CFuller
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DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of December 2008)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Torquay 24 10 3 0 42 21 9 1 1 31 15 61 2nd Swindon 25 9 1 3 28 13 6 2 4 21 18 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Kidderminster 24 9 1 2 20 10 5 3 4 23 20 46 4th Nottm Forest 24 9 1 3 32 18 5 1 5 21 19 44 5th Wycombe 24 10 1 1 33 21 4 1 7 23 36 44 6th Northampton 23 9 1 2 25 14 3 2 6 15 22 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Cambridge Utd 24 7 4 2 27 18 2 4 5 23 28 35 8th Hull 25 6 1 6 22 22 5 1 6 21 25 35 9th Rochdale 24 6 3 3 27 19 3 4 5 22 25 34 10th Shrewsbury 24 6 4 1 18 10 3 3 7 10 22 34 11th Watford 24 7 1 4 25 17 2 5 5 17 27 33 12th Reading 24 6 2 4 23 16 3 3 6 18 22 32 13th Doncaster 24 6 2 4 24 19 4 0 8 12 20 32 14th Oldham 24 6 4 2 29 15 2 3 7 16 26 31 15th Tranmere 24 7 5 0 18 7 1 2 9 10 30 31 16th Millwall 23 6 2 4 24 15 2 4 5 16 22 30 17th Oxford 24 6 4 2 35 23 2 2 8 18 32 30 18th Q.P.R. 24 5 3 4 25 22 3 3 6 17 23 30 19th Darlington 24 3 4 4 14 12 5 1 7 13 18 29 20th Bristol City 24 4 4 4 28 24 3 2 7 18 27 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Colchester 25 5 2 5 12 14 0 5 8 9 24 22 22nd Walsall 24 4 3 4 25 23 1 2 10 18 38 20 23rd Wrexham 24 2 3 6 19 27 2 4 7 18 27 19 24th Hartlepool 25 3 3 6 19 23 1 4 8 13 28 19
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Chelsea still lead the Premiership, and Fernando Morientes is still scoring for fun... but for how long? Manchester United declare that they want their title back after thrashing the Blues 4-1 at Old Trafford, with evergreen 34-year-old Paul Scholes bossing the midfield. United finish the month just three points behind Chelsea - with two games in hand.
- Two more members of Arsenal's 2002 title-winning squad depart, as strikers Thierry Henry and Nwankwo Kanu are sold to Porto for £9.25million and Hertha BSC for £2.9million respectively. Their departures leave Francis Jeffers and Jermaine Pennant as the last remaining champions at Highbury. Distraught Gunners fans dry their tears with the news that manager Arsène Wenger has signed throw-in specialist Rory Delap from Middlesbrough.
- While Cristiano Ronaldo remains stuck in Lisbon, his former Sporting team-mate Ricardo Quaresma is on the move again, joining unbeaten La Liga leaders Atlético Madrid from Milan for £8.25million. Meanwhile, Rangers captain Barry Ferguson does a reverse Gazza by moving to Lazio from Ibrox for £5.75million.
- After 16 months in Miami, Lilian Thuram returns to his native France as the new player-manager of Ligue 1 strugglers Auxerre. Thuram's band of misfits - including Stéphane Dalmat, Frédéric Piquionne, Nicolas Anelka, and a camel named Meriem - crash to a 3-1 defeat at Sedan, leaving them just above the relegation zone.
- Round 3 of the UEFA Cup sees Celtic produce an incredible comeback - overturning a 3-0 first-leg loss in Belgium to beat Charleroi 6-0 at home! Rangers finish off Leeds and join their Glaswegian foes in Round 4... but Ian Holloway's Dundee United are unexpectedly knocked out by Jupp Heynckes' Hertha.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- As his US presidency draws to a close, George W Bush makes one final trip to war-torn Iraq, where gets a rather warm reception from one local journalist. During a press conference, Muntadhar al-Zaidi throws both of his shoes at Bush while yelling, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!"
- Carol Vorderman leaves the Channel 4 game show "Countdown" after 26 years as co-presenter, and is replaced with Southend-born newcomer Rachel Riley. Following Des Lynam's and Des O'Connor's brief stints in the host's chair, producers abandon plans to bring in Des Walker - and give the top job to Jeff Stelling instead.
- Centuries after its peak in medieval Europe, feudalism is officially abolished once and for all. The Channel Island of Sark becomes the last feudal state to hold fully democratic elections.
- On Christmas Day, a Sky News presenter breaks the news that the playwright Harold Pinter has died... for real this time. He was 78 years old. A few hours later, the American jazz singer and actress Eartha Kitt passes away aged 81.
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DECEMBER 2008
David Collins had been one of our star performers so far this season. The 28-year-old striker had bagged 13 goals in just 19 matches, and he was already on track to beat last season's haul of 24.
With barely 18 months left on Collins' contract, there were some questions about his long-term future. After a week of negotiations, David answered those questions by signing a new deal - putting him on £4,800 per week until the summer of 2013. All being well, he will play out his prime years at Aggborough.
However, there was now speculation about another of our strikers. Iain Hume had not been as prolific as Collins (6 goals and 3 assists in 21 games) but he was clearly a class act... and at 25, he sensed it was time he looked for another club.
I had a frank discussion with Iain, in which he made it clear that he wanted to leave. I reluctantly agreed to his request and would listen to any big offers that came his way. Sheffield United made the first move, offering £1million, but I wanted to hold out for more.
One player who did leave the Harriers - on a temporary basis at least - was the versatile youngster Stephen Kavanagh. The 17-year-old Irishman would spend the rest of the season on loan at Lancaster, who were battling to stay in the Conference.
We were supposed to kick off our December schedule at home to Nottingham Forest on 10 December. Unfortunately, a spate of heavy rain town left the pitch unplayable, and so the match was pushed back until the new year.
Three days later, though, the Aggborough turf had recovered enough that we could host Millwall. The Lions were relegated from Division 1 last season, and they went into this game sitting just outside the play-off spots in 9th.
13 DECEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Millwall
It'd been two weeks since our last match, so there was a little bit of rustiness to shake off. Millwall took advantage of that after five minutes. Right-back Luke Young delivered a free-kick to Deon Burton, who cushioned a header beyond John Forde to put the visitors ahead.
The Lions had scored from their first shot of the game, but we would do the same in the 18th minute. César Gallego delivered the perfect riposte when his right-wing cross was finished by David Collins, who scored his 50th Kidderminster goal in just his 93rd match for the club!
Having completed his half-century, Collins was soon looking to start another, forcing a difficult save out of Millwall goalkeeper Paul Gerrard in the 27th minute. The scoreline remained level at 1-1 going into the second half, though the Lions had been significantly weakened by a hamstring injury to Burton.
Though a couple of Millwall's younger defenders looked shaky in the second half, Gerrard was drawing on all his 35 years of experience to stop us storming into a comfortable lead during the second half. It would take something magnificent to beat the former Everton shotstopper again...
...and Harriers substitute Scott Simpson delivered just that, two minutes from full-time! The Scottish midfielder chested down Baldur Aðalsteinsson's header, then skipped past a couple of visiting defenders before putting a low drive past Gerrard! Aggborough erupted as we fought back from an early 1-0 deficit to win our third league match in a row!
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Collins 18, S Simpson 88)
Millwall - 1 (Burton 5)
Division 2, Attendance 4,197 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 3rd, Millwall 10th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; Berntsson, Miller, Bell, T Simpson; Heikkinen (Scott); Gallego, Whitley (S Simpson), Carter (Ormeño), Aðalsteinsson; Collins. BOOKED: Whitley, Carter, Aðalsteinsson.
Swindon had bumped us out of the automatic promotion places the week before, beating Colchester 1-0 while we were putting our feet up. The Robins had kept up their winning form against Tranmere, but Scott Simpson's late clincher against Millwall crucially kept us just a single point behind them - with a game in hand.
Over the next week, three players left Kidderminster. Firstly, we bade farewell to former captain Timo Marjamaa. The Finnish defender only featured twice since my arrival, so I sold him for just £60,000 to... Spanish top-flight side Extremadura. If Timo can’t get into a Division 2 team, I doubt he'll see much action in La Liga, but good luck to him anyway!
While I was at it, I also terminated René Schrøder's contract six months early. The Danish utility man had been a loyal servant to the club since 2002, but he too had seen very little gametime recently,
And then, on Friday afternoon, the club announced that we'd agreed a deal to sell Hume to Southampton for £1.9million. This was a transfer that worked well for everyone - Iain got his long-overdue move to the Premiership, while we eased the burden on our wage budget and took our bank balance back into the positive.
The post-Hume era began 24 hours later at the Madejski Stadium - the home of last season's play-off nemeses Reading. Our hosts were struggling in 17th position, having endured the agony of losing at Wembley in May. While Kiddy fans weren't too fond of Royals manager Craig Johnston, I also had some beef with the man who stole my Manager of the Year award in 2006 - when my Dagenham & Redbridge team won the Division 2 title, and Reading finished 19th!
20 DECEMBER 2008: Reading vs Kidderminster Harriers
Reading started positively, and they could have won a penalty after just nine minutes. The Royals protested after their former Crystal Palace winger Tommy Black was tugged back in the area by Kidderminster's right-back Billy Berntsson, but the referee waved it away.
As Reading continued to pile on the attacking pressure, it seemed inevitable that Black would get on the scoresheet. That finally happened after 33 minutes... but it was the 21-year-old striker Dave Black who found the net, tapping in a low cross from his namesake Tommy! John Forde was left flat-footed, and we were 1-0 down.
David Collins scooped over a chance to draw us level in the 40th minute, and there was worse to come just before half-time. Out of nowhere, Jorge Ormeño shoved Reading defender Hayden Foxe to the turf, which meant our Chilean midfielder would have to hit the showers an hour early!
Foxe hunted a second goal for the Royals six minutes after the break. A sublime direct free-kick from the Australian effectively killed the game off at 2-0. Collins tried his best to send us back home with at least something, but some impressive saves from Kevin Pilkington left us goalless in a league game for the first time since mid-October.
Reading - 2 (D Black 33, Foxe 51)
Kidderminster Harriers - 0
Division 2, Attendance 20,232 - POSITIONS: Reading 13th, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; Berntsson (McCluskey), Miller, Bell, T Simpson; Heikkinen; Gallego, Ormeño, Whitley (Nicholls), Aðalsteinsson; Collins. BOOKED: Berntsson. SENT OFF: Ormeño.
What a disaster - and to make matters worse, Swindon had won at Watford. We were now four points off the automatic promotion places.
Jorge Ormeño's act of violent stupidity had no doubt cost us any chance of fighting back in the first half. After the match, I docked him a week's wages - and he responded with a tirade of Spanish profanities, of which I understood a few words: "¡Quiero irme! ¡Dame una maldita transferencia!"
I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed Jorge. He did have an erratic reputation at Elche, after all. Nonetheless, I realised now that signing him was a mistake - and that he should never play for Kidderminster Harriers again.
With Ormeño relegated to the reserves and looking to leave as soon as possible, I was in the market for another midfielder. Sheffield United might have failed in their attempts to sign Hume, but they were still willing to let us loan in Gareth Roberts for the rest of the month. 24-year-old Gareth is an intelligent box-to-box midfielder who began his career at Southampton.
After a short Christmas break, Roberts came into a much-changed Harriers team for our visit to Hartlepool. Captain Jeff Whitley, defender Simon Bell, and wingers Baldur Aðalsteinsson and César Gallego were ALL dropped after their poor performances in Berkshire. I could probably have relegated Terry Simpson too had our other senior left-back Kevin Hyde not picked up another injury in training.
27 DECEMBER 2008: Hartlepool United vs Kidderminster Harriers
Hartlepool were second-from-bottom and had recently turned to another new manager - Dennis Wise, who was relegated from Division 1 with Millwall last season. The former Chelsea and Wimbledon hardman's latest relegation scrap got even uglier after 12 minutes. A powerful free-kick from Scott Simpson deflected off the Pools wall, and centre-half Tony Ball accidentally diverted his namesake into the net for an early Kidderminster lead!
From that point, we were completely dominant - even after target man Alan Scott came off with a broken toe in the 27th minute. Another Scott Simpson set-piece doubled our lead just before half-time, when his corner was headed home by debutant Gareth Roberts! We were 2-0 up - and the Victoria Park faithful were not amused!
Gareth's debut got even better four minutes after the interval, as his through-ball provided the assist that put David Collins on the scoresheet. A couple of minutes later, Collins doubled his tally, outjumping the hopeless Hartlepool keeper Ben Robinson to nod in a cross from right-back Billy Berntsson! 4-0 to the Harriers - could it get any better than this?
Oh yes, it could! Collins capped off his hat-trick, beating defender Mark Nicholas to a cross from substitute forward Robert Garside before ruthlessly putting the hosts out of their misery. We had recorded 64% possession and scored FIVE goals away from home - against a pitiful Pools team who didn't even have a single shot at our goal!
Hartlepool United - 0
Kidderminster Harriers - 5 (Ball og12, G Roberts 45, Collins 49,51,78)
Division 2, Attendance 6,361 - POSITIONS: Hartlepool 24th, Kidderminster 3rd
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson, Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson (Aðalsteinsson); Nicholls; Carter, G Roberts; S Simpson; Scott (Garside), Collins.
Jeff Stelling, I am very, very sorry...
Collins' first hat-trick of the season propelled him to joint-2nd in the Division 2 goal charts with 15 goals - one behind Wycombe's Paul Emblen. Unfortunately, strike partner Alan Scott would not be adding to his three goals for at least a couple of weeks, having broken his toe.
For our final match of 2008, Aggborough opened its doors to mid-table Watford. Peter Taylor had just celebrated two years in charge of the Hornets, making him their longest-serving manager since Graham Taylor. (Incidentally, we would shortly host Watford again, having been drawn against them in Round 2 of the Football League Trophy.)
30 DECEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Watford
This game was much more competitive, as Watford's captain Robin Hulbert made clear when his 4th-minute shot seriously tested John Forde. The Kidderminster keeper intervened again in the 28th minute, bravely coming off his line to collect Simon Thomson's left-wing delivery just before Hornets defender Jamie Banks could finish it.
David Collins missed a couple of shots at goal in the first half, but things went rather better for his strike partner six minutes into the second period. It was another Scott Simpson corner that opened the scoring - and it was opened by a header from Robert Garside! At the eighth time of asking, the young Welshman had at last broken his Kidderminster duck!
Watford had gone a goal down, and Peter Taylor had another issue to contend with in the 60th minute. A rough tackle from Gareth Roberts had broken Banks' toe, bringing his game to an end and forcing Taylor into his third and final substitution. I wouldn't even make my first change until the 68th minute, when Roberts was taken off after picking up a yellow card.
With Roberts coming off, I decided to go all out for a second goal - dropping Simpson deeper into midfield, and sending 17-year-old striker Jamie Berry on for his debut. Berry took just four minutes to make his mark, flicking Garside's lob across the Watford area for Collins to half-volley it home! That secured a 2-0 victory - our fourth triumph in five league games!
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Garside 51, Collins 72)
Watford - 0
Division 2, Attendance 3,342 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 3rd, Watford 11th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson (McCluskey), Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson (Aðalsteinsson); Nicholls; Whitley, G Roberts (Berry); S Simpson; Garside, Collins.
When we lost 4-2 to Watford on the opening day of the season, we looked dishevelled, shambolic, and more like a bunch of individuals rather than a team. In the space of five months, we have changed so much for the better.
Collins is now the joint-top scorer in Division 2, we're just two points off 2nd-place Swindon (with a game in hand)... and John Forde is still God! Bring on the new year!
