa came out in a 3-5-2 which appeared to offer plenty of room for our lads to work in, and we definitely had the better of play through the first half, but Szabics's best shot was straight to Morgan De Sanctis, and when Robert Cousins tried from the arc, he golfed it well into the stands behind. Villa never looked like threatening our end, but we seemed unable to break down their tenacious defense, and it remained nil-nil through halftime.

After fifteen more minutes of similar play, I brought Florent Sinama-Pongolle on for Szabics, to the delight of the Bramall Lane crowd of 32,923, who gave their hero a rousing ovation. I think they were vaguely disappointed; he was still lacking match fitness. Though there were flashes of brilliance, such as his run down the right wing which earned a corner in the 75th minute, it didn't turn out to be a game-changing substitution. Villa defended with all eleven men, and the corner came to nothing. At one point, I noted one of their strikers, all the way back to his penalty arc from the run of play, swiping the ball from Jermaine Pennant.

I'd switched to the 'patient buildup' tactic when I placed Florent on, but it didn't seem to be finding any cracks in the Villa back line. On 83 minutes, I sent in Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Joe Keenan, for Cheyrou and Forte, respectively, hoping fresh legs in the final minutes might do the trick, but no. There was nothing left in either side, and the game ended a dreary 0-0 which matched the cold and overcast skies.

Sheffield United 0, Aston Villa 0

----; ----

MoM: Forte

Jonathan Forte had earned Man of the Match honours for his hustle and hard work, but none of our other players had stood out. The defense was solid - Roy Carroll hadn't even had to make a single save - but the sense in the changing room was similar to that following a defeat. The result was definitely in Villa's favour, and the sort of game that we might look back on and rue not winning at the end of the season.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 9th November, 2010.

Liverpool beat Tottenham 1-0 on Saturday, and when brave Fulham battled Chelsea to a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage, it effected a surprising change at the top of the table: the Reds had taken first from mighty Chelsea!

In another surprise, former Germany manager Jürgen Klinsmann was named the new manager of Charlton Athletic. He'd managed to qualify Championship side Portsmouth for the UEFA Cup this season, by guiding them to the League Cup last year, which had erased the stigma of his mere six month tenure at Manchester City. Ironically, his first match back in the top flight was against City, which fueled a media frenzy leading up to the match.

In other news, Allan McGregor signed a new contract, with Oldham Athletic, down at the Championship - he'd turned down offers from Dundee and Hearts to return to Scotland.

[Amaroq]

Author's note: the Reds had played the Monday night game on the first, if you're looking at the table and looking at that post and wondering what I'm smoking.

And yes, Kairyu, Cousins has been coming along quite well. He doesn't have the creative vision that Cheyrou or Tappa had, but he's done quite well with his limited chances! If only he could have come up with one against Villa...

[madog308]

seems the form has slipped a bit especially against teams you trounced before.

anywho cant wait for next installment

[Amaroq]

Its getting three points from those kind of teams that separates the champions from the also-rans, isn't it?

At least you'll not have more waiting to do. Here you are:

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 10th November, 2010. League Cup - Fourth Round, vs Wycombe Wanderers.

Wycombe Wanderers lay sixth in League One, battling for promotion, and they had beaten some decent competition on the way to the Fourth Round, including Carlisle and Swansea. The last time the two sides had met was during United's League One campaign back in 2006/07, before I'd taken over the reigns; both matches that year had resulted in draws, though one had produced the League One goal of the season, from Chris Sedgwick, who is no longer with United.

Facing them I drafted a second-choice lineup, though nowhere near as Reserve-heavy as our Third Round lineup had been. Stephen Cummins again got the nod in goal. Joe Keenan, Ben Hammond, and Benjamin Herzog got rare starts in defense, but David Rozehnal and Mathieu Berson provided some veteran experience to anchor the line. Joe Hamill made his return to build fitness on the left wing, while Graham Allen got the start on the right side. In attack, Gareth Davies and Joe Newell were partnered, while Florent Sinama-Pongolle was the starting striker to the delight of the small crowd of 11,199.

Graham Allen and Joe Hamill nearly combined on a spectacular goal in the fourth minute, with Allen's cross curling through the six to the head of his wingmate, but Hamill wasn't quite able to keep his balance, and the header went narrowly over the bar. It was a warning shot, however, and over the next fifteen minutes we consolidated our control, building chance after chance. Wycombe were playing inspired defense, double-teaming the wings and sometimes triple-teaming Sinama-Pongolle, but you had to wonder how long they could hold on.

