sherm Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I stepped off the train at Sheffield station with just a holdall, a laptop and a newspaper in my possession. I was in my best suit, a two piece black Armani number, with the old suit and tie job, ready to meet up with my new employers. However, I had no clue where I was going, having never been to the city before, so I had to stop a station attendant and ask for directions. He pointed me out to the taxi rank, so having dropped my paper in the bin, I headed to get a taxi I eventually managed to get into a cab, and my instructions to the driver were simple "Bramall Lane please" I had no idea how long or how far the journey would be, but within fifteen minutes the car had pulled up outside the entrance. I paid the £5.80 fare, and headed through the glass doors to reception. Once I had introduced myself to the girl behind the desk, she instructed me to sit down and wait to be called through. Soon enough, I was directed through to the chairman's office, and I knocked on and was greeted by a Sheffield accented "Come in" I sat opposite Kevin McCabe, who was in his chair with a wide grin on his face. I knew why I was there, and that was to complete my new job as the new manager of Sheffield United Football Club. However, it had been a rollercoaster few days that had got me there, from the minute I had sent my C.V over to the club to this point, sat in the Chairman's office waiting to sign my contract... 5 days earlier... Having learnt of Kevin Blackwell's departure from Bramall Lane, I felt it was necessary to send in my application to the club. They were a fallen giant, a massive club looking to recapture their former glories, and I felt that it was the perfect challenge for myself. At 41, it's fair to say my best years were long behind me, but my career had been an exciting journey Starting at Carlisle United at 16, I impressed enough to earn a £10,000 move to Sheffield Wednesday aged 20. I spent the next seven seasons at Hillsborough, as an attacking but aggressive full back, and played almost 150 games for the club, but at 27, my playing career was over. I went in for a 50-50 tackle in agame against Hereford, but my studs got caught in the turf and the other player caught my leg, so I crumbled like a scone. It turned out that I shattered my Tibia, broke my shinbone and snapped my knee ligaments. I was devastated, but the club were brilliant, helping me through, and they even paid for me to do my coaching badges. By the time I was 33, I had my UEFA 'A' Pro Licence, and was all set to become Assistant Manager at Hillsborough. However, something different came up. An old friend of mine, Theofanis Pakidis, who had played with me at Hillsborough, had bought Greek club Panathinaikos. He was in a desperate situation, had no manager, so I stepped in. I spent six seasons in Greece, winning 5 League titles and 3 Greek Cups, until eventually I stepped down. Now, here was a chance I had to grab with both hands. It took just three days for the club to get back to me, and once I had spoken with Kevin McCabe over the phone, I knew it was the job for me. --- I did wonder how my connection with Wednesday would affect my credentials, but Kevin assured me it made no difference to him. I still had my doubts, but I kept them to myself. Once the contract and the formalities had been finalised, I posed for the press with Kevin and a Sheffield United shirt. Tomorrow, I officially started my new role, and I watched in admiration as the gold plated plaque with my name on was nailed to my office door Nicholas Simpson ; Manager That certainly has a ring to it, I must say... Authors Notes ; Game played on 9.0.2, my first real game on the new version. Having studied in Sheffield for three years, I grew a fondness for Sheffield Utd, so I thought there was no better way to show this than by having a story about them With BobBev's Wednesday story, it could make for a nice little rivalry too. And for general interest, the story title is taken from Sheffield Utd's 'Greasy Chip Butty Song' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavrenwick Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Another Sheffield story! Its so good reading about Sheffield in stories, knowing your character came out the entrance I always come out of when going to Uni! good start Sherm =] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share Posted February 16, 2009 Cheers Gav - Sheffield's a great place, I'm actually living there at the minute --- 'What the bloody hell is McCabe playing at? Having an ex-piggy as boss? I've a good mind to not renew my season ticket' Shaun, Woodseats 'Bloody scandalous. Robson and Blackwell couldn't do the job 'cos they were both crap, but this bloke's going to send us down the pan on purpose. Once a pig, always a pig' Tom, Chesterfield 'I won't be renewing at the Lane this season. I mean who is this Simpson bloke for a kick-off. Take away the fact he's ex Wednesday and you get nothing. We're in trouble this time' Charles, Low Edges -- They were just some of the comments on the club website the night before, and while it was hurtful to see that sort of stuff, to be fair to the fans, I could see their point. I would just have to change their views in the only way I knew how - getting results on the pitch. Judging by the squad I had at my disposal, it shouldn't be overly difficult to have a decent campaign. Most of the players were experienced at this or a higher level, and they all had ability with a football Paddy Kenny was entering his seventh season at the club, and was a certain starter between the sticks. The Irishman had terrific handling, was consistent, and he was loved by the fans, so I had no doubt he wopuld have an important role to play. However, his back-up came in the form of Maltese number one Justin Haber - and it isn't difficult to see why Malta haven't been pulling up trees recently. He wasn't very good, so a new 'keeper would be a priority in the transfer market With plans for a basic flat back four, the options at my disposal were good, but it wouldn't do any harm to bring in some more. Scotsman Gary Naysmith was the obvious choice at left back, having been at Everton in the Premiership for several years, so I was confident in his ability. However, it would have to be Derek Geary who was his deputy, despite the Irishman