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DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of November 2008)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Torquay 20 8 3 0 35 19 8 0 1 27 12 51 2nd Kidderminster 20 7 1 2 16 9 4 3 3 18 18 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wycombe 20 9 0 1 29 19 3 1 6 21 32 37 4th Swindon 20 6 1 3 21 10 5 1 4 18 17 35 5th Rochdale 20 6 2 2 25 15 3 4 3 19 19 33 6th Nottm Forest 20 7 1 3 28 17 3 1 5 16 19 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Cambridge Utd 20 6 3 1 21 12 2 4 4 22 25 31 8th Millwall 20 6 2 2 21 9 2 4 4 15 20 30 9th Watford 20 6 1 3 22 13 2 5 3 17 22 30 10th Northampton 20 7 1 2 20 12 2 2 6 12 20 30 11th Hull 20 5 1 4 18 16 4 1 5 15 20 29 12th Shrewsbury 20 5 3 1 14 9 3 2 6 10 19 29 13th Reading 20 5 2 3 19 13 2 3 5 15 19 26 14th Darlington 20 3 3 4 14 12 4 1 5 8 9 25 15th Oldham 20 4 4 2 20 13 2 2 6 11 19 24 16th Q.P.R. 20 4 2 4 17 16 3 1 6 13 19 24 17th Tranmere 20 6 4 0 13 5 0 2 8 6 25 24 18th Bristol City 20 4 3 3 25 18 2 2 6 14 22 23 19th Oxford 20 4 4 2 30 22 2 1 7 14 25 23 20th Colchester 20 5 2 3 12 11 0 5 5 7 17 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Doncaster 20 4 2 4 18 19 2 0 8 9 20 20 22nd Hartlepool 20 3 3 4 19 17 1 4 5 11 22 19 23rd Walsall 20 4 3 3 23 20 1 1 8 14 28 19 24th Wrexham 20 1 2 6 13 23 2 3 6 17 25 14
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Chelsea consolidate their Premiership lead with a 5-0 home win over surprise European contenders Sheffield Wednesday, with Fernando Morientes netting all the goals! Morientes is the first player to score FIVE goals in a Premiership match since the Blues' attacking coach Alan Shearer did it for Newcastle in 1999 against... Sheffield Wednesday.
- Leeds drop out of the Champions League at the first group phase after a 1-0 home defeat to Ajax. Their punishment is a UEFA Cup Round 3 tie against Rangers, who win the first leg 1-0 at Ibrox. Meanwhile at the same stage, Celtic are humbled 3-0 by Belgian side Charleroi.
- Inter build a six-point lead at the top of Serie A thrashing Sampdoria 5-1, with Adriano bagging one goal and setting up another three. A new Nerazzurri superstar is born a week earlier at the Olimpico, where Italy Under-21s midfielder Mirco Finazzi scores a breathtaking solo goal to complete a 2-0 win over Roma!
- Leverkusen are dragged into another scrap for Bundesliga survival, as manager Fatih Terim is widely criticised for playing Gareth Barry at left-back. At least they're not faring as badly as Oliver Kahn's Mainz, who lose EIGHT straight league games without scoring and have just ONE point from 14 matches!
- One week before a huge Bundesliga title clash with 1.FC Köln, Werder Bremen take 'mind games' to a whole new level - by stealing the league leaders' Uruguayan striker Diego Forlán for £14million! Werder's sly tactics pay off, as Forlán's new side win 2-0, and Köln surrender top spot to VfB Stuttgart!
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Yes, he did. Barack Obama - a 47-year-old Democrat senator from Illinois - defeats Republican rival John McCain in the US presidential election, and will be the first African-American to sit in the Oval Office.
- A dramatic Formula 1 World Championship is decided in the last lap of the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. British driver Lewis Hamilton overtakes Timo Glock on the final corner to finish 5th - and pip home favourite Felipe Massa to the title by one point. Aged 23, Hamilton becomes the second-youngest world champion in F1 history.
- In one of the greatest shocks in sporting history, the Rugby League World Cup is NOT won by Australia! The Kangaroos - who had been world champions since 1975 - are beaten 34-20 in Brisbane by arch-rivals New Zealand, who win their first World Cup in the 13-man game.
- Teenage girls, rejoice! Country pop star Taylor Swift releases her new album “Fearless”, which includes a song based on Romeo and Juliet. Meanwhile, a very different love story is told in “Twilight” - the first film based on Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance novels.
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NOVEMBER 2008
After winning our last four matches without conceding a goal, the Division 2 promotion places were in sight for Kidderminster Harriers. If we could defeat 9th-placed Northampton at Aggborough, we would have the opportunity to leapfrog Swindon into 2nd - but only if they slipped up at home to Millwall.
1 NOVEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Northampton Town
Our solid defensive form continued throughout the first half of this match. Northampton's best chance came nine minutes from half-time, when a free-kick from veteran midfielder Keith Gillespie was intercepted by Stuart McCluskey. Though we barely threatened the Cobblers at the other end, we were well on course for a fifth straight clean sheet...
...or at least we were until the 55th minute. When our holding midfielder Jorge Ormeño had a momentary loss of focus, Northampton striker Emmanuel Olisadebe ghosted past him to latch onto a deep cross from Gillespie. Although John Forde kept out Olisadebe's first header, the Polish international put away the rebound. 1-0 Cobblers - sadly, it was true.
We quickly went on the offensive, with Iain Hume and David Collins each having chances to draw us level. While Hume's effort was saved, Collins did find the net with a scorcher in the 66th minute. Collins then tried to give us the lead with an audacious bicycle kick in the 75th minute, but he fired it wide.
More frustration would soon come our way, as Northampton peaked in the 80th minute. Substitute midfielder Jon Peake delivered an excellent byline cross to the back post, where Olisadebe got ahead of McCluskey and headed in the Cobblers' winning goal.
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 66)
Northampton Town - 2 (Olisadebe 55,80)
Division 2, Attendance 5,062 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 4th, Northampton 8th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey (Haarala), Bell, Miller, Roberts; Heikkinen; Ormeño (S Simpson), Whitley; Osman; Collins, Hume (Scott).
Jorge Ormeño was our worst performer in that match, and it wasn't the first time the Chilean international had let us down. Whether it was the language barrier or just complacency, he wasn't living up to expectations at all - and he didn't react well at all when I warned him about his poor performances. Perhaps a few matches on the sidelines would set him straight.
By contrast, Barry Miller was once again solid at centre-half, despite the result. Grimsby had come back in for Barry with a £325,000 offer - nowhere near enough for me to consider selling.
On the transfer front, I signed another Scottish youngster for the reserve team... called Paul Graham. No, that's not the same Paul Graham who played for my Dagenham & Redbridge team. This Paul Graham isn't a defensive midfielder, but rather a 17-year-old striker with excellent pace and technique.
After the Northampton disappointment, we faced the toughest challenge of our season, when we visited runaway leaders Torquay at Plainmoor. Chris Kamara's Gulls had been in unbelievable form, going 14 points clear at the top after winning 15 of their first 17 matches! Indeed, their only defeat had come at the end of August against Colchester... who were now second-from-bottom!!
8 NOVEMBER 2008: Torquay United vs Kidderminster Harriers
Torquay made a strong start - literally, as midfielder Stephen Strong had the ball in the net after just three minutes. Luckily for us, his team-mate Kevin Allan - who'd been one of the Gulls' top performers during their surge to the summit - had strayed offside and was ruled to be obstructing John Forde's view. A huge let-off.
Chris Kamara and his assistant Phil Thompson probably had even more reason to be annoyed nine minutes later. Ryan Carter had got a lot of grief from Kidderminster fans since his arrival, but he laid on a great assist for David Collins, whose 10th goal of the season gave us the lead... for a few moments. Torquay hit back in double-quick time, with Richard Graham grabbing an equaliser just as we were catching our breaths!
However, we would go back in front after 29 minutes, as Jeff Whitley's cross was flicked into the Torquay net by the unfortunate home defender Mustapha Sama. We thus took a 2-1 lead into the second half... but we would have to play on without left-back Kevin Hyde, who'd aggravated a rib injury just 38 minutes into his comeback. Perhaps I had rushed Kevin back into the team too soon?
Six minutes into the second period, though, another Carter assist put us on the road to an unbelievable away win. Right-winger César Gallego skilfully chested down Ryan's flick on and then drove it past an unwitting Richard Kingson for a 3-1 Harriers lead!
But the Gulls hadn't been culled just yet. Graham got his second goal of the afternoon after 61 minutes to pull it back to 3-2, leaving some travelling fans feeling very anxious.
Then, on 75 minutes, Strong breached our backline to head in left-back Leon Hylton's cross from point-blank range. As Strong celebrated what he thought was an equaliser, the linesman raised his flag again - for another offside call against Allan! I bet Kammy and Thommo were wishing they'd taught their players about the offside rule!
Six minutes from full-time, however, Torquay found our net for the fifth time - and this one did produce their third goal. Graham capped off a stunning midfield display with a clever cross to Sama, who headed the ball into the same net where he'd inadvertently given us a 2-1 lead just over an hour earlier. The Sierra Leonean's redemption goal finished off a thrilling 3-3 draw, which relieved Gulls fans celebrated like it was another victory.
Torquay United - 3 (Graham 13,61, Sama 84)
Kidderminster Harriers - 3 (Collins 12, Sama og29, Gallego 51)
Division 2, Attendance 5,867 - POSITIONS: Torquay 1st, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Miller, Hyde (Haarala); Heikkinen; Gallego, Whitley, Carter, Aðalsteinsson (Scott); Collins (Osman). BOOKED: Collins.
What a match! I don't know how we managed to get a point from that, but I'll take it!
Midfielder Leon Osman returned to Dagenham after that match, having provided three goals and three assists in 11 games during his loan spell. We also said goodbye to reserve right-back Tom Spearritt, who was sold to Tranmere for £26,000.
Because Kevin Hyde was back on the sidelines, and Terry Simpson was still recovering from a sprained ankle, we were once again short of left-back options for our FA Cup Round 3 tie against Blackpool. I decided to give a senior debut to 18-year-old David Gallacher, while centre-half Haraldur Guðmundsson made his first appearance since August.
15 NOVEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Blackpool
My gamble on David Gallacher quickly backfired, as the 18-year-old was on the pitch for just 18 minutes. As Danny Webber bore down on the Harriers goal with just the keeper to beat, Gallacher pushed the Blackpool striker to the turf in an act of petulant desperation. Gallacher was sent off, we were down to 10 men, and I already had to reshuffle my team.
Scott Simpson was the unlucky man to be sacrificed for our makeshift left-back Baldur Aðalsteinsson - and boy did he look makeshift. Barely two minutes after coming on, Aðalsteinsson tripped Blackpool's other striker Darren Mansaram in our area to concede a penalty. Midfield veteran Aaron Skelton stepped forward, and a cool penalty put the Seasiders 1-0 up.
Despite being in a higher division, we struggled to compete with Blackpool after going a man down and a goal down. Mansaram finished off the contest in the 76th minute with a tidy finish, booking their place in Round 2. For the first time since the 2001/2002 season, Kidderminster had been knocked out of the FA Cup at Round 1.
Kidderminster Harriers - 0
Blackpool - 2 (Skelton pen20)
FA Cup Round 1, Attendance 3,431
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala (McCluskey), Guðmundsson, Miller, Gallacher; Heikkinen; Carter, Whitley; S Simpson (Aðalsteinsson); Scott, Hume (Collins). SENT OFF: Gallacher.
David Gallacher's first game for Kidderminster was also his last. After fining David two weeks' wages, I left my office for a bathroom break... and returned to find that he had trashed it. I immediately cancelled his contract and called the police. There’s a good chance the little sod will be in prison before he finds another club.
A few days later, we hoped for better fortunes in the League Cup. Sunderland and Preston had already been scalped, and if we could inflict a similar punishment on Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, we would find ourselves in our first major cup Quarter Final.
Even with Terry Simpson returning from injury to bolster our defence, this wouldn't be an easy ride. While we'd experienced a downturn in form, Sheffield United were on a three-game winning streak that had left them just outside the Division 1 play-off spots. The Blades also had - in Neil Warnock - a wily old manager whose teams were not afraid to play direct football or bully lower-league opponents.
19 NOVEMBER 2008: Sheffield United vs Kidderminster Harriers
As expected, Sheffield United dominated the first half-hour of this match. Midfielder Neil Scally struck the post after just six minutes, while Billy Paynter's 26th-minute effort was kept out only by a superb save from John Forde. Our Irish gloveman also tipped away a 32nd-minute free-kick from right-back Danny Butterfield.
Our first chance to counter the Blades came seven minutes from half-time. Scott Simpson gathered the loose ball and spotted an opening for David Collins. Simpson crossed to our in-form striker, whose header beat the goalkeeper Paul Gallacher and put us potentially one half of football away from a League Cup Quarter Final! If only we could hold onto that lead...
Despite putting in a strong defensive shift at half-time, I did have one cause for concern. Centre-back Barry Miller was on a yellow card, having been cautioned by the ref for a shove on United captain Kevin Hunt, and I didn't want to risk a second red card in as many games. Miller reluctantly made way for Markus Heikkinen, who would team up with Simon Bell for the second half.
Bell and Heikkinen had been a dependable partnership earlier in the season, but Miller's experience would be greatly missed. In the 54th minute, Bell was outwitted by the guile and pace of Paynter, who finished a cross from left-back Liam Martin to draw Sheffield United level. The Blades frontman then cut us open again three minutes later, clinically finishing a rebound shot after Ben Muirhead's header was awkwardly saved by Forde.
After that, United never looked back. Despite Forde's best efforts, they put a third goal beyond him in the 65th minute, when former Northampton winger Muirhead surged unmarked to drive in a cross from Jimmy Moran.
Muirhead left the Bramall Lane turf to a standing ovation seven minutes later, as Neil Warnock looked to see the game out with a defensive substitute. After struggling to decide whether to throw on his young centre-half David Quinn or his other young centre-half David Quinn, he instructed Wales Under-21s international Lee Rees to batten down the hatches. We couldn't break through this reinforced Sheffield steel defence and went down to a brave 3-1 defeat.
Sheffield United - 3 (Paynter 54,57, Muirhead 65)
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 38)
League Cup Round 4, Attendance 8,355
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; McCluskey, Miller (Heikkinen), Bell, T Simpson; Nicholls; Gallego, Whitley (Hume), S Simpson (Carter), Aðalsteinsson; Collins. BOOKED: Miller.
Our League Cup adventure was now over, and now we had to put our broken defence back together again. Our run of four consecutive clean sheets had been followed by a four-game run in which we'd conceded 10 goals.
Following our defeat in Yorkshire, we crossed the Pennines to face play-off rivals Rochdale. Glenn Roeder's side were among the most prolific scorers in the division.
22 NOVEMBER 2008: Rochdale vs Kidderminster Harriers
Playmaker Scott Simpson tormented Rochdale throughout the first half, particularly in the 17th minute. The Scot escaped his marker and floated a cross to the far post, where winger Baldur Aðalsteinsson squared first-time to David Collins in front of a wide open goal. Collins couldn't possibly miss, and we were already 1-0 to the good!
Rochdale were clearly struggling to get back in the game, as midfielders Rafael Cretaro and Liam Miller each picked up yellow cards before we doubled our advantage. It was another selfless Aðalsteinsson assist for Collins, who was on target for the 13th time in just 18 games! Even by his incredibly high standards, Collins was surely in the form of his life!
Glenn Roeder was given another headache early in the second half. Just three minutes after Danny Pugh came on to replace Cretaro, the ex-Manchester United trainee twisted his knee and had to be stretchered off. Pugh was replaced with an 18-year-old Belgian winger called Frédéric Renders - and incredibly, the substitute's substitute pulled a goal back for Dale in the 59th minute? Was that the start of another Harriers collapse?
After a nail-biting half-hour in which Rochdale lost another player - centre-back Jamie Young - to injury, the match was finally decided by one more goal in the 90th minute. César Gallego swung a clever corner into the Dale box, where substitute Ryan Carter headed in his first Kidderminster goal to complete a 3-1 away win!
Rochdale - 1 (Renders 59)
Kidderminster Harriers - 3 (Collins 17,42, Carter 90)
Division 2, Attendance 5,372 - POSITIONS: Rochdale 6th, Kidderminster 2nd
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; McCluskey (Haarala), Miller, Bell, T Simpson; Heikkinen; Gallego, Whitley, S Simpson (Carter), Aðalsteinsson; Collins (Hume). BOOKED: T Simpson.
That result saw us jump into 2nd place ahead of Swindon, who had completely fallen apart with four defeats on the spin - including a 5-2 reverse at Bristol City! After 19 matches, we were well placed for promotion back into Division 1.
Mind you, we were only ahead of 3rd-placed Wycombe on goal difference... and we'd just sold one of our defenders to the Chairboys. Guðmundsson wanted more first-team football after losing his starting place to Simon Bell, so I allowed him to move to Buckinghamshire for £350,000. I hope I don't regret that...
Meanwhile, I brought in 24-year-old Swedish right-back Billy Berntsson on a Bosman free transfer from Malmö FF. Berntsson is a firm tackler who passes the ball very well, and I'm sure he'll provide stiff competition for Stuart McCluskey and Hannu Haarala.
If you ignored Torquay's now 16-point lead, things were very tight at the top of Division 2. So tight, in fact, that 6th-placed Cambridge would go ahead of us in the standings if they could beat us at Aggborough. A third home loss this month would not go down well with the Kiddy fans, so we had to be fired up from the very start.