Twenty-nine minutes, as it turned out. Hamill launched a long pass 20 yards upfield and at least 30 across to pick out Florent Sinama-Pongolle racing up the right side. As he reached the 18, he danced between Darren O'Dea and Will Steadman, neatly avoiding the latter's tackle while shielding the former off the ball with his body, and then he fired a left-footed beauty past David Martin from 14 yards out. The crowd, though small, was appreciative of as good a goal as he's scored all season, and doubly so of the 1-0 lead.

The French star nearly added another in the 39th minute, cannoning one back off the crossbar from 20 yards, and just before halftime put a diving header just over the bar. Hamill was again the provider - he seemed to be thoroughly dominating on the left side despite constant attention from Matthew Reynolds, who was simply overmatched. Wycombe survived to the break with just the one goal conceded, but had never looked like getting back into the match. I took advantage of the break to replace Gareth Davies, who was tiring and carrying a yellow, with Canadian midfielder Iain Hume.

It paid instant dividends in the 51st minute, and again it was Joe Hamill who started the move with a lovely long ball from the left wing. This time it was weighted just ahead of Hume's run, through the same gap in the defense that Sinama-Pongolle had exploited earlier. He broke the offsides trap easily, and Martin had no choice but to come out and meet him, racing for the loose ball. Hume got the first touch, knocking it between his arm and the ground, then hurdling over the sliding keeper at the penalty spot. Thus delivered of an empty net, Hume easily slotted it home for his first goal of the season. It was Hamill's incredible vision that had created the goal, however, and the 2-0 lead was all to the winger's credit.

By the 69th minute, Hamill was clearly exhausted - just returning from injury, he was not yet ready to last ninety minutes - and I brought him off to a standing ovation from the crowd. Arsenal loanee Darren White replaced him for his first action of the season. I also sent James Bradley on for Florent Sinama-Pongolle up front, primarily to get Bradley action, and not risk injury to my star striker.

The changes hardly seemed to matter. Wycombe were comprehensively beaten, and the only question seemed to be whether we would score again. Hume came close once on a header, and Bradley's speed gave him three good chances, but his lack of finishing continued to cost him success, and I began to worry that he might never develop the scoring touch.

Sheffield United 2, Wycombe 0

Sinama-Pongolle 29, Hume 51; ----

MoM: Hamill

Joe Hamill was easily the Man of the Match for two of the most gorgeous assists you could ever hope to see, long balls to catch his man perfectly in stride in narrow spaces, and the lads celebrated with him - he'd had twenty minutes to catch his breath, and looked more energetic as he was clapped on the back from all directions in the locker room. We were through to the Quarter Finals.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 12th November, 2010.

If I'd hoped to build any momentum from the win over lower-division opposition, it was immediately squelched by a ten-day break for international friendlies.

The weekend started on Friday, with the Wales U-21s facing Greece. Richard Thomas got the nod in goal, with fullback Kevin Price wearing the captain's armband in a 2-1 victory. Both played well, and I was happy to see them getting international experience, as it certainly promised to help their development. Playing for the U-21s at age seventeen could only be a good thing!

Striker Darren Gibson, on loan to Leeds, also saw action in the closing minutes of Scotland's 1-0 victory over Albania U-21s.

On the training pitch, Peter Weatherson managed to strain his neck. I half suspected the 30-year-old of malingering to get out of having to train in the cold; he really hasn't been contributing much to the squad, either in training or elsewhere, and it might be time to try to move him along.

[Peacemaker7]

Originally posted by Amaroq:

Bonus match today, just 'cause I'm in a good mood about something IRL!

You finally got laid?

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 13th November, 2010.

The draw for the League Cup Quarter Final was Saturday morning, and we were the second ball out. Unfortunately, Chelsea was first, and that meant an away date to Stamford Bridge, a rematch of the F.A. Cup Final from last year and this season's Charity Shield. The match was scheduled for December 4th.

Later in the day, there was a full slate of International friendlies, save that England had not scheduled a match.

Scotland beat Albania 4-2 thanks to goals from Darren Fletcher, James McFadden, Patrick Clarke and Stephen Hughes, though Albania twice rallied to tie before conceding a pair in the final twenty minutes in Glasgow.

Ireland survived a determined onslaught by hosts Switzerland after Jonathan Douglas' early goal had given them the lead. Keith McCormack played an impressive match in defense, and goalkeeper Shay Given was Man of the Match in the 1-0 victory. Incredibly, Ireland managed not a single shot after their 15th minute goal.