preferring the right hand side, but he was capable of playing on the left too. In the middle, age was not on my side, with two of the three centre-backs over 30. One of these was club captain Chris Morgan, a rough and tumble centre back who had a bad-boy reputation, and he was a much better choice to start than former England defender Ugo Ehiogu. The Englishman was two years older than Morgan, and to be honest, I didn't think he had the stamina anymore, so he wouldn't see much playing time. However, Matthew Kilgallon would. The 24 year old was an exceptional defender, who could use his quickness and agility in conjunction with Morgan's power and aerial ability, so I was looking forward to working with him. On the right hand side, it looked like on-loan defender Greg Halford was the best option to play, but the fact he was only available for the season was a slight disadvantage. However, should Greg not step up to the plate, there were two other available options. Chinese international and former Man City defender Sun Jihai was one, and I felt he still had a little to offer, but the one player who was a stand-out and looked like he would be one for the future was Kyle Naughton. The youngster was highly rated by the coaches, and he needed first team football to aid his development In midfield we were a little less developed, with a wide range of wingers and very little in the middle of the park. On the right, we had two namesakes, although they were from very different parts of the world. David Cotterill had joined for £2 million last season, and he was a good, fleet-footed winger who I felt would be an excellent asset in this division. The other man who was an option was Australian David Carney. He had been brought to the club by Bryan Robson, and his ability with either foot made him a useful squad player. I was a big fan of wingers, always had been, so I felt both those men would be vital. As would the men on the left hand side, of which Brian Howard was the stand-out player. He was on loan at the club until January, but a fee of £500,000 had been agreed and he would join permanently in the winter transfer window. Should he be inept beyond belief though, there was 22 year old Irishman Stephen Quinn, who was another fan favourite and another talented player, so I felt confident we could succeed on the wings. In the middle, we did have three players, but I felt Gary Speed was just too old to compete much at this level. His experience would be priceless for the youngsters though, as would the Premiership experience of our best midfielder Lee Hendrie. Lee was very much a flair player, and he would be the creative spark we needed. On the more defensive side, Scotsman Nick Montgomery was the perfect choice, as he could sit in front of the back four and cut out the opposition attacks. Finally, I came to the strikeforce. Three strikers were in the first team squad, and while two of them looked like they would be excellent members of the squad, the other one wasn't as good. James Beattie was clearly an efficient goalscorer, but unfortunately he was injured until September, so I needed to find a man to fill the gap. Former Man Utd man Danny Webber had been at the club a while, and his pace and finishing would be crucial for us to fire the goals we needed to challenge for promotion. The final option we had was Billy Sharp, a man who had returned to the club the season before, but had failed to live up to expectations. It was rather weak up-top, so it was vital I got in some extra bodies to score us the goals we needed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Once the formalities of the first day in the job were completed, I felt it was time to meet my number two. Having been in that position myself (well, almost), I knew it was crucial that a manager had a good working relationship with his assistant manager. Sam Ellis was the man who would fill the position as my right hand man over the coming season and maybe beyond. I felt it was necessary to get to know the way that he worked, so at the end of the first day we headed to the local pub, The Royal Standard, for a relaxing session "Pint Sam?" "Cask please boss" "Two Cask please Landlord" I had been assured that Cask Ale was the typical Sheffield drink, although when I had spent time here all those years ago it was John Smiths Magnet that everybody drank. Still, I took the pints over to the table and sat down opposite Sam. "So what do you think then Sam? How should we do with the squad we've got?" "Tough one. I think the Play-Offs is the best we can hope for, but to be honest, I think we would have to over-perform. Reading are the best team in the division, closely followed by Wolves" "Can't argue with that. We have the firepower, Beattie and Webber can knock 20 a piece in. I think we need another option though to support them" "OK. I think we might need another defender too, a centre-back" "Really? I was looking at playing Halford or Geary there, don't you think that will work?" "To be honest no, I'd rather have a specialist. Oh by the way, Kevin asked me to get you to look at this..." Sam dropped a thick brown folder onto the table, which I picked up and opened "...it's the finance information. Transfer budget, Wage budget, things like that" "Interesting. £4 million is useful, we could sue that and have some spare I reckon. Not sure on £235,000 for wages though, could do with that being upped a bit" "Can't see that happening boss, Kevin said he would only go to the figures here" Sam and myself had an interesting chat over the next two hours, enjoying several pints of what I believe was called Moonshine. We established that we needed maybe four or five extra bodies to firm up the squad, and that extending the coaching staff could also prove useful, maybe bring in three more coaches to cover all possible areas. The scouts had been designated assignments, and I was all set to start my first full day the next morning --- I had only had three pints of the Moonshine, but it didn't half give me a headache the following morning. Sam had walked into my office with a chuckle when he caught me sipping the alka-seltzer filled water, but we soon got down to business. He had been checking on the market for decent coaches to fill the backroom staff with, and he had found the perfect three candidates. Two of them were free agents, but one was at a