29 NOVEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Cambridge United
This would be another busy afternoon's work for John Forde. The Kidderminster number 1 was continuing to play beyond his tender years, frequently frustrating Cambridge's star players, including captain Michael Brown and striker Dave Kitson. Unfortunately, David Collins was not having much luck at the other end, and so the match remained goalless at half-time.
We went into the second half with a lot more attacking urgency - and that change of approach paid off after just 51 minutes. Collins wasn't getting on the scoresheet this time, but he did delight the Aggborough faithful with a through-ball to Ryan Carter, who drove home his maiden home goal for the club! After such a disappointing start to his Harriers career, Ryan's redemption was well underway!
Our new right-back Billy Berntsson had come on for his debut at the break, and he almost got an assist in the 55th minute, when Collins headed his cross just over the bar. Six minutes later, though, another Nordic wideman did double our lead - winger Baldur Aðalsteinsson finding the net for just the second time this term!
To their credit, Cambridge never threw in the towel, and their persistent attacks eventually delivered a goal through Kitson in the 86th minute. That could have been a game-changer, but we finished the game off just two minutes later. Left-back Terry Simpson effortlessly surged upfield and then drilled the ball to the near post, where Billy Berntsson had unexpectedly popped up to score a debut goal! Billy, DO be a hero!
Kidderminster Harriers - 3 (Carter 51, Aðalsteinsson 61, Berntsson 88)
Cambridge United - 1 (Kitson 86)
Division 2, Attendance 4,002 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 2nd, Cambridge 7th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; McCluskey (Berntsson), Miller, Bell, T Simpson; Heikkinen; Gallego, Whitley, Carter, Aðalsteinsson (S Simpson); Collins (Hume). BOOKED: Heikkinen.
Nothing sums up the madness of lower-league football like the tales of our two debutant right-backs this month! While David Gallacher got himself a red card, a torn-up contract and a visit from the rozzers, Billy Berntsson had got himself a dream goal and the instant adulation of Kidderminster fans. I bloody love this game!
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DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of October 2008)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Torquay 16 7 1 0 26 12 7 0 1 24 11 43 2nd Swindon 15 5 1 1 16 5 5 1 2 16 10 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Kidderminster 16 6 1 1 12 6 3 2 3 12 14 30 4th Wycombe 16 7 0 1 24 17 2 1 5 17 26 28 5th Rochdale 16 5 2 1 20 9 2 4 2 15 15 27 6th Nottm Forest 15 6 1 1 22 10 2 1 4 13 16 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Cambridge Utd 16 4 3 1 17 11 2 3 3 17 18 24 8th Hull 16 4 1 3 15 11 3 1 4 12 16 23 9th Northampton 16 6 1 1 16 8 1 1 6 8 17 23 10th Darlington 16 3 1 4 12 10 4 0 4 8 7 22 11th Shrewsbury 16 4 3 1 13 9 2 1 5 6 15 22 12th Oldham 16 3 4 1 16 12 2 2 4 10 15 21 13th Millwall 16 4 2 2 16 7 1 3 4 10 17 20 14th Watford 16 4 1 3 15 11 1 4 3 14 20 20 15th Q.P.R. 16 4 1 3 15 13 2 1 5 10 15 20 16th Tranmere 16 5 3 0 10 4 0 2 6 4 18 20 17th Reading 16 4 2 2 17 12 1 2 5 9 16 19 18th Doncaster 16 4 1 3 14 14 2 0 6 7 16 19 19th Oxford 16 4 2 2 24 16 1 1 6 10 21 18 20th Hartlepool 16 3 2 3 18 15 1 4 3 11 17 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Walsall 16 4 2 2 19 15 1 1 6 11 21 18 22nd Bristol City 16 3 3 2 18 13 1 1 6 10 19 16 23rd Colchester 16 3 2 3 9 10 0 3 5 6 16 14 24th Wrexham 16 1 1 6 13 23 1 2 5 13 21 9
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- England narrowly avoid a shock World Cup qualifying defeat in Iceland. After a clanger from Paul Robinson gives a goal to Iceland's 20-year-old debutant midfielder Daði Helgason, the Three Lions need David Beckham and Joe Cole to score in the final six minutes to squeak a 2-1 win.
- That narrow escape kicks off a miserable month for Robinson. The Leeds goalkeeper concedes three goals at Tottenham, four at Burnley, and another three at home to Birmingham as the Whites drop to 16th in the Premiership. United's finances are also in such disarray that chairman Peter Ridsdale ponders selling his third mansion to fund a transfer for Sebastien Frey.
- Roma go on a rampage, winning their Champions League group and sauntering to the top of the Serie A standings. Juventus struggle to keep up and go on a £22.5million spending spree, including a £7.5million investment in Torino's young Colombian striker John Jairo Yepes. In other shocking news, Ariel Ortega asks to leave Parma.
- Celtic's Champions League hopes hang in the balance after a 3-1 defeat at Racing Genk, while Rangers go clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League with 11 wins from 12 matches. Even so, it's a watershed month for Celtic’s 19-year-old wonderkid Gordon Weir, who scores twice on his Scotland home debut in a 3-0 win over Croatia.
- Rafa Benítez's first season as Wolfsburg manager could not have started any worse. A 4-1 defeat at Bielefeld leaves 'Die Wölfe' 17th in the Bundesliga after 10 matches, with just two goals and two points to their name. Of particular concern is the poor form of Raphael Wicky - a Swiss 'libero' who is perhaps best-known for being TV presenter Jonathan Ross' favourite footballer.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 show is axed after a 'prank' goes too far. Together with Jonathan Ross, the 'comedian' makes a prank call to veteran actor Andrew Sachs and leaves lewd messages about Sachs' granddaughter - an ex-girlfriend of Brand's.
- Rihanna continues her dominance of the Billboard Hot 100, achieving her fifth Number 1 single in less than three years after featuring on T.I.'s chart-topper "Live Your Life". It samples O-Zone’s 2004 Eurodance classic “Dragostea Din Tei”, aka 'that bloody Numa Numa song'.
- OJ Simpson is GUILTY… of armed robbery and kidnapping. The former NFL player, actor and murder suspect is subsequently sentenced by a Las Vegas court to a minimum of nine years in prison.
- Despite no longer being a Labour MP, Peter Mandelson is back in Government for a third time. Mandelson is appointed Business Secretary by Gordon Brown and takes up a seat in the House of Lords. This is bound to go well…
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OCTOBER 2008
Kidderminster Harriers were 4th in Division 2 after a fairly strong start to the season, winning six of our first 10 games. There was one player in particular who deserved a lot of credit for that.
John Forde had been a sensation in goal since arriving on loan from Newcastle. The 19-year-old had almost single-handedly transformed a leaky Kidderminster defence into a more secure unit, conceding a respectable 13 goals in 10 games. He was also the only player who'd started every game for us this term...
...but not anymore. Our trip to Doncaster coincided with the October international break, and Forde had been called up by the Republic of Ireland's Under-21s. By the time we arrived at Belle Vue, our number 1 was in Greece with his compatriots.
That meant I had to give a senior debut to Kent Ivarsson - a 25-year-old Swede who was short of match practice. Doncaster's attack wasn't exactly the sharpest - they'd scored only 11 goals in their opening 10 fixtures - but I had no idea if Kent could handle the step up.
4 OCTOBER 2008: Doncaster Rovers vs Kidderminster Harriers
It took us only eight minutes to break through the Doncaster defence. César Gallego's free-kick from the right wing was knocked down by Ryan Carter, and Iain Hume drove in his fifth goal of the season! We were a goal up...
...but we could easily have gone a goal down soon after. Having received a yellow card in the second minute, Jorge Ormeño narrowly avoided another in the 24th minute following a rough challenge on Rovers striker Justin Jackson. At that point, I took the Chilean hardman off before he could get himself sent off, with Timo Marjamaa taking his place.
Nine minutes after Ormeño's close shave, we cut Donny open again. A goal kick from Michael Brown was intercepted by Hume, who surged past a couple of defenders before doubling our advantage. A 2-0 half-time lead against one of the weakest attacks in the league looked secure... didn't it?
Kent Ivarsson was barely tested in the first half of his Kidderminster debut, only having to make one save from Adam Oliver just before half-time. Doncaster didn't get another shot on target until the 69th minute - and it wasn't a nice experience for our inexperienced Swedish keeper, who was well beaten by attacking midfielder Jon Coppinger. Rovers had pulled one goal back.
Ivarsson saved another Coppinger effort in the 74th minute, and the two came face-to-face again just a couple of minutes later. This time, however, Kent could do little to stop Coppinger's tap-in from a low cross by striker Rob Thomas. With that, Doncaster had stolen a draw that they were arguably very lucky to have.
Doncaster Rovers - 2 (Coppinger 69,76)
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Hume 8,33)
Division 2, Attendance 10,589 - POSITIONS: Doncaster 17th, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Ivarsson; McCluskey, Heikkinen, Miller, T Simpson; Ormeño (Marjamaa); Gallego (S Simpson), Carter, Nicholls, Aðalsteinsson (Scott); Hume. BOOKED: Ormeño.
Two points dropped. I can't help feeling that we would've seen out the win with Forde in goal.
Forde was back - as was the diamond - when we hosted Swindon a week later. However, we now had a new problem to contend with. Kevin Hyde fractured his ribs and Terry Simpson bruised his thigh within days of each other, which meant Nick Roberts would have to cover for them at left-back.
11 OCTOBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Swindon Town
After 17 minutes, I was already wondering if I should have given Kent Ivarsson another chance. John Forde's parried save from a Michael Dunwell pot-shot was not convincing at all, as it gave Swindon midfielder Stephen Wilkinson an open goal to fire the rebound into. 1-0 to Roy Evans' visitors.
Things got even worse in the 28th minute. Dunwell took advantage of a lapse in concentration from Markus Heikkinen to dribble into our area, where he set up a simple finish for his strike partner and captain James Hogg. Though Forde did redeem himself somewhat by saving Craig Pead's 36th-minute free-kick, it seemed as if we were sleep-walking to a first home defeat of the season.
Then, just before half-time, came a glimmer of hope. Scott Simpson lifted a corner into the Swindon area, where centre-back Barry Miller rose high above Wilkinson to head home. Iain Hume then threatened an equaliser early in the second half, only to be thwarted by Robins keeper Kelvin Davis.
Our purple patch either side of the interval was only fleeting. Swindon were well-organised at the back and confidently defended their lead until they sealed victory six minutes from time. Having been involved in their first two goals, it was fitting that Dunwell got on the scoresheet, beating Forde to Pead's whipped corner delivery.
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Miller 45)
Swindon Town - 3 (Wilkinson 17, Hogg 28, Dunwell 84)
Division 2, Attendance 3,416 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 4th, Swindon 2nd
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey (Haarala), Heikkinen, Miller, Roberts; Ormeño; Whitley, Carter; S Simpson (Gallego); Scott, Hume (Collins).
That was Forde's worst performance in a Kidderminster jersey by a country mile. Bloody typical.
A few days later, we cancelled the contracts of midfielder Richard Norris and striker Drewe Broughton, who hadn't played for Kidderminster since the 2006/2007 season and were now rotting in the reserves. With no buyers on the horizon, it made more financial sense to pay them off now than allow their contracts to expire.
I also agreed to let promising midfielder Lee Watson go out on loan. He will spend the rest of the season on loan at Conference side Hucknall, who are now managed by former England international Tim Sherwood. Lucky boy.
Next up were QPR, who had just been relegated straight back from Division 1 after winning the Division 2 title in 2007. I made three defensive changes from the Swindon defeat, but Forde kept his place in goal.
14 OCTOBER 2008: Queens Park Rangers vs Kidderminster Harriers
Though the first half didn't see any goals, both teams certainly had their chances. Richard Pacquette hit the woodwork for QPR in the 22nd minute, before Scott Simpson and Markus Heikkinen did likewise for Kidderminster. Both goalkeepers also looked in fine fettle, as although 19-year-old John Forde had rediscovered his confidence, he was being upstaged by Hoops counterpart Lee Harper - a man nearly twice his age.
With holding midfielder Kevin Nicholls coming off injured just before half-time, Jorge Ormeño had to be subbed on in his place. I had some doubts over the Chilean's defensive capabilities, and those concerns would soon resurface.
In the 62nd minute, Ormeño failed to keep close enough tabs on QPR playmaker Hamed Kavianpour, who flicked the ball out wide to substitute Luciano Mazzoni. The teenage winger crossed first-time into the box, where Pacquette outjumped Barry Miller and headed in the goal that broke the deadlock.
Ten minutes later, Forde was forced to parry behind another Pacquette header that could have made it 2-0. It didn't really matter, as QPR doubled their lead anyway just moments later. R's midfielder Simon Humphreys delivered a corner that Kavianpour blasted in to give us back-to-back defeats. Considering how little threat we'd posed in the second half, we deserved it.
Queens Park Rangers - 2 (Pacquette 62, Kavianpour 72)
Kidderminster Harriers - 0
Division 2, Attendance 8,046 - POSITIONS: QPR 7th, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala (McCluskey), Heikkinen, Miller, Aðalsteinsson; Nicholls (Ormeño); Carter (Gallego), Whitley; S Simpson; Scott, Hume.
That was one point from three games - but somehow we were still in 4th place.
Kevin Nicholls was now on the sidelines for a month with a pulled hamstring, but Terry Simpson and centre-back Simon Bell returned from their injuries for our next home game against mid-table Oxford.
18 OCTOBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Oxford United
There was also a recall for David Collins, who made his first start in a month. It didn't take him long to remind the Aggborough faithful of his goalscoring talents. A floated cross from captain Jeff Whitley was finished with aplomb, and we were leading 1-0 after 17 minutes!
Collins was no doubt helped by some hesitant goalkeeping from Chris Stringer, but Oxford's custodian was much more alert later on. Stringer made a fantastic save to deny Collins a second goal on 31 minutes, and then kept out Barry Miller's header from the subsequent Scott Simpson corner.
At the other end, Lee Trundle came inches from restoring parity for Oxford just before half-time. The Scouse showboat had another golden opportunity much later - in the 84th minute, when his shot from point-blank range was somehow tipped away by John Forde! Our young keeper had rediscovered his top form just in time to see us through!
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 17)
Oxford United - 0
Division 2, Attendance 3,902 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 4th, Oxford 14th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Miller, T Simpson; Heikkinen (Ormeño); Carter, Whitley; S Simpson (Gallego); Collins, Hume (Garside).
The FA Cup Round 1 draw took place a week later. The Harriers would open our cup campaign at home to Blackpool - who were 14th in Division 3 - on 15 November.
I found that draw quite amusing, as we were already scheduled to play Blackpool's close rivals Preston in the League Cup at the end of this month. Before that, though, we had to play a couple more league games. A home game against struggling Walsall was preceded by a trip to our fellow play-off contenders Hull.
21 OCTOBER 2008: Hull City vs Kidderminster Harriers
Iain Hume was perhaps the best player at Boothferry Park - and undoubtedly the unluckiest. Hume had SEVEN shots in total, FIVE of which were on target... but none of them could beat Abdellilah Bagui in the Hull goal! Whatever our Canadian frontman tried, it seemed utterly hopeless against Morocco's answer to Craig Forrest.
It wasn't all about Bagui for Hull, though. Right-back Ryan Amoo and centre-half Stuart Duff also excelled, especially after their defensive colleague James Perch injured his knee late in the first half. Further upfield, Tigers captain Tuomas Haapala had a couple of dangerous shots in the 29th and 50th minute, both of which were brilliantly saved by John Forde.
With the deadlock still unbroken as we went into the closing stages, I freshened up my midfield by subbing on Scott Simpson for Ryan Carter. When Hume was shoved by Hull defender Steve Rimmer 25 yards from the home goal in the 85th minute, Simpson sensed an opportunity. The Glaswegian playmaker lined up his free-kick, curled it past the Hull wall... and right into the postage stamp! Bagui was finally beaten, and we left Humberside with all three points!
Hull City - 0
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (S Simpson 85)
Division 2, Attendance 13,279 - POSITIONS: Hull 7th, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Miller (Roberts), T Simpson; Heikkinen; Gallego, Whitley, Carter (S Simpson), Aðalsteinsson; Hume.
We then hosted a Walsall side who looked in total disarray, having dropped down to 19th after losing in the play-offs last season. Lawrie Sanchez was the Saddlers' fourth different manager in two-and-a-half years.