Roy Carroll started in goal for Northern Ireland as they hosted Iceland at Windsor Park. An early goal by Eidur Gudjohnsen put the island nation ahead in the 19th minute, and Carroll clearly thought he should have gotten to the shot. His teammates bailed him out, however, with Chris Brunt equalizing on a penalty before halftime, and Dean Shiels and Gary Hamilton netting in the second half for a 3-1 victory.

16-year-old Chris Brown was called up to the Wales side, but did not get his first cap, instead watching Lee Martin concede three goals to a better Greece side in Wales' 1-3 defeat. Jason Koumas scored the only goal for the Welsh.

France played host to the U.S.A. in Saint-Denis, and Florent Sinama-Pongolle earned his fourth cap, starting and playing all ninety minutes. The match, well-played, remained scoreless into the ninetieth minute, but in the third minute of injury time Sinama-Pongolle lofted a cross from the right-side which Steed Malbranque headed past Tim Howard to give France a 1-0 victory over my countrymen. For Sinama-Pongolle, it was his third assist in four international matches; I was just happy to see him last ninety minutes without trouble.

Hayden Foxe played the first sixty minutes, scoreless, as Australia traveled to the Ukraine to take on Andriy Shevchenko's side. Foxe was subbed off prior to the decisive goal, which Olexiy Belik scored in injury time as Australia lost 0-1.

In Mlada Boleslav, David Marek Rozehnal played the scoreless second half as the Czech Republic held Turkey to a 1-1 draw. Milan Baros opened the scoring for the Czechs, but Akin Serhat equalized for the Turks shortly before halftime.

Imre Szabics played ninety uninspired minutes for Hungary as they were beaten 2-0 in Egypt. Lack of service seemed to be his problem, as Egypt so dominated the midfield that Hungary managed not a single shot.

Colombia had traveled to Barbados, where Freddy Guarín opened the scoring with a fabulous 25-yard curling strike which earned him Man of the Match honours in a 2-0 victory.

Finally, Iain Hume played all ninety minutes in Edmonton as Canada rallied from a halftime deficit to level the scores at two, only to see Javier Erneston Chevantón find a late winner for Uruguay, sending Canada to a 2-3 defeat.

In other notable scores, Holland topped Austria 1-0 and Germany beat Chile 2-0. Brazil, Italy, and Argentina all triumphed over lesser opposition, despite using the opportunity to try some fringe players.

Meanwhile, a depleted Sheffield United Under-18 side handed Stockport U-18s a 2-0 defeat. Martin Gray and Michael Cross scored the goals, both from ugly scrums in front of the Stockport goal. The match was ugly enough that Paul Alexander, whom I've developed little respect for, earned Man of the Match honours. He also received a 1-match ban thanks to receiving his fifth yellow card of the short season.

[Peacemaker7]

Yay, I only posted that push over 10k views

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 16th November, 2010.

In the Stade Omnisports Ahmadou Ahidjo, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Robert Cousins and James Bradley both got their first Under-21 caps for England. A mere eight minutes into the match, they showed the value of partnering teammates in the international squad, as Bradley headed a ball back to Cousins in the center circle, and took off at full pace for the Cameroon goal. Cousins lofted a beautiful long ball over the defense, and André Ondua was solidly beaten by Bradley's pace. This time he made no mistake, lacing it past goalkeeper Pierre Tchami to give the Young Lions a 1-0 lead. It didn't last, as Cameroon's Alain Eboué Eboué equalized before halftime, and both Sheffield United players were brought off in the 64th minute. The 1-1 result lasted through full time, a good result for England and our lads especially!

In Scotland, Darren Gibson got a mere five minutes of playing time after Scotland U-21s had scored an 87th minute equalizer against Ukraine U-21's. He was on the pitch for Scott Jordan's injury-time winner, but had managed only one weak touch and did not figure in the 2-1 result.

Tuesday's match between Sheffield United Reserves and Manchester United Reserves would decide who stood top of the Reserve group table at the end of the day, and I named a fairly strong squad, including Joe Keenan, Danny Payne, Graham Allen, Gareth Davies, and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. In the end, it was none of those who provided the game's only goal, but instead unprepossessing 18-year-old striker Michael Cross. Fine play by captain Mathieu Berson helped hold the lead through the second half, and a 1-0 lead sent our lads to the top of the table.

I spent the early part of the week closeted with Ray, using the extra time to develop a game-plan for our next match. League Cup win or no, our Premiership form had slipped, and it wasn't going to get any easier against Newcastle United on Saturday.