fellow Championship side, and he may take some getting. All three were contacted and invited down to the club for an interview the next day "You got any ideas for the first pre-season game yet boss?" "Not really no. I was just going to put the strongest team we had out, let it go from there. You can take charge though, I'll observe from the stands" "Fair enough. Well Ferencvaros are a feeder team of ours, so we're obliged to play them, but it won't be an easy game" "OK. Well have you had chance to look at the formation I want to play yet?" "Aye. It certainly provides good attacking instinct but I think that the man behind the strikers would need to be able to drop back to make a 4-4-2 if necessary" I was enjoying Sam's input. He was younger than me, and some of his ideas were a lot more capable to the modern game. He was always looking to learn new things, watching other teams, and his input was always useful. I was getting the distinct impression that myself and Sam would form a decent working partnership Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBev Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Eeh bah gum lad, there's nowt like a birra Sheffield rivalry so all t'best wi thisun our sherm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Cheers Bob - and trust me, that's almost perfect for a Sheffield accent. I can't do one at all --- I took the box out of it's special place, at the top of the wardrobe, before taking off the battered lid. It had seen better days, no doubt about it, but there was no way I was going to change the box. It contained many special memories, photographs, pictures, gifts and old jewellery - it all reminded me of her. I haven't told you yet now have I? I was married once, in my younger days. She was called Vicky, and we met when I was 19. I had met her in a nightclub in Carlisle, and although she rejected my advances at first, clearly not impressed with the 'I'm a pro footballer' line, eventually she relented and went out with me. We almost broke up when I moved down to Sheffield, but we got together, worked it out, and we moved in together. If that wasn't enough, just three months later I found out she was expecting, which was the best moment of my life. To be honest, it was her pregnancy that sent our relationship spiralling out of control. When we married, in 1993, it was because I thought it would save our relationship - but in hindsight, it was a massive mistake. We broke up five years ago, but I haven't spoken to her or Billy, my son, since. He would be 18 now, and I'd love to see him. All I have are the memories in this box - it hurts at times, and I look at the box probably every day. I can be allowed that I think --- It was easy to agree terms with the two free agents, and they were quick to join out coaching staff. Ebbe Sand had been a hell of a striker in his day, playing for Schalke 04 and picking up a lot of caps for Denmark, so I was pleased to welcome him on board, and I was sure he would work well and help our strikers score the goals we needed. The other man to join us was Englishman Martin Thomas. Though he had never played at such a high level as Ebbe, he was certainly a useful coach. He was excellent with tactical knowledge and set-pieces, and when he mentioned that they were his favourite aspects, I promised him that he would be assigned those specific roles. It was always good to have coaches on certain roles, as it meant there was more scope for working with individuals then, and allowed that coach to do whatever it was he wanted to do. With just two days before our opening pre-season game, I introduced Ebbe and Martin to the players at training, and allowed them to implement some of their methods early on - I wanted them to feel right at home at the club. Training sessions should be innovative and useful to all the players, so I was always pleased after a session. My smile grew slightly wider at the end of this one though, as Sam Ellis thrust a scout report into my hand - it was a report on two players, who had played the night before in Rangers' friendly against MTK Hungaria, and who were both transfer listed. One of them was a striker, a position I wanted to strengthen, and it was former Hearts striker Andrius Velicka. The Lithuanian was a big lad, standing well over six feet tall and being built like a brick wall, and with Rangers asking price set at £750,000, Sam felt he would be a good addition to the squad and would provide a lot at this level. As it was, I agreed with him, but on the next one I wasn't so sure. Charlie Adam had two caps for Scotland, and at 24, he had several years ahead of him. However, he was a natural left winger, a position we were flushed with talent in, and it was only his ability to play in the middle of the park that made me think twice. It took some convincing, but eventually, Sam persuaded me to part with £475,000 for the winger, and our two bids were faxed off to the Glasgow club With two new members of staff and two bids for players, it had been a productive day at the club, but for me personally it had been tiring. That said, when everybody had left, I locked up the office and headed off down to the Standard for a quick pint. It was a lovely little homely pub, always busy, and never any hassle, so I was expecting to spend some time in there over the period of my stay. This time, I walked in the back door to find a pint already being poured for me - now that's service. After exchanging a joke or two with the barman, I sat myself down in the corner with a bit of paperwork. I had been there almost a quarter of an hour when I noticed somebody approaching me out of the corner of my eye "Hello. Is anybody sat here?" "No love, take the chair" The young lady didn't take the chair - in fact, she sat down opposite me "Actually, I was wondering if I could sit here" "Sure. Can I get you a drink?" "No thanks Duck. I was just wondering...erm...if you were who we thought you were?" "And who might that be?" "Sheffield United's manager?" "That's me flower. Is there somebody else who wanted to know?" "Yes, my friends over there" "Invite them over for a chat if you like, I don't bite" And with a smile, she ran over and dragged over her two friends - I assumed they were United fans, but I thought it could be useful to find out their views on the team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.