25 OCTOBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Walsall
The first half was a complete mess, memorable only for a tame shot from Walsall forward Tonton Zola Moukoko in the 31st minute that John Forde easily saved. Otherwise, the Saddlers posed hardly any danger to a Kidderminster defence that had been significantly weakened when Terry Simpson sprained his ankle on 15 minutes. That wasn't the only substitution I had to make before the second half.
Ryan Carter's performance in the first half had been nothing short of shambolic. My former Dagenham midfielder had lost possession regularly, and his woeful decision-making had snuffed out several potentially promising Kiddy attacks. I tore into Ryan in the dressing room, before hooking him in favour of Jorge Ormeño.
Things got a little more exciting in the second half. Walsall started brightly, with Moukoko drawing a more challenging save from Forde in the 58th minute. But despite being the Saddlers' liveliest player, I was surprised to see Tonton come off just four minutes later, with Marlon Harewood taking his place. Was that a stroke of managerial genius from Lawrie Sanchez, or a huge mistake?
After 73 minutes, we finally managed to put together a meaningful attack. David Collins played a clever one-two with Iain Hume before escaping the last Walsall defender, and then stroked in a fine finish! Collins spurned a chance to double his tally five minutes later, but his earlier heroics meant we secured a third 1-0 win in a row - and surged into 3rd place!
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 73)
Walsall - 0
Division 2, Attendance 4,568 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 3rd, Walsall 21st
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Miller, T Simpson (Roberts); Heikkinen; Whitley, Carter (Ormeño); S Simpson; Collins, Hume (Scott). BOOKED: Roberts.
Boring, boring Kidderminster Harriers!
Unfortunately, Terry Simpson's ankle injury meant we had to survive the next three weeks without either of our senior left-backs. I'd not been particularly convinced with either Roberts or Baldur Aðalsteinsson when they'd covered in that position. Perhaps it would be time to give an opportunity to one of our young reserve left-backs - David Gallacher or Kevin Fitzgerald?
The next game was too soon for either David or Kevin, as I banked on Roberts' experience when we went to Deepdale for Round 3 of the League Cup. Preston might have had history in this competition, but we had a new-found defensive stability - and every chance of causing another upset.
29 OCTOBER 2008: Preston North End vs Kidderminster Harriers
As Preston pushed forward early on, our gameplan was clear - tighten up, stay organised, and then look to hit our opponents on the break. Our defence executed the first parts of that plan brilliantly, as Barry Miller won several key tackles, and John Forde made a couple of blinding saves from Paul McKenna and David Healy. The closest Forde had come to being beaten was when Steven Campbell hit the post in the 17th minute.
When Preston's offence started to labour midway through the second half, our counter-attacking phase came into play. Substitute midfielder Leon Osman won a free-kick close to the Lilywhites goal in the 71st minute, and then quickly lobbed it into the penalty area. None of the Preston defenders were marking David Collins, who headed home from a tight angle to put us ahead!
David Moyes' boys now had to throw everything they had left at us. A 76th-minute free-kick from midfielder Barry Black found McKenna at point-blank range, but Forde palmed the North End captain's header off his goal line. Forde then produced more heroics just moments later, turning away a fierce strike from Campbell.
We were now incredibly heading for a fourth 1-0 win in a row. However, that scoreline would change in the 90th minute... when Baldur Aðalsteinsson made it TWO-nil to the Harriers! The Icelandic left-winger headed in his first Kidderminster goal from an Osman cross, and we were heading into the last 16 of the League Cup!
Preston North End - 0
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Collins 71, Aðalsteinsson 90)
League Cup Round 3, Attendance 10,322
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Miller, Roberts; Heikkinen; Gallego (Haarala), Whitley, S Simpson (Osman), Aðalsteinsson; Collins.
We'd done it again! After knocking out Sunderland and Preston, we now had a real chance to reach the Quarter Finals of the League Cup... or at least get a massive payday in Round 4.
Naturally, the draw handed us an away tie at mid-table Division 1 side Sheffield United, which would probably give us neither of those. Ah well.
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DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of September 2008)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Torquay 10 5 0 0 15 5 4 0 1 12 8 27 2nd Swindon 10 4 1 0 12 2 4 1 0 10 3 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Wycombe 10 5 0 0 15 6 2 0 3 10 14 21 4th Kidderminster 10 4 1 0 9 3 2 1 2 9 10 20 5th Northampton 10 4 1 0 11 3 1 1 3 4 6 17 6th Shrewsbury 10 4 1 0 8 3 1 1 3 3 7 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Q.P.R. 10 3 0 2 10 7 2 1 2 8 8 16 8th Oxford 10 3 2 0 14 5 1 1 3 6 12 15 9th Millwall 10 3 1 1 12 5 1 1 3 7 13 14 10th Nottm Forest 10 3 1 1 13 9 1 1 3 5 8 14 11th Hull 10 3 1 1 10 6 1 1 3 6 9 14 12th Tranmere 10 4 1 0 7 2 0 1 4 3 12 14 13th Rochdale 10 3 1 1 12 6 0 3 2 7 10 13 14th Cambridge Utd 10 2 3 0 9 7 1 1 3 7 12 13 15th Reading 10 2 2 1 10 8 1 1 3 7 10 12 16th Doncaster 10 3 0 2 8 5 1 0 4 3 8 12 17th Bristol City 10 2 2 1 13 10 1 0 4 8 14 11 18th Walsall 10 2 1 2 11 11 1 1 3 6 12 11 19th Darlington 10 2 1 2 7 5 1 0 4 3 7 10 20th Watford 10 2 1 2 9 8 0 3 2 8 14 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Oldham 10 2 2 1 7 7 0 1 4 5 14 9 22nd Hartlepool 10 2 0 3 9 9 0 2 3 6 13 8 23rd Colchester 10 2 1 2 7 7 0 1 4 3 10 8 24th Wrexham 10 0 0 5 6 15 1 1 3 8 10 4
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Leeds' Premiership title dreams seem to have crumbled already. The Whites let a 2-0 half-time lead slip against Manchester United, who rally in the second half to win 4-3 and keep in touch with champions Chelsea at the top. Red Devils striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is also back in form, scoring seven goals in his first six league games.
- English clubs are decimated in Round 1 of the UEFA Cup. Arsenal are knocked out by Deportivo, Newcastle are beaten on penalties by Olympiakos, and West Ham lose a 'Battle of Britain' against Ian Holloway's Dundee United. The biggest shock involves Norwich, who suffer an away-goals defeat to the mighty Dinamo Minsk from Belarus!
- After just two months in Japan, Oliver Kahn gets homesick and quits his job as S-Pulse manager. The legendary goalkeeper returns to Germany as the new head coach of the Bundesliga's bottom club Mainz. Another big name later shacks up in the German top flight, as a 36-year-old Zinedine Zidane signs for Rostock.
- Kahn's former club Bayern München are also in trouble, as they are thrashed 6-2 at 1.FC Köln and plummet to 15th place. It is painfully obvious that Bayern's 38-year-old goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is way past his best, so manager Ottmar Hitzfeld decides to spend £16million on... Juventus striker David Trezeguet.
- After years of Roman dominance, there is a surprise name at the top of Serie A. Fresh off lifting the Coppa Italia last season, Bologna win their first five league games, with Italy's Euro 2008 hero Giacomo Cipriani and his strike partner Mihajlo Pjanovic scoring 11 goals between them. When asked for the secret to their success, Rossoblú assistant coach Walter Mazzarri storms out of the press conference.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- A year-long global financial crisis hits its lowest points during a miserable month on Wall Street. Investment bank Lehman Bros files for bankruptcy, while Merrill Lynch is sold off to the Bank of America. In addition, the US government decides to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - they're major mortgage financiers, not a 70-year-old couple from Vermont.
- The Large Hadron Collider - a massive particle accelerator on the French-Swiss border - runs its first tests. Contrary to the media's expectations, the planet doesn't explode.
- The SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the first private spacecraft to go into orbit. It’s a huge success for SpaceX’s founder and CEO - a previously little-known, South African-born businessman named Elon Musk.
- Paul Newman - the American actor who won an Oscar for “The Color of Money” in 1987 - passes away at the age of 83. Newman was also a successful racing driver in his spare time, and his final major acting role was as the voice of Doc Hudson in the 2006 animated film “Cars”.
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SEPTEMBER 2008
If you can't beat them, sign them. That seems to be Wrexham's motto.
A week after my Kidderminster team beat them 3-1 at the Racecourse Ground, the Dragons made a £230,000 offer for our veteran defensive midfielder Kevin Nicholls. They must have been really impressed with Nicholls, who only played for about 15 minutes after coming on as a late substitute!
There had been a lot of upheaval at Kidderminster since my arrival, and as one of our longer-serving players, Nicholls brought a sense of stability to the team. It would take a lot more than 230 grand for me to part with him right now.
Nicholls started in defensive midfield for the first match in our September schedule - at home to 16th-placed Shrewsbury. Attacking midfielder Scott Simpson officially served a one-match suspension for this match, though he hadn't played since his red card at Bristol City a fortnight earlier.
6 SEPTEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Shrewsbury Town
Captain Jeff Whitley helped get the Harriers off to a flyer in the fifth minute. Whitley found David Collins in the penalty area, and the forward played a string of passes with Leon Osman before the latter fired a shot in off the crossbar!
After our strong start, we spent practically the next 85 minutes battling to retain our lead. Winger Lee Cook and striker Ryan Lowe each had a couple of good chances to get the Shrews back level, but John Forde was having another of those games where our young goalkeeper looked unbeatable.
As obvious as this pun was, Forde really did save his best for last. After blocking Chris McConville's point-blank header in the 80th minute, he produced a brilliant double-save in the 89th - first denying midfielder Eddie Mooney, and then deflecting McConville's powerful follow-up. With the Irish Yashin in top form, we were able to see the job through!
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Osman 5)
Shrewsbury Town - 0
Division 2, Attendance 3,592 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 7th, Shrewsbury 19th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Roberts, Bell, Heikkinen, T Simpson (Hyde); Nicholls; Carter, Whitley; Osman (Garside); Collins, Hume (Gallego).
Four days later, we had the chance to break into the top six by beating second-from-bottom Colchester at Layer Road. Our previous three away games this term had yielded one win, one draw and one loss, so who knows what would happen here?
10 SEPTEMBER 2008: Colchester United vs Kidderminster Harriers
This match started much like the last one, with David Collins selflessly setting up Leon Osman for the opening goal. Osman's prolific form since arriving on loan from Dagenham & Redbridge continued when he thundered Collins' flick-on home in the 19th minute. Leon almost added another goal four minutes later, but he was denied by Colchester keeper Vagelis Keretzis.
Colchester put our defence under some pressure late in the first half, but it wasn't until the 58th minute that they got their first real opportunity to strike back. Kiddy left-back Terry Simpson gave away a penalty for holding back U's striker James Flood, who duly put it away.
The rest of the match was a pretty close affair, which would eventually be decided six minutes from time. Centre-back Simon Bell picked up the loose ball and expertly picked out Collins, who got free from his marker and snatched us a late 2-1 victory!
Colchester United - 1 (Flood pen58)
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Osman 19, Collins 84)
Division 2, Attendance 6,491 - POSITIONS: Colchester 23rd, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala (Hyde), Bell, Heikkinen, T Simpson; Ormeño; Carter (Gallego), Whitley; Osman; Collins, Hume.
I was pleased to have vice-captain Barry Miller back on the bench after a groin strain delayed his season. But with Markus Heikkinen and Simon Bell having excelled as a centre-back partnership in recent weeks, it was hard to see Barry getting back into the starting line-up any time soon!
Barry's qualities were still perfectly clear - not least when we received a £475,000 offer from West Ham. Yes, that's FA Cup winners West Ham, who were now floundering in Division 1 and already fighting to avoid back-to-back relegations. I wasn't prepared to sell Miller just yet, but if Heikkinen and Bell could sustain their impressive form...
Next up was a home game against Oldham, in sweltering 31-degree Celsius heat. Despite that, I made just one change to the starting line-up that had battled past Colchester, with Hannu Haarala being replaced at right-back by Stuart McCluskey. Scott Simpson was also back on the bench for the first time since seeing red in Bristol.
13 SEPTEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Oldham Athletic
Oldham went up as Division 3 champions last season, and though Andy Ritchie's side hadn't made a great start to life back in Division 2, they looked pretty good here. John Forde was severely tested in the 12th minute by a volley from winger Nick Wright. In the 36th, midfielder Justin Walker unleashed an even better strike that Forde couldn't quite keep out.
Walker almost followed up his first goal with an immediate second, but another fine save from Forde stopped the match slipping away from us. Within a couple more minutes, the momentum had shifted. Holding midfielder Jorge Ormeño delivered the first assist of his Harriers career when his direct ball to David Collins was volleyed in from just outside the area!
We were in complete control of the second half, with only some sublime goalkeeping from Oldham's Clayton Ince keeping the scores level at 1-1. In the 90th minute, he punched away a Collins header that could have given us another late winner... but substitute Scott Simpson got to the rebound and finished the job instead! What a way to redeem yourself, Scott!
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Collins 39, S Simpson 90)
Oldham Athletic - 1 (Walker 36)
Division 2, Attendance 4,241 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 4th, Oldham 18th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Heikkinen (Miller), T Simpson; Ormeño; Carter, Whitley; Osman (S Simpson); Collins, Hume (Garside).
We're a resilient team, aren't we?
That resilience would be put to the ultimate test four days later, as Sunderland came to town for Round 2 of the League Cup. The Harriers had faced the Black Cats four times in their Division 1 days and never won, so it was hard to our fortunes changing against a team that was now in the Premiership.
17 SEPTEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Sunderland
Sunderland boss Steve McClaren didn't seem to be taking this competition very seriously, as he left out most of his star players and fielded a mostly second-string line-up. McClaren also gave a first senior start to the promising 16-year-old left-back Danny Culshaw, who was denied a dream debut goal by John Forde in the 24th minute.
Eight minutes later, though, our star striker was making mugs of the Mackems’ reserve defence. Iain Hume took an excellent first touch to Ryan Carter's through-ball, and then dribbled past the last defender before tapping a cool shot beyond goalkeeper Ray Ward! Hume's could have got even better when he found the net again in the 38th minute, only for an offside flag to go up against David Collins.
Even so, we still carried a surprise 1-0 lead into the second half... and that lead would only increase in the 62nd minute. An excellent Harriers passing move culminated in captain Jeff Whitley setting up a header for Scott Simpson, who left the Black Cats facing a similar fate to Snowball II.
And 2-0 was how it finished. Substitute Robert Garside thought he'd made it 3-0 with his first Kidderminster goal in the 68th minute, but this time, it was Hume who fell foul of the offside flag. The fact we'd had two goals disallowed and still won comfortably showed just how brilliant we were - and how very ordinary this Sunderland team was. Premiership team, my eye!
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Hume 32, S Simpson 62)
Sunderland - 0
League Cup Round 2, Attendance 2,933
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey, Bell, Miller, Hyde; Ormeño; Carter, Whitley; S Simpson (Gallego); Hume (Aðalsteinsson), Collins (Garside). BOOKED: Collins.
Incredible! That was my first competitive victory over a Premiership team as a manager - and we made it look simple!
Of course, we couldn't afford to get too carried away, otherwise Darlington would give us a rude awakening in our next league match at Feethams. Darlo might have been down in 23rd place after scoring only six goals in their first eight matches, but they still had the potential to upset us if we weren't careful.
Miller made his first league start of the season alongside Bell after the pair excelled against the Mackems, and another fan favourite was back in the squad too. Alan Scott had now recovered from the twisted knee that had cut the young target man down just as he was hitting top form.
20 SEPTEMBER 2008: Darlington vs Kidderminster Harriers
After leading the Quakers to promotion from Division 3 in 2007, and then securing a solid mid-table finish in their first season up, manager Steve Parkin was the darling of Darlington. His attacking 3-5-2 ripped into our diamond early on, as attacking midfielder Peter Stott set up the first goal for ex-Port Vale striker Delapo Olaoye after just 18 minutes.
Darlo suffered a minor blow in the 38th minute, when sweeper Andrew Rollo's knee ligaments melted in the Durham heat, and Parkin had to substitute him. To try and take advantage of this, I made a couple of changes of my own at half-time. The narrow 4-4-2 turned into a wider variant, as midfielders Ryan Carter and Scott Simpson made way for wingers Baldur Aðalsteinsson and César Gallego.
Stretching play out a bit wider seemed to make a positive difference to our performance early in the second half, but those new plans went out the window in the 62nd minute. A stroke of misfortune saw Barry Miller deflect a Robbie Ryan shot into his own net, giving Darlington a decisive second goal. After six consecutive wins, it really was a case of unlucky seven.
Darlington - 2 (Olaoye 18, Miller og62)
Kidderminster Harriers - 0
Division 2, Attendance 7,941 - POSITIONS: Darlington 23rd, Kidderminster 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarola (McCluskey), Bell, Miller, Hyde; Ormeño; Carter (Aðalsteinsson), Whitley; S Simpson (Gallego); Scott, Hume.
Don't say I didn't warn you...
As we conducted a post-mortem into our first defeat since the opening day, I confirmed four new signings for our reserves. David Gallacher (18) is a strong left-back with a fierce long shot, while his fellow Scot Graham Hutchison (16) is an aggressive sweeper. We also signed a couple of local boys - right-back Paul Fowler (19), and explosive striker Jamie Berry (16).
Then came the League Cup Round 3 draw, which gave us an away tie against 2007 winners Preston - now hovering in lower mid-table in Division 1. I suppose it could have been worse.
After a much-needed week-long break, we looked to return to winning ways against Wycombe, who were directly above us in 3rd place. While a victory wouldn't be enough for us to leapfrog the Chairboys in the standings, it would at least make our play-off position a little more comfortable.
27 SEPTEMBER 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe set their stall out to attack early on, and our returning defender Markus Heikkinen having to block a fierce shot from his Chairboys counterpart Nicky Barnard. In the 22nd minute, it was John Forde's right-hand post that prevented Neil Hooper from firing the visitors into the lead.
At the other end, Leon Osman picked up a knee injury in the 18th minute, forcing us into an early change. David Collins slotted into the attacking midfield vacancy, and it was he who created our first scoring opportunity in the 35th minute. His attempted pass to Iain Hume was put behind by Wycombe defender Ian Roper for a corner, and Hume's delivery was headed home by big Alan Scott!
Our lead lasted until the 58th minute, when Wanderers hit back with a header of their own. Paul Emblen - now in his 11th season as a Chairboy - nodded in his 138th league goal for the club after a fabulous lob from Hooper. In fairness to the defence, we didn't do a whole lot wrong there; it was just a brilliantly-crafted counter-attack.
Kidderminster left-back Terry Simpson started his career at Wycombe, and he would play a big role in us regaining the lead after 76 minutes. A low cross to Hume was met by a fierce shot from the Canadian, who was denied by goalkeeper Joel Armstrong. First to the loose ball was David Collins, whose fifth goal of this season secured another dramatic victory!
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Scott 35, Collins 76)
Wycombe Wanderers - 1 (Emblen 58)
Division 2, Attendance 3,777 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 4th, Wycombe 3rd
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey, Heikkinen, Miller, T Simpson; Nicholls; Carter, Whitley; Osman (Collins); Scott (Gallego), Hume. BOOKED: Miller.
We scored winning goals in the final 15 minutes of three matches this month. That's a nice habit to get into; I just hope my heart can handle all the stresses these close matches bring!
Unfortunately, Osman strained his knee ligaments in that match and will miss our next couple of fixtures - one of which is against 2nd-placed Swindon. With Scott Simpson back in form, we probably won't miss Leon that much, but it's still not ideal.
Other than that, I don't have much to complain about. We're flying high in 4th place - four points clear of 7th - and this 4-4-2 diamond is delivering consistent results. Now watch this all inevitably fall apart when I try something completely different at Doncaster next week...
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DIVISION 2 TABLE (End of August 2008)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Wycombe 5 3 0 0 10 5 2 0 0 5 3 15 2nd Torquay 5 2 0 0 7 3 2 0 1 7 6 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Swindon 4 1 1 0 4 1 2 0 0 5 1 10 4th Hull 5 2 0 0 6 1 1 1 1 5 5 10 5th Northampton 5 2 0 0 4 1 1 1 1 2 2 10 6th Tranmere 5 3 0 0 5 1 0 0 2 0 5 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Kidderminster 5 1 1 0 4 1 1 1 1 7 7 8 8th Rochdale 5 2 0 0 7 3 0 2 1 4 6 8 9th Watford 5 2 1 0 7 4 0 1 1 3 5 8 10th Oldham 5 2 1 0 5 3 0 1 1 4 6 8 11th Nottm Forest 4 1 1 0 7 6 1 0 1 4 4 7 12th Q.P.R. 4 2 0 0 4 2 0 1 1 3 4 7 13th Millwall 5 1 0 1 3 2 1 0 2 6 9 6 14th Walsall 5 1 1 1 6 5 0 1 1 3 5 5 15th Oxford 5 1 1 0 3 1 0 1 2 2 5 5 16th Shrewsbury 4 1 1 0 3 2 0 1 1 1 4 5 17th Cambridge Utd 5 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 2 5 8 5 18th Darlington 5 1 1 1 4 3 0 0 2 0 2 4 19th Bristol City 5 1 1 1 7 6 0 0 2 3 6 4 20th Reading 5 1 0 1 6 5 0 1 2 3 6 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st Colchester 5 1 1 1 4 4 0 0 2 1 5 4 22nd Wrexham 5 0 0 3 3 9 1 0 1 4 3 3 23rd Doncaster 5 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 4 3 24th Hartlepool 5 0 0 3 3 7 0 1 1 2 4 1
ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Following Alex McLeish's move to Rangers, FA Cup winners West Ham lift the Community Shield in their first match under new manager David Platt. The Hammers take a shock 3-0 lead over Chelsea after just 17 minutes, but the Premiership champions launch an incredible comeback before finally losing 3-1 on penalties. Captain John Terry is the only Blues player to score his spot-kick.
- Ahead of the new Premiership season, Chelsea spend £5.75million on Spain striker Fernando Morientes, who scored 38 goals for Club Brugge last season. The 32-year-old finds the net in each of his first three games as Jean Tigana's Blues brush aside Birmingham, Southampton and Coventry. However, Burnley's Dimitris Papadopoulos gets his campaign off to an even better start, scoring four goals!
- Former Chelsea winger José Antonio Reyes scores a crucial goal for new club Bayern München, which saves them from a surprise Champions League qualifying defeat to Swiss side Grasshoppers. Rangers also avoid an early exit, recovering from a 2-0 defeat at Brann to knock out the Norwegian champions 3-2 on aggregate.
- England's new manager David Seaman gets off to a strong start in Sofia, where Leeds' Michael Bridges scores twice in a 4-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Bulgaria. Meanwhile, Seaman's predecessor Sven-Göran Eriksson is unveiled in New York as the new manager of Major League Soccer giants Metrostars.
- Trond Sollied - Marseille's third manager of the year - was perhaps not a solid appointment after all. The French champions are beaten 2-0 at Lille and then 4-0 at St-Etienne, and start the new Ligue 1 season in the drop zone! How on Earth could a team with Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Franck Ribéry AND Dianbobo Baldé fail so miserably?
IN OTHER NEWS...
- The 24th Summer Olympics take place in Be... rlin, Germany. American swimmer Michael Phelps wins a record eight gold medals at a single Games, while Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt runs 100 metres in just 9.69 seconds. Great Britain take home an impressive 51 medals, about 49 of which were in cycling.
- Russia invades the Georgian separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in what is regarded as Europe’s first war of the 21st century. The conflict lasts for five days and ends in a clear victory for Georgia, who lose control of both territories.
- Who wants to be a millionaire? Dev Patel does, as he stars in Danny Boyle's new hit film "Slumdog Millionaire". The movie tells the story of a Muslim teenager from Mumbai's slums who wins 20 million rupees on a quiz show.
- Shy and retiring pop newcomer Lady Gaga releases her debut album “The Fame”. After asking her new fans to “Just Dance” earlier this year, the New Yorker invites them to get closer to her - and p-p-p-poke her face.
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AUGUST 2008
With the new Division 2 season just days away, the great Kidderminster clearout of 2008 was about to end. The next player out of the door was Scottish midfielder Mark Kerr, who was sold to Norwich for £425,000.
Okay, you're probably thinking that selling Mark Kerr is a sign of madness, but here's the thing - he was earning £9,000 per week. If you're on such a high salary at this level, you have to be a massive game-changer... and from what I've seen of Mark so far, he's not at that level.
For our final friendly, we played host to Leicester, who defeated our play-off nemeses Reading to earn promotion to Division 1 last season. The Foxes had been managed by the wily Scouse hardman Peter Reid since 2005, so I expected a gruelling battle.
2 AUGUST 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Leicester City
After a close start to proceedings, the game swung Leicester's way in the 31st minute. Leicester striker Craig Dudley was brought down in the area by a clumsy foul from Markus Heikkinen, whose Finnish compatriot Tomi Sauso then converted the penalty. To make matters worse for us, our young midfielder Lee Watson had strained his knee ligaments in the build-up and was forced off.
Leicester took a commanding 2-0 lead through veteran forward Noel Whelan early in the second half. Thankfully, we responded brightly to that, and Scott Simpson's skilful agility won us a penalty of our own in the 68th minute. That was clinically converted by our new left-back Kevin Hyde, who pulled the final deficit back to a more respectable 2-1.
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Hyde pen68)
Leicester City - 2 (Sauso pen31, Whelan 52)
Friendly, Attendance 1,307
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala, Heikkinen (Roberts), Guðmundsson (McCluskey), Aðalsteinsson (Hyde); Nicholls (Ormeño); Carter, Watson (Whitley); Osman (S Simpson); Garside (Scott), Hume (Collins). BOOKED: Heikkinen, Carter.
Another brave display against a higher-level team, but there were still some defensive issues that needed to be addressed. Markus Heikkinen seemed to be particularly guilty of complacency, and I warned him that his place in the team wasn't assured just because he was one of our top earners.
Heikkinen would need to up his game - and quickly. When Barry Miller pulled up in training with a thigh injury, our vice-captain was sidelined for the first month of the season. If neither Markus not Haraldur Guðmundsson could shore up the centre of our defence in Barry's absence, we would be in big trouble.
Our campaign kicked off in earnest on 9 August, when we travelled to Vicarage Road to take on a youthful Watford team. Peter Taylor's Hornets finished in 20th place last season, narrowly avoiding what would have been a shock relegation to Division 3.
9 AUGUST 2008: Watford vs Kidderminster Harriers
I got a rude awakening 25 minutes into the new season, as the form book was turned on its head. A handball from debutant midfielder Jorge Ormeño gave Watford a free-kick, which left-back Adam Lang fired on target. Though John Forde managed to get to Lang's strike, he was unable to keep out the rebound shot from winger Simon Thomson.
Despite losing centre-back and captain John Plant to an ankle injury in the 42nd minute, the Hornets didn't lose their sting. Indeed, they took a two-goal lead into the break, thanks to Markus Kvarneå's header on the stroke of half-time. Even with a new manager at the helm, it was the same old problems for the Kidderminster defence.
Those problems were only exacerbated early in the second period. Teenage winger Andy Griffiths came off the Watford bench to head in Robin Hulbert's 53rd minute and give the hosts a 3-0 lead.
Eight minutes later, the man who started the Hornets' surge finished it. Thomson pounced on another Forde parry to put the result beyond any reasonable doubt at 4-0.
By this point, though, Watford's backline was having major issues, as a leg injury to Steven Murphy deprived them of another central defender. Scott Simpson and Iain Hume would take advantage of their vulnerabilities with a couple of consolation strikes late on, which at least halved our four-goal humiliation to a mere two-goal embarrassment.
Watford - 4 (Thomson 25,61, Kvarneå 45, Griffiths 53)
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (S Simpson 78, Hume 88)
Division 2, Attendance 19,838 - POSITIONS: Watford 3rd, Kidderminster 20th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala (Roberts), Guðmundsson, Heikkinen, Hyde; Ormeño; Marjamaa (Carter), Whitley (Osman); S Simpson; Scott, Hume.
Christ, that was shocking. Defensive issues, much?
Once again, I was asking questions about Heikkinen's attitude - and I was also disappointed with right-back Hannu Haarala's inability to contain Thomson, and Timo Marjamaa's wasteful passing. All three Finns were dropped for our next game.
On the plus side, we did sign a couple of youngsters for the reserve team. 18-year-old Kevin Fitzgerald is an Irish left-flanker, while 21-year-old former Racing Santander reserve César Gallego can play as an attacking midfielder or a right-winger.
A week after being stung by the Hornets, we looked to get our first points on the board when Hartlepool came to Aggborough. The Pools had also suffered a heavy defeat on the opening day, going down 3-1 to newly-relegated Nottingham Forest.
16 AUGUST 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Hartlepool United
We had a wonderful chance to go ahead after just three minutes, when Hartlepool goalkeeper Martin Hollund brought down Scott Simpson in the penalty area. Left-back Kevin Hyde converted his first Harriers penalty in pre-season and was in a confident move ahead of this one... but Hollund made a superb save, and then kept out Kev's rebound as well!
Fortunately, another Kidderminster defender would give us the lead half an hour later. Nick Roberts had come into the side at Markus Heikkinen's expense, and a clinical finish from Simpson's free-kick showed that I was right to pick him!
Hartlepool had not really troubled our defence prior to Roberts' opener, but that would change just before half-time. A vicious effort from midfielder Chris Rose was met by a strong save from John Forde, who was unfortunately beaten by a rebound from the Pools' star striker. Music might have been John Miles' first love, but a kiss on the badge on his shirt showed that Hartlepool was his second.
Miles was inches away from scoring another Pools goal midway through the second half. His afternoon then took a turn for the worse, as a knee injury cut an impressive performance short. He was the second player that Steve Bull had lost to injury, having been forced to take off winger Andrew Cameron very early on, but a strong rearguard display from his remaining players kept us from regaining our lead.
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Roberts 33)
Hartlepool United - 1 (Miles 45)
Division 2, Attendance 3,907 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 19th, Hartlepool 20th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; McCluskey (Haarala), Guðmundsson, Roberts, Hyde (Heikkinen); Ormeño; Carter, Nicholls; S Simpson; Scott, Hume (Collins). BOOKED: McCluskey.
If these two matches were a sign of things to come, promotion would be well and truly off the table. There was a lot of work to be done over the next 44 fixtures.
We were still having teething problems with the diamond, so I switched to a standard 4-4-2 and gave young Gallego his debut in our League Cup opener. The Round 1 draw had given us a tricky home tie against Chesterfield from Division 1.
19 AUGUST 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Chesterfield
After Chesterfield wasted a couple of chances midway through the first half, we punished them from our first attack late on. A promising run from Alan Scott was halted by Spireites hardman Chris Morgan, but the loose ball was blasted home by... yes, César Gallego! Less than a fortnight before his 21st birthday, the Spanish starlet had scored on his first game in English football!
We then spent most of the second half battening down the hatches to withstand the inevitable Chesterfield onslaught. John Forde was having a superb game in the Harriers goal, making five saves to frustrate the visitors.
Those saves included a massive one from Chris Carruthers in the 90th minute. Sadly, he gave the midfielder another go straight away, and the Irish youngster's reflexes couldn't quite get him to the follow-up. Bryan Robson's side had equalised.
After extra-time passed by with no further goals, Forde got the opportunity to redeem himself in the penalty shoot-out. And boy did he, saving Chesterfield's first penalty from right-back Chong-Goog Song, and then their second from ex-Dagenham midfielder Simon Rusk! The Harriers players then hammered our advantage home by scoring all their penalties, with captain Jeff Whitley in particular showing nerves of steel to complete a 4-2 win!
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Gallego 40)
Chesterfield - 1 (Carruthers 90)
[after extra-time, Kidderminster Harriers win 4-2 on penalties]
League Cup Round 1, Attendance 2,672
PENALTY SHOOT-OUT (Kidderminster, Chesterfield): Song saved, Hume 1-0, Rusk saved, Aðalsteinsson 2-0, Warren 2-1, Osman 3-1, Carruthers 3-2, Whitley 4-2.
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2): Forde; Haarala, Guðmundsson (McCluskey), Roberts, T Simpson; Gallego, Whitley, Ormeño (Watson), Aðalsteinsson; Scott (Osman), Hume. BOOKED: Ormeño.
After claiming a minor scalp, our reward was to have a go at an even bigger one in Round 2. We will be welcoming Steve McClaren and his Sunderland team to Aggborough next month!
We then moved on to Bristol City, where we hoped to kick-start our league campaign against a team who'd lost their opening two matches. Of course, Bristol City are Baichung Bhutia's new club... so what were the odds on Kidderminster's top scorer from last season coming back to haunt us?
23 AUGUST 2008: Bristol City vs Kidderminster Harriers
"Bristol City are a tough team who'll press you relentlessly, so it's important that you keep your cool," I told my players in the dressing room before kick-off. Scott Simpson must have been in the toilet when I was giving that talk. Two minutes into the game, Simpson pushed City captain Daði Guðmundsson to the turf, for which he was sent straight back to the bathroom!
Having gone a man down, it seemed inevitable that we would go a goal down early on. Sure enough, in the 11th minute, Bristol City left-back Aaron Brown delivered a killer cross for a Robins striker to confidently fire home. It might have been David Freeman who scored it rather than former Harriers hero Baichung Bhutia, but it didn't make me feel any better.
But while one Scott had let Kidderminster down, another Scott would restore his pride's name just ten minutes later. Alan Scott equalised with a stunning direct free-kick after being held back by City's 18-year-old defender Barry McCreadie. Alan then turned provider for his strike partner David Collins, who gave us an improbable 2-1 lead just before half-time!
It had been a day to forget for Bristol City's veteran keeper Mart Poom, who was replaced with teenager Keith Atkinson early in the second half. However, we didn't give Atkinson much to do, as our man deficit would eventually take its toll. McCreadie was fouled in the Harriers box by a panicking Stuart McCluskey, who gave away a penalty which Brian Power equalised from. Another draw.
Bristol City - 2 (Freeman 11, Power pen76)
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Scott 21, Collins 41)
Division 2, Attendance 9,577 - POSITIONS: Bristol City 19th, Kidderminster 18th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala, Guðmundsson, McCluskey (Roberts), T Simpson; Ormeño; Carter (Gallego), Whitley; S Simpson; Scott (Garside), Collins. BOOKED: Carter, McCluskey. SENT OFF: S Simpson.
We did well to save a point there... but we're not gonna pick up many wins if we keep shooting ourselves in the feet!
I'd been very impressed with John Forde in goal, but there was only so much he could do when the rest of our defence had more leaks than the vegetable aisle at Tesco! More reinforcements were needed.
So, once again, I called upon one of my former charges at Dagenham & Redbridge, and gave them £250,000 for Simon Bell. The 23-year-old had struggled to nail down a starting place at Victoria Road, but a centre-back with his aerial qualities would certainly be a regular part of my plans at Kidderminster.
Bell was my 13th signing for the Harriers, and I hoped he would be the last I needed to make for a while. He made his debut alongside a reinstated Heikkinen for our home game against 8th-placed Tranmere.
25 AUGUST 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Tranmere Rovers
After his impressive display at Bristol City just two days earlier, Alan Scott was quickly on target again. The local hero rose high above Tranmere captain Leslie Hughes to head in Hannu Haarala's right-wing cross after just seven minutes.
Scott then ravaged the Rovers again late in the first half, playing a pivotal role in two more goals. His 42nd-minute pass to Leon Osman was then powered into the area for Iain Hume to head home. Three minutes after that, Scott provided a more direct assist for Hume, whose late brace sent us into the interval with a commanding 3-0 lead!
Unfortunately, Alan's tireless performance had taken a toll on his right knee, which was in such a bad state that he didn't return for the second half. There would be no more Kidderminster goals after the break, but some impressive goalkeeping from John Forde at least meant that he finally got the clean sheet his recent performances deserved.
Kidderminster Harriers - 3 (Scott 7, Hume 42,45)
Tranmere Rovers - 0
Division 2, Attendance 3,287 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 12th, Tranmere 11th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala, Bell, Heikkinen, Hyde (Aðalsteinsson); Ormeño; Carter, Whitley; Osman (Gallego); Scott (Collins), Hume.
A victory after 90 minutes at last, but it wasn't all good news. After delivering an impressive five goal contributions in as many matches, our young forward Alan Scott would miss the next three weeks with a twisted knee. Iain Hume would also miss our next game, because CONCACAF's international schedule is a total mess.
I would experiment with my tactics again at Wrexham, adopting a wide 4-4-1-1. David Collins would play in the attacking midfield hole behind lone striker Robert Garside, who was still looking for his first Kidderminster goal. Could the young Welshman find it in his home country?
30 AUGUST 2008: Wrexham vs Kidderminster Harriers
David Collins was denied a great goal by Wrexham goalkeeper Mark Tyler in the 11th minute, but the Lancastrian wouldn't be kept out for long. After 25 minutes, Robert Garside lobbed a fantastic ball to his more experienced partner, whose header silenced the Racecourse Ground.
The post denied us a second goal through left-winger Baldur Aðalsteinsson in the 47th minute. When Wrexham's left wing-back Gareth Roberts equalised just four minutes later, it looked like another match would get away from us...
...but then Markus Heikkinen unexpectedly came to the rescue in the 54th minute. After Tyler had pushed a Collins shot behind his goal, César Gallego lifted a corner into Wrexham's penalty area, where Heikkinen powered home his first Kiddy goal! But while there was delight for one of our Finnish defenders, there was agony for another just nine minutes later, when Hannu Haarala strained his knee ligaments and was forced to come off.
The rest of our defence stepped up in Haarala's absence, with Heikkinen winning several key headers to keep Wrexham at bay. The Dragons were then slayed in stoppage time, when Aðalsteinsson's assist for substitute Leon Osman secured our first away victory this season!
Wrexham - 1 (Roberts 51)
Kidderminster Harriers - 3 (Collins 25, Heikkinen 54, Osman 90)
Division 2, Attendance 8,826 - POSITIONS: Wrexham 22nd, Kidderminster 7th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-1-1): Forde; Haarala (McCluskey), Bell, Heikkinen, T Simpson; Gallego, Whitley (Nicholls), Ormeño, Aðalsteinsson; Collins (Osman); Garside.
After a mixed bag of results, my tenure as Kidderminster manager is off to a decent start. We certainly don't have many problems finding the net. It's just a case of gelling this defence together, and then things are looking good.
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ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- After their Euro 2008 humiliation, England replace the departing Sven-Göran Eriksson with a popular, genial Yorkshireman - ex-Rangers boss David Seaman. Meanwhile, Giuseppe Pancaro quits Marseille after barely four months to succeed Arrigo Sacchi as Italy's head coach... and Sylvain Legwinski is appointed France manager, just two months after taking over at Monaco!
- There are huge riots across Italy's capital city when the world's best left-back - Holland's Wilfred Bouma - moves to Roma from Lazio for £19.25million. Following Bouma's arrival, Ashley Cole wonders if he should've made more of an effort to fit in with his Giallorossi team-mates.
- Premiership champions Chelsea make an £11million swoop for Manchester City winger Damien Duff, who replaces the Bayern München-bound José Antonio Reyes. Leeds fork out £9million for PSV's anchor man Mark van Bommel, while Liverpool recruit Bordeaux playmaker Kieron Dyer for £8.25million, and Manchester United give Hertha BSC £7.25million for Brazil striker Luizão. Meanwhile, Arsenal sign Claus Jensen and Lucas Neill from Stoke.
- Lazio try to appease their furious supporters with a new superstar midfielder, spending £13.5million on Porto playmaker Denílson. Another big-name Brazilian international makes a big move across Germany, as centre-back Lúcio leaves Leverkusen after eight seasons to join Schalke 04 for £12.25million. That's the same Schalke who’ve been relegated to the second tier, Lúcio…
- Argentine nomad Ariel Ortega signs a four-year contract at Valencia... but tears it up four weeks later after Claudio Ranieri has the audacity to sub him in a training match. The 34-year-old soon returns to Italy and joins Parma - his EIGHTH club since 2002.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karadžić is arrested in Belgrade after a 12-year manhunt. He is set to be extradited to the Netherlands, where he faces 11 charges of war crimes relating to the genocides of Bosniaks and Croats during the Yugoslav wars of the mid-1990s.
- Six-and-a-half years after being kidnapped by a Marxist guerrilla group, Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages are rescued from captivity. Colombia’s government conducts Operation Jaque without a single shot being fired, and President Álvaro Uribe’s popularity skyrockets.
- Roger Federer's five-year reign as Wimbledon men's singles champion is ended by his young Spanish rival Rafael Nadal. Nadal wins the first two sets, and Federer the next two sets, before the 22-year-old Majorcan prevails 9-7 in the decider - after 4 hours and 48 minutes of play. It will go down as one of the greatest tennis matches in history.
- Spanish cyclist Carlos Sastre wins the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. The 33-year-old from Madrid is nicknamed ‘Mr Clean’, because he has never tested positive for (or been accused of taking) performance-enhancing drugs, even in a sport where doping is widespread.
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JULY 2008
Another new season was on the horizon - and after starting the previous seven campaigns as Dagenham & Redbridge manager, I now found myself in unfamiliar surroundings. My tenure as the new boss of Kidderminster Harriers was about to get underway.
After meeting my new players for the first time, I sensed that this was a determined team with a lot to prove. After losing out in the Division 2 play-offs last season, expectations at Aggborough were high - and the players wanted nothing less than a quick return to Division 1.
While most of last season's squad remained, I'd freshened the team up with eight new signings - including Leon Osman, on loan from my former club. The arrival of the experienced Finland centre-half Markus Heikkinen seemed to have a particularly positive effect on his fellow defenders, who had conceded 173 league goals in the previous two seasons.
In terms of outgoings, I'd sold £1.6million worth of players, and the summer influx of TV money had put the club's bank balance back in the black. However, our financial future was still far from secure, and two more players were expected to leave over the coming weeks.
Despite finishing as the Harriers' top scorer last season, Baichung Bhutia had at least four strikers ahead of him in my pecking order and was up for sale. Divisional rivals Bristol City had offered us £120,000 to sign the Indian superstar, who headed to the south-west to discuss terms.
Meanwhile, West Brom had taken an interest in 19-year-old midfielder Danny Gould, who'd made three league appearances last season and was one of our most exciting prospects. The Baggies' initial offer of £300,000 was pretty low, but I did see some scope for negotiation. If I could get them to bump up the fee or add a sell-on clause, that would probably be enough to do a deal.
On the staff front, we had recently lost goalkeeping coach Phil Robinson and scout Barry Hand, who were both poached by Crystal Palace. To take their places, I brought in a new keeper coach - John Hutchison from Scottish amateur side Jeanfield Swifts - alongside a couple of scouts from Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
It was soon time for me to put my new team to the test. Because of our ongoing financial problems, there would be no pre-season jaunt to Scotland or Ireland for the Harriers - not even a hop across the Welsh border. In fact, Kidderminster wouldn't leave the Midlands at all until our opening league game at Watford on 9 August!
For my first match as Harriers manager, we made a 20-minute journey north-east to the Black Country village of Amblecote. Our hosts were part-timers Stourbridge, who played three tiers below us in the Southern League.
19 JULY 2008: Stourbridge vs Kidderminster Harriers
After a slow start, our top earner Iain Hume got us going with a couple of stunning volleys in the 16th and 35th minutes. Stourbridge had no answer to Hume's brace, and they conceded again three minutes into the second half, when sweeper Rob Hayward flicked Leon Osman's corner into his own goal. A late strike from Danish utility man René Schrøder completed a resounding 4-0 win for the Harriers - and believe me, it could have been even more!
Stourbridge - 0
Kidderminster Harriers - 4 (Hume 16,35, Hayward og48, Schrøder 90)
Friendly, Attendance 1,374
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde (Ivarsson); Haarala (McCluskey), Guðmundsson, Heikkinen (Miller), T Simpson (Schrøder); Nicholls (Ormeño); Kerr (S Simpson), Whitley; Osman (Aðalsteinsson); Scott (Garside), Hume (Collins). BOOKED: Kerr, T Simpson.
After a strong start to my Kidderminster reign, we announced three more sales. Bhutia had agreed terms with Bristol City and officially joined Graham Rix's Robins for £120,000. Some Harriers fans were quite upset to see our Player of the Year leave, but let me reassure them that it was for the greater good.
We also struck a deal with West Brom to sell Danny Gould for £300,000, plus 15% of the next transfer fee. If the young and versatile midfielder can realise his potential, this could be quite a lucrative deal for us in the long run.
Lastly, we got £10,000 from Gillingham for Colin Hunwick. I'm not quite sure what the Gills saw in a goalkeeper who conceded 56 goals in 31 league games last season, but that's another waste of money off the wage bill.
Next up for us was a midweek trip to Kettering, who won the Southern League last season and were now in the Conference. Iain Hume missed this game to play in a World Cup qualifier for Canada, but his absence gave our other strikers a chance to shine.
23 JULY 2008: Kettering Town vs Kidderminster Harriers
And boy did they shine. Hardly anything happened for the first half-hour, but once David Collins broke the deadlock from Scott Simpson's 33rd-minute through-ball, there was only going to be one winner. Collins' young strike partner Alan Scott also got on the scoresheet early in the first half, as Kettering went down with hardly a fight. Indeed, our only real cause for concern came in the 67th minute, when left-back Terry Simpson rolled his ankle and had to be stretchered off.
Kettering Town - 0
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Collins 33, Scott 56)
Friendly, Attendance 1,038
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde (Ivarsson); Haarala (McCluskey), Guðmundsson, Miller (Heikkinen), T Simpson (Roberts); Nicholls (Marjamaa); Kerr, Watson (Norris); S Simpson (Osman); Scott (Broughton), Collins (Garside). BOOKED: Roberts, Heikkinen.
Another comfortable win was all well and good... but with Terry Simpson's injury ruling him out for three weeks, it became clear we needed another left-back to provide cover.
While I weighed up my options in the transfer market, I brought out the chequebook to sign a player - for actual money. It wasn't just any player either - it was one of my most loyal servants at Dagenham.
Ryan Carter broke into my Dagenham team when he was just 17, and he was now regarded as one of the most talented young midfielders in the Football League. Sadly, Ryan had been frozen out by new Daggers boss Willy Wordsworth, who was happy to sell him to me for just £120,000. I have a feeling Willy will regret that...
It'd be fair to say that we hadn't been seriously tested so far this pre-season, with neither Stourbridge nor Kettering managing a shot on target against us. Things were likely to be A LOT tougher on my Harriers home debut, as we welcomed Premiership newcomers Birmingham to Aggborough.
27 JULY 2008: Kidderminster Harriers vs Birmingham City
We rocked our top-flight visitors after just 10 minutes, when David Collins headed home from Robert Garside's cross. The lead lasted just seven minutes before Birmingham hit back, with midfielder Nabil Abidallah firing in the rebound after right-back Christoffer Andersson hit the bar. That was followed by a blitz of Blues attacks, which our teenage goalkeeper John Forde heroically withstood...
...until the 54th minute. When 20-year-old defender Danny Bruce unleashed an unstoppable shot, it appeared that our resistance had been broken. But there would be one more twist to come in the 67th minute, when Leon Osman equalised after René Schrøder's shot was parried by Birmingham keeper Mark Brown.
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (Collins 10, Osman 67)
Birmingham City - 2 (Abidallah 17, Bruce 54)
Friendly, Attendance 1,589
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Haarala (McCluskey), Heikkinen (Guðmundsson), Miller, Roberts (Aðalsteinsson); Ormeño (Marjamaa); Whitley (Carter), Watson; S Simpson (Schrøder); Garside (Osman), Collins (Scott). BOOKED: Marjamaa.
A fantastic game - and an even better result. If we could hold our own against a side like Birmingham, we would surely be one of the teams to beat in Division 2 this season!
A couple of days later, we signed Leyton Orient left-back Kevin Hyde for £50,000. The former Wolves trainee is 22 years old and has lots of stamina.
Next up, we faced Rushden & Diamonds at Nene Park. Our hosts were now firmly established in Division 3, though the Dr Martens money had dried up and they were perhaps struggling to kick on to the next level.
30 JULY 2008: Rushden & Diamonds vs Kidderminster Harriers
Rushden attacked us right from the start, completely knocking us off our stride. Midfielder Jamie Walsh's diamond volley midway through the first half was enough to give them the lead at the interval.
A half-time dressing-down fired the Harriers up for the second half, and a comeback looked on when David Collins scored his third goal in as many games just 11 minutes after the restart. Barely a couple of minutes later, though, Reon Juskowiak restored Rushden's advantage, which former Wales Under-21s defender Ashley Williams later doubled. 3-1 - game over.
Rushden & Diamonds - 3 (Walsh 25, Juskowiak 58, A Williams 69)
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 56)
Friendly, Attendance 2,230
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Ivarsson (Forde); McCluskey, Heikkinen (Modigh), Miller, Hyde (Roberts); Marjamaa (Ormeño); Carter (Hume), Kerr (Aðalsteinsson); S Simpson (Watson); Garside (Scott), Collins.
Well... I guess the honeymoon couldn't last forever, but that was still a shocking performance. It's given me plenty of food for thought as the new season draws closer.
0 -
Kidderminster Harriers squad - Start of 2008/2009 season
GOALKEEPERS
1. John Forde - GK, age 19, Irish [capped at Under-21s level]
On-loan Newcastle prospect Forde lacks experience but not talent. He is incredibly agile, a very competent handler, and reads the game quite well for such a young man.
13. Kent Ivarsson - GK, age 24, Swedish
Free signing Ivarsson also has limited experience of senior football. However, with his impressive aerial abilities and excellent anticipation, he looks a decent backup.
14. Colin Hunwick - GK, age 29, English
Hunwick was signed from Halifax last summer and was well out of his depth. 63 goals conceded in 35 games says it all about someone who's a non-league keeper at best.
DEFENDERS
2. Stuart McCluskey - D RC, age 30, Scottish
McCluskey is a solid and mature right-back who can also cover at centre-half if needed. The former Portsmouth ace is quick, agile, and a firm but fair tackler.
5. Haraldur Guðmundsson - D C, age 26, Icelandic [1 cap]
Guðmundsson arrived at Aggborough last season after many years at Sheffield Wednesday. Nicknamed the 'Iceman' by Kiddy fans, he's an intelligent and unflappable centre-half.
6. Markus Heikkinen - D/DM C, age 29, Finnish [15 caps, 2 goals]
If he justifies his £10,000-per-week wages, Heikkinen could be an incredible signing. I'm a big admirer of the ball-playing centre-half and his incredible work ethic.
14. Terry Simpson - D L, age 20, English
Simpson has excelled at left-back since joining from hometown club Wycombe last year. He has the athleticism and the tactical awareness to be a top-flight defender one day.
21. Barry Miller - SW/D C, age 32, English
Miller is a selfless sweeper in the prime of his journeyman career. The Harriers vice-captain was incredibly reliable last season, especially when it came to aerial battles.
29. Hannu Haarala - D/M R, age 26, Finnish [2 caps]
Flying Finn Haarala can play on the right flank as a full-back or winger. His impressive crossing ability produced 10 assists last term, but he needs to concentrate more on defending.
32. Timo Marjamaa - D/DM C, age 32, Finnish [7 caps, 1 goal]
Marjamaa captained the Harriers last season, playing either as a centre-back or anchor man. However, I have serious questions about his technical abilities.
MIDFIELDERS
4. Mark Kerr - M C, age 26, Scottish [capped at Under-21s level]
Kerr has sadly not fulfilled the potential once expected of him as a Falkirk youngster. The hard-working playmaker has been rather wasteful with his passing while at Aggborough.
11. Baldur Aðalsteinsson - AM/F L, age 28, Icelandic [capped at B level]
Aðalsteinsson is relatively new to Kidderminster, only arriving in January. Though most effective as a speedy winger, I think I can retrain him to play at left-back.
12. Jorge Ormeño - DM C, age 31, Chilean [1 cap]
Ormeño is a tenacious and experienced holding midfielder, but his signing is a gamble. A lot will depend on his attitude and how long he takes to settle in England.
15. Kevin Nicholls - DM C, age 29, English
Nicholls has been a largely dependable anchor since signing from Blackpool in 2004. His passing and tackling skills aren't the best, but they're enough for this level.
16. Scott Simpson - AM C, age 25, Scottish
Simpson is a talented attacking midfielder who recently joined from St Mirren. His creative vision and set-piece prowess should produce a lot of high-quality chances.
17. Leon Osman - AM C, age 27, English
I have a love-hate relationship with Osman, who is on loan from Dagenham until November. Though he struggled in Division 1, the playmaker should fare a bit better here.
26. Danny Gould - M RLC, age 19, English
Gould broke into the Kiddy team late last year and is rated very highly by club coaches. The local lad's technical ability and versatility have impressed a number of Division 1 clubs.
27. Lee Watson - M C, age 21, English
Watson is another exciting prospect, with excellent passing skills and a high work rate. After spending last season in the reserves, he may need to build up his experience out on loan.
33. Jeff Whitley - DM C, age 29, Northern Irish [6 caps, 1 goal]
After four years in Spain, Whitley shacked up at Aggborough last summer. The Zambian-born ball-winning midfielder is a serious contender to be my new captain at Kidderminster.
FORWARDS
8. Baichung Bhutia - F C, age 32, Indian [47 caps, 27 goals]
26 goals, 11 assists, 7.95 average rating - it's fair to say Bhutia was brilliant last season. Unfortunately, even that record might not keep India's record scorer in my plans.
10. Robert Garside - F C, age 22, Welsh [1 cap]
Once Wales' youngest ever international, Garside's career with Rangers sadly stalled. I hope he can realise his potential as a pacey goal-hanging poacher at Kidderminster.
20. Iain Hume - F RC, age 24, Canadian [7 caps, 1 goal]
Hume's 33 goal contributions last season showed why he's so feared at this level. Born in Edinburgh but raised in Canada, he is a loyal and consistent marksman.
23. Alan Scott - S C, age 21, English
Homegrown talent Scott is fresh off his breakthrough season, where he netted 21 times in 39 games. A tall and powerful centre-forward, he has been tipped for great things.
31. David Collins - F C, age 27, English
Collins is a rapid and flamboyant Lancastrian regarded as one of the Football League's most talented strikers. With 148 goals in the last eight seasons, it's easy to see why.
RESERVES
GOALKEEPER: Richard Phillips (18)
DEFENDERS: Stephen Kavanagh (17), Daniel Modigh (19), Nick Roberts (26), Tom Spearritt (25)
MIDFIELDERS: Richard Norris (30), René Schrøder (31)
FORWARD: Drewe Broughton (29)
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EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW: SWITZERLAND 2008
GROUP 1
7 June (Bern)
Switzerland - 2 (Daniel Gygax 80, Patrick Müller 86)
England - 2 (Joe Cole 15, Wayne Rooney 22)
9 June (Zürich)
Wales - 1 (David Hughes 8)
Russia - 1 (Alexandr Kerzhakov 90)
11 June (Bern)
Russia - 0
Switzerland - 1 (Léonard Thurre 15)
12 June (Bern)
England - 2 (Michael Bridges 9,42)
Wales - 2 (Craig Bellamy 30, Jason Koumas 38)
17 June (Zürich)
England - 0
Russia - 1 (Alexandr Shirko pen76)
17 June (Bern)
Switzerland - 1 (Léonard Thurre 85)
Wales - 0
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Switzerland 3 2 1 0 4 2 7 2nd Q Russia 3 1 1 1 2 2 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd England 3 0 2 1 4 5 2 4th Wales 3 0 2 1 3 4 2
GROUP 2
8 June (Geneva)
Portugal - 1 (Cristiano Ronaldo 58)
Italy - 2 (Francesco Totti 45, Aimo Diana 49)
9 June (Sion)
Czech Republic - 1 (Jan Koller 86)
Finland - 0
12 June (Geneva)
Italy - 3 (Marco Di Vaio 22, Fabio Liverani 35, Fausto Rossini 73)
Czech Republic - 1 (Vratislav Lokvenc 69)
14 June (Sion)
Finland - 2 (Aki Riihilahti 11, Henri Scheweleff 56)
Portugal - 2 (Nuno Gomes 51,73)
17 June (Sion)
Czech Republic - 4 (Jan Koller 39, Jiri Jarosik 61, Milan Baros 78,89)
Portugal - 4 (Romeu 3,7, Ricardo Quaresma 40, Simão 45)
17 June (Geneva)
Finland - 1 (Hannu Tihinen pen39, Aki Riihilahti s/off74)
Italy - 2 (Mancini 42, Francesco Totti 77)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Italy 3 3 0 0 7 3 9 2nd Q Czech Republic 3 1 1 1 6 7 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Portugal 3 0 2 1 7 8 2 4th Finland 3 0 1 2 3 5 1
GROUP 3
8 June (Basel)
France - 0
Holland - 0 (Wilfred Bouma s/off58)
10 June (St Gallen)
Greece - 2 (Dimitris Papadopoulos 21, Giorgos Karagounis s/off44, Zissis Vryzas 46)
Serbia & Montenegro - 2 (Mateja Kezman 13, Juan Pablo Vojvoda 78)
13 June (Basel)
Serbia & Montenegro - 0
France - 2 (Franck Ribéry 7, David Trezeguet 45)
15 June (St Gallen)
Holland - 2 (Robin van Persie 59, Ruud van Nistelrooy 77)
Greece - 1 (Dimitris Papadopoulos 31)
18 June (Basel)
France - 0
Greece - 0
18 June (St Gallen)
Holland - 1 (Theo Lucius 5)
Serbia & Montenegro - 1 (Mateja Kezman 40)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q France 3 1 2 0 2 0 5 2nd Q Holland 3 1 2 0 3 2 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Greece 3 0 2 1 3 4 2 4th Serbia & Montenegro 3 0 2 1 3 5 2
GROUP 4
8 June (Zürich)
Croatia - 1 (Ivica Olic 32)
Germany - 1 (Bastian Schweinsteiger 8)
10 June (Neuchâtel)
Sweden - 1 (Zlatan Ibrahimovic 61)
Ukraine - 0
13 June (Zürich)
Germany - 0
Sweden - 0
15 June (Neuchâtel)
Ukraine - 3 (Serhiy Rebrov 23, Volodymyr Yaxmanitskyi 32, Andriy Shevchenko pen81)
Croatia - 0
18 June (Neuchâtel)
Sweden - 2 (Zlatan Ibrahimovic 4, Kim Källström 19)
Croatia - 0
18 June (Zürich)
Ukraine - 3 (Yaroslav Karabkin 7, Andriy Shevchenko 20, Serhiy Zakarlyuka 90)
Germany - 3 (Kevin Kurányi 14,81, Michael Ballack 23)
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st Q Sweden 3 2 1 0 3 0 7 2nd Q Ukraine 3 1 1 1 6 4 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Germany 3 0 3 0 4 4 3 4th Croatia 3 0 1 2 1 6 1
QUARTER FINALS
21 June (Geneva)
Italy - 2 (Marco Di Vaio 3, Fabio Liverani 52)
Russia - 1 (Alexandr Shirko 82)
21 June (Bern)
France - 2 (Jean-Alain Boumsong 54, Mickaël Silvestre s/off62, David Trezeguet 67)
Ukraine - 3 (Anatoliy Tymoschuk 22, Andriy Shevchenko 34,69)
22 June (Basel)
Sweden - 0
Holland - 1 (Ruud van Nistelrooy 49)
22 June (Zürich)
Switzerland - 0 (Alexander Frei m/pen105)
Czech Republic - 0
[after extra-time, Czech Republic win 4-3 on pens]
SEMI FINALS
25 June (Zürich)
Czech Republic - 0
Holland - 2 (Ruud van Nistelrooy 35,39)
25 June (Geneva)
Italy - 3 (Fausto Rossini 50, Christian Maggio 85, Massimo Donati 98)
Ukraine - 2 (Andrej Woronin 40, Andriy Shevchenko 79)
[after extra-time]
FINAL
29 June (Bern)
Italy - 1 (Giacomo Cipriani 31)
Holland - 0
ITALY (4-4-2): Christian Abbiati; Christian Maggio, Dario Dainelli, Alessandro Nesta, Alessandro Dal Canto; Jonatan Binotto (Fabio Liverani), Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti [C], Mancini; Fausto Rossini, Giacomo Cipriani. BOOKED: Nesta, Liverani.
HOLLAND (4-1-4-1): Sander Westerveld; John Heitinga, Jaap Stam [C] (Niels Oude Kamphuis), Kevin Hofland, Mike Zonneveld; George Boateng; Dirk Kuijt, Wesley Sneijder (Robin van Persie), Rafael van der Vaart (Theo Lucius), Wilfred Bouma; Patrick Kluivert. BOOKED: Kluivert, Bouma.
Top Goalscorer - Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine): 5.
Most Assists - Vasilis Lakis (Greece), Fabio Liverani (Italy): 3.
Highest Average Rating (at least 4 matches) - Tomas Repka (Czech Republic): 8.75.
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OTHER LEAGUES
FRANCE
Ligue 1
Top Three: Marseille (1st), St-Etienne (2nd), Lille (3rd).
Relegated: Ajaccio AC (18th), Troyes (19th), Caen (20th).
Promoted from Ligue 2: Lens (1st), Nancy (2nd), Nice (3rd).
Top Goalscorer - Didier Drogba (Marseille), Alexandr Shirko (Nantes): 20.
Most Assists - Julien Sablé (St-Etienne): 13.
Highest Average Rating - Didier Drogba (Marseille): 8.17.
Coupe de France: Lille 1-0 Bordeaux.
Coupe de la Ligue: Paris SG 2-1 Monaco.
GERMANY
1. Bundesliga
Top Three: Dortmund (1st), VfB Stuttgart (2nd), Werder Bremen (3rd).
Relegated: Schalke 04 (16th), 1860 München (17th), Oberhausen (18th).
Promoted from 2. Bundesliga: Bielefeld (1st), Bochum (2nd), Mainz (3rd).
Top Goalscorer - Dirk Kuijt (VfB Stuttgart): 19.
Most Assists - Marko Babic (Wolfsburg): 13.
Highest Average Rating - Luizão (Hertha BSC): 7.90.
DFB-Pokal: Dortmund 4-1 Schalke 04.
DFB-Liga Pokal: Leverkusen 2-1 VfB Stuttgart.
HOLLAND
Eredivisie
Top Three: PSV (1st), Ajax (2nd), Feyenoord (3rd).
Relegated: Groningen (16th, lost play-off), Emmen (18th).
Promoted from Eerste Divisie: AZ (1st), Eindhoven (10th, won play-off).
Top Goalscorer - Zico Tumba (NEC): 32.
Most Assists - Yury Zhirkov (Ajax): 16.
Highest Average Rating - Theo Lucius (Ajax): 8.19.
KNVB Beker: Ajax 2-1 Fortuna.
ITALY
Serie A
Top Three: Lazio (1st), Roma (2nd), Inter (3rd).
Relegated: Chievo (15th, lost play-off), Napoli (16th), Genoa (17th), Ternana (18th).
Promoted from Serie B: Lumezzane (1st), Sampdoria (2nd), Empoli (3rd), Perugia (4th).
Top Goalscorer - Hernán Jorge Crespo (Lazio): 25.
Most Assists - Mauro Camoranesi (Parma), Vinicio Espinal (Atalanta), Darijo Srna (Bologna) Dejan Stankovic (Lazio): 11.
Highest Average Rating - Hernán Jorge Crespo (Lazio), Francesco Totti (Roma): 8.00.
Coppa Italia: Bologna 4-4 Milan (aggregate, Bologna win on away goals).
PORTUGAL
Primeira Liga
Top Three: Sporting (1st), Porto (2nd), Benfica (3rd).
Relegated: Salgueiros (16th), Farense (17th), Belenenses (18th).
Promoted from Segunda Liga: Marítimo (1st), Ovarense (2nd), Vitória Guimarães (3rd).
Top Goalscorer - Romeu (Maia): 39.
Most Assists - Hugo Viana (Sporting): 17.
Highest Average Rating - Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting): 8.65.
Taça de Portugal: Porto 3-1 Vitória Setúbal (aet).
SCOTLAND
Premier League
Top Three: Celtic (1st), Rangers (2nd), Motherwell (3rd).
Relegated: Stranraer (12th).
Promoted from Division 1: Dunfermline (1st).
Top Goalscorer - John Hartson (Aberdeen): 21.
Most Assists - Alex (Rangers), Kevin Clark (Aberdeen), Jamie McCunnie (Dundee Utd), Hicham Zerouali (Kilmarnock): 10.
Highest Average Rating - Gordon Weir (Celtic): 8.27.
Scottish Cup: Rangers 3-0 Livingston.
League Cup: Rangers 1-0 Livingston.
SPAIN
La Liga
Top Three: Barcelona (1st), Valencia (2nd), Real Madrid (3rd).
Relegated: Málaga (18th), Osasuna (19th), Villarreal (20th).
Promoted from Segunda División: Numancia (1st), Valladolid (2nd), Extremadura (3rd).
Top Goalscorer - Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 29.
Most Assists - Zé Roberto (Valencia): 18.
Highest Average Rating - Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona): 8.29.
Copa del Rey: Atlético Madrid 2-1 Sevilla.
CONTINENTAL & INTERNATIONAL
CLUB
Champions League: Lazio 2-0 Leeds - in Lisbon.
UEFA Cup: HSV 1-0 Juventus - in Roma.
Super Cup: Leeds 4-0 Juventus.
Intercontinental Cup: River 2-0 Leeds.
Club World Championship: Leeds 1-0 Roma (aet).
FIFA World Player of the Year - Adriano (Inter & Brazil).
World Footballer of the Year - Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina).
African Player of the Year - Samuel Eto'o (Mallorca & Cameroon).
European Player of the Year - Michael Bridges (Leeds & England).
South American Player of the Year - Falcao (River & Colombia).
Oceania Player of the Year - Harry Kewell (Leeds & Australia).
LEADING TRANSFERS (Premiership)
DATE NAME POSITIONS FROM TO FEE 05/07/07 Albert Riera D/AM L Monaco Southampton £9.5M 04/07/07 Roque Júnior D C Celtic Arsenal £8.75M 01/10/07 Luís Boa Morte AM/F LC Newcastle West Ham £7.75M 16/10/07 Tim Cahill AM C Ipswich Sunderland £7.5M 07/08/07 Scott Parker M C Middlesbrough Wolves £6.25M 15/12/07 Ricardo Gardner D/AM L Bolton Chelsea £5.75M 05/11/07 Danny Murphy M RLC Blackburn Stoke £5.5M 17/06/07 Tony O'Connor D/DM LC Coventry Blackburn £4.9M 29/09/07 Matthew Hamshaw AM R Crystal Palace Sheff Wed £4.8M 16/07/07 Kevin Foley D R Newcastle Man City £4.6M
LEADING TRANSFERS (not including Premiership)
DATE NAME POSITIONS FROM TO FEE 17/07/07 Denílson AM/F LC Betis Porto £13M 23/09/07 Andriy Shevchenko F C Ajax Inter £12M 11/08/07 Aimo Diana D/M R Torino Lazio £11M 20/01/08 Julio Arca D/AM L Liverpool Inter £11M 23/09/07 Alex AM/F LC Benfica Rangers £10.75M 02/07/07 Alejandro Domínguez AM RLC River VfB Stuttgart £10.5M 28/07/07 Tinga AM C Grêmio Nürnberg £10.25M 05/08/07 Andrew Nixon AM RC Tottenham Celtic £9.75M 01/07/07 Tomas Ujfalusi D RC Frankfurt VfB Stuttgart £9.25M 19/07/07 Gil AM/F LC Internacional Benfica £9.25M
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SEASON REVIEW 2007/2008
ENGLAND
NOTE: All goals and assist records relate to league matches only.
PREMIERSHIP
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Chelsea 38 15 3 1 38 11 9 3 7 31 34 78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Leeds 38 15 1 3 45 18 8 3 8 29 30 73 3rd Man Utd 38 11 4 4 37 17 9 6 4 35 25 70 4th Liverpool 38 10 5 4 26 8 10 2 7 26 19 67 5th Arsenal 38 11 4 4 28 15 6 5 8 24 24 60 6th Newcastle 38 12 2 5 39 15 5 5 9 22 29 58 7th Bolton 38 11 5 3 30 17 6 2 11 20 34 58 8th Blackburn 38 10 4 5 27 18 5 7 7 23 26 56 9th Sunderland 38 10 3 6 32 24 5 4 10 14 29 52 10th Southampton 38 9 5 5 25 19 4 5 10 18 28 49 11th Stoke 38 10 6 3 35 25 4 1 14 16 33 49 12th Coventry 38 10 2 7 27 18 3 7 9 15 26 48 13th Burnley 38 11 3 5 37 26 3 2 14 16 37 47 14th Everton 38 10 6 3 28 11 1 7 11 12 37 46 15th Sheff Wed 38 9 4 6 39 34 3 5 11 27 42 45 16th Tottenham 38 10 1 8 33 29 4 2 13 10 34 45 17th Man City 38 8 3 8 25 25 5 2 12 22 32 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18th R West Ham 38 6 6 7 20 20 5 3 11 15 35 42 19th R Wolves 38 7 5 7 24 30 3 4 12 16 33 39 20th R Crystal Palace 38 7 6 6 30 25 2 3 14 14 38 36
Top Goalscorer - Robbie Fowler (Liverpool): 20.
Most Assists - Elano (Man Utd): 17.
Highest Average Rating - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd): 8.19.
PFA Player of the Year - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd).
PFA Young Player of the Year - not awarded.
DIVISION 1
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Aston Villa 46 15 6 2 42 15 10 5 8 35 34 86 2nd P Middlesbrough 46 14 6 3 47 25 10 4 9 45 39 82 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Ipswich 46 14 6 3 29 14 9 6 8 37 37 81 4th P Birmingham 46 12 6 5 38 30 12 1 10 40 33 79 5th Norwich 46 14 4 5 52 27 9 5 9 36 32 78 6th Charlton 46 15 4 4 36 20 7 7 9 31 41 77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th W.B.A. 46 11 9 3 53 36 8 6 9 34 34 72 8th Sheff Utd 46 12 10 1 40 18 6 7 10 25 30 71 9th Carlisle 46 13 5 5 40 25 6 6 11 33 42 68 10th Notts Co 46 10 7 6 41 28 6 12 5 32 28 67 11th Preston 46 13 5 5 40 29 5 6 12 29 45 65 12th Grimsby 46 14 4 5 37 27 5 4 14 18 35 65 13th Crewe 46 14 2 7 51 24 4 8 11 27 38 64 14th Derby 46 11 7 5 40 27 5 8 10 31 43 63 15th Luton 46 13 4 6 28 13 4 8 11 11 27 63 16th Brentford 46 10 8 5 43 31 6 5 12 29 42 61 17th Bradford 46 13 1 9 37 34 2 11 10 15 36 57 18th Chesterfield 46 10 9 4 45 34 2 6 15 23 46 51 19th Dag & Red 46 11 5 7 30 23 1 10 12 18 41 51 20th Peterborough 46 9 5 9 33 38 5 3 15 28 47 50 21st Fulham 46 4 12 7 27 32 5 8 10 23 33 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22nd R Millwall 46 6 7 10 20 28 4 6 13 16 30 43 23rd R Q.P.R. 46 8 5 10 37 45 1 4 18 26 60 36 24th R Nottm Forest 46 5 10 8 33 35 2 1 20 16 46 32
DIVISION 2
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Huddersfield 46 15 6 2 54 27 11 4 8 44 43 88 2nd P Gillingham 46 13 7 3 52 39 13 3 7 52 45 88 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd Reading 46 14 6 3 47 21 9 6 8 42 41 81 4th P Leicester 46 10 10 3 48 34 11 5 7 46 37 78 5th Walsall 46 12 6 5 46 33 9 8 6 37 33 77 6th Kidderminster 46 15 3 5 58 33 9 2 12 40 49 77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Torquay 46 12 6 5 46 34 10 5 8 43 43 77 8th Wrexham 46 12 5 6 42 26 10 5 8 39 38 76 9th Northampton 46 12 6 5 45 30 8 4 11 37 48 70 10th Bristol City 46 12 6 5 42 28 7 5 11 35 45 68 11th Wycombe 46 13 2 8 51 46 6 6 11 33 45 65 12th Rochdale 46 11 6 6 47 34 7 4 12 38 50 64 13th Doncaster 46 8 9 6 47 43 8 6 9 36 35 63 14th Darlington 46 8 6 9 32 34 8 6 9 29 28 60 15th Cambridge Utd 46 10 5 8 46 38 7 4 12 34 45 60 16th Colchester 46 10 6 7 40 31 5 8 10 19 28 59 17th Swindon 46 7 6 10 40 38 7 8 8 32 33 56 18th Shrewsbury 46 10 2 11 26 26 5 5 13 27 46 52 19th Tranmere 46 8 8 7 28 25 3 9 11 19 31 50 20th Watford 46 10 4 9 32 30 4 4 15 23 49 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21st R Exeter 46 8 4 11 30 34 4 8 11 20 30 48 22nd R Portsmouth 46 8 5 10 27 29 3 4 16 19 44 42 23rd R Cardiff 46 7 5 11 33 39 2 6 15 23 55 38 24th R Port Vale 46 7 3 13 30 41 2 7 14 26 48 37
DIVISION 3
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Oldham 46 14 5 4 49 27 12 3 8 43 33 86 2nd P Hull 46 14 3 6 38 24 10 6 7 46 34 81 3rd P Hartlepool 46 14 6 3 43 27 7 12 4 38 34 81 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th P Oxford 46 11 5 7 43 37 13 2 8 38 35 79 5th Bournemouth 46 13 5 5 28 14 9 6 8 27 27 77 6th Barnsley 46 12 7 4 33 14 8 8 7 38 31 75 7th Wigan 46 15 3 5 52 33 7 6 10 37 41 75 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8th Bristol Rovers 46 12 5 6 47 32 7 11 5 49 42 73 9th Blackpool 46 13 6 4 49 31 8 3 12 29 39 72 10th Scarborough 46 8 8 7 33 33 9 7 7 38 31 66 11th Lincoln 46 9 5 9 34 32 10 3 10 51 49 65 12th Plymouth 46 9 10 4 38 25 8 3 12 28 36 64 13th Macclesfield 46 10 5 8 44 35 7 7 9 39 45 63 14th Rotherham 46 9 4 10 39 43 9 4 10 33 45 62 15th Leyton Orient 46 11 6 6 45 37 4 7 12 31 41 58 16th Mansfield 46 13 4 6 57 39 4 3 16 33 54 58 17th Rushden 46 11 5 7 38 33 3 7 13 18 39 54 18th Wimbledon 46 7 9 7 41 41 6 5 12 34 46 53 19th Scunthorpe 46 10 4 9 45 47 5 4 14 35 51 53 20th Brighton 46 7 7 9 29 34 6 6 11 25 33 52 21st Bury 46 6 9 8 29 33 6 5 12 32 39 50 22nd Telford 46 8 6 9 26 25 3 10 10 21 33 49 23rd Stockport 46 7 4 12 35 49 4 6 13 28 48 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24th R Nuneaton Borough 46 5 6 12 38 54 2 3 18 8 47 30
CONFERENCE
Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st C Swansea 42 14 6 1 48 24 10 4 7 39 28 82 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Northwich Vics 42 12 8 1 45 19 9 9 3 36 21 80 3rd Morecambe 42 14 6 1 41 20 9 4 8 30 24 79 4th Cheltenham 42 12 6 3 41 28 10 5 6 44 36 77 5th Stevenage 42 13 3 5 36 20 10 5 6 29 27 77 6th Margate 42 11 6 4 33 21 9 5 7 28 33 71 7th Stalybridge 42 10 5 6 42 28 10 5 6 40 35 70 8th Barnet 42 10 7 4 33 22 10 3 8 36 34 70 9th Southend 42 10 3 8 34 33 9 4 8 43 39 64 10th Yeovil 42 13 1 7 39 32 7 0 14 30 44 61 11th Hereford 42 9 8 4 33 25 6 6 9 27 30 59 12th Bath City 42 9 4 8 37 29 7 6 8 28 34 58 13th Salisbury 42 8 7 6 28 24 5 9 7 22 28 55 14th Farnborough 42 8 6 7 33 33 6 4 11 27 34 52 15th Boston Utd 42 7 3 11 39 42 5 7 9 31 33 46 16th York 42 8 7 6 31 27 2 9 10 22 34 46 17th Clevedon 42 6 5 10 25 31 5 5 11 25 39 43 18th Hucknall 42 6 6 9 29 35 3 6 12 15 33 39 19th Slough 42 5 6 10 18 31 3 7 11 18 41 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20th R Sutton Utd 42 7 3 11 31 34 1 8 12 14 34 35 21st R Enfield 42 4 9 8 25 34 1 7 13 18 37 31 22nd R Stafford R 42 4 9 8 26 32 1 6 14 22 49 30
Promoted to Conference: Aldershot, Kettering, Lancaster.
FA Cup: West Ham 2-1 Leeds.
League Cup: Norwich 4-0 Leeds.
Community Shield: Man Utd 4-2 Chelsea.
Football League Trophy: Wrexham 2-1 Gillingham.
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ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Having dropped to 5th in the Premiership, and with Thierry Henry's future in fresh doubt, Arsenal decide to sign another striker. It's a huge shock too, as former Tottenham hotshot Serhiy Rebrov moves to Highbury after two seasons with Wolves! Another surprise move sees Manchester United's Brazilian frontman França join Porto for just £4million.
- Sven-Göran Eriksson's England tenure ends in a disastrous Group Stage exit from Euro 2008. Following a couple of 2-2 draws against hosts Switzerland and rivals Wales, the Three Lions are dumped out by Russia after left-back Ashley Cole gives away a penalty. As The Sun gloats about Eriksson being "COSSACKED", the Daily Mirror decide to blame Cheryl for England's failures.
- Two more of Europe's top nations suffer dramatic early exits from Euro 2008. Defending champions Germany survive the group unbeaten but are pushed into 3rd place by a 90th-minute equaliser from Ukraine midfielder Serhiy Zakarlyuka. Meanwhile, Portugal squander a 4-1 half-time lead against the Czech Republic, who score thrice in the second half to reduce 23-year-old Portuguese keeper Marco Carneiro to a blubbering wreck.
- Italy reach a third successive European Championship Final after ending Ukraine's dream debut run at the Semi Finals. The Azzurri then beat Holland 1-0 in Bern, with a stunning volley from Bologna striker Giacomo Cipriani delivering them the spoils. After the match, 62-year-old Arrigo Sacchi ends his second spell as Italy's allenatore and announces his retirement.
- Former Argentina, Liverpool and Roma defender Roberto Fabián Ayala retires aged 35, while legendary goalkeeper Oliver Kahn hangs up his gloves. The 39-year-old is subsequently named manager of J-League side Shimizu Pulse, whose arch-rivals Jubilo Iwata are now coached by his ex-Germany colleague Bernd Schneider!
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Four months after Kosovo declares its independence from the former Yugoslavia, the constitution of Europe's newest state comes into effect. Serbian forces retaliate with violence, killing or injuring thousands of Kosovars in the north of the country. Serbia & Montenegro is widely condemned for its actions and face numerous sanctions, including the expulsion of their football team from the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. ***
- A huge fire takes place at a media archive at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. A Universal spokesperson claims that nothing significant was lost in the fire. However, online reports indicate that over 40,000 archived video and film backups were indeed destroyed, along with over 100,000 audio master tapes from many great American musicians.
- Tiger Woods wins his 14th major golf title, beating Rocco Mediate in a sudden-death play-off to claim the US Open for the third time. Even more impressively, he does it just two weeks after undergoing knee surgery! It seems that nothing can stop Tiger from dominating professional golf again…
- Two weeks after his country becomes a republic, King Gyanendra leaves the royal palace in Kathmandu for the last time. As he departs, Gyanendra misquotes Coldplay’s latest single and sings, “I used to rule Nepal…”
*** AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'm using a bit of artistic licence here to explain Yugoslavia's absence from the World Cup qualifiers in my save. While there was indeed significant Serbian resistance to Kosovo's independence around this time, it did not really turn as violent as this.
Unfortunately, there's a bug in CM01/02 where the Yugoslav team sometimes gets excluded from the World Cup qualifiers. In this case, I think it's because no European teams have qualified for the 2010 World Cup automatically as hosts or holders, and the game can't fit all 51 European teams into the qualifiers. I'm not sure why CM could've excluded Liechtenstein or San Marino instead (like it sometimes does for the Euro qualifers), but that's just another of its quirks.
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JUNE 2008
As I settled into my new office at Kidderminster, the full scale of the rebuild I had to oversee at Aggborough became apparent. The club was around £1.5million in debt, many of our players were on obscene wages for Division 2... and our defence was an embarrassment.
The Harriers conceded 82 goals in just 46 league games in the 2007/2008 season - more than both Exeter and Portsmouth, who were relegated to Division 3. They also kept just four clean sheets all season long - in a couple of two-game clumps around New Year's Day and Easter.
My top priority was to sign a new goalkeeper, as the four goalies we had weren’t going to cut it. Two were lower-league journeymen who were out of their depth in Division 2, another had already agreed a transfer to Stafford Rangers... and the last one was an 18-year-old who'd been sent off 28 minutes into his league debut.
Across the backline, we had plenty of defenders who were rather decent at most things, except defending. Pretty much the only actual defender I had in was vice-captain Barry Miller - a powerful, much-travelled centre-back who at 32 seemed to have finally found his footballing home.
The club captain was Finland international Timo Marjamaa, who could play at centre-half or as a defensive midfielder. Though the 31-year-old was no doubt an energetic and consistent performer (average rating 7.31), his technical qualities were perhaps not what we needed in Division 2.
Another of our top performers was left-flanker Alex Smith, who was very quick and creative, getting 5 goals and 13 assists. However, he was also 32 years old and technically mediocre. On the right flank, David Cowan was another player who had pace and power but not much else.
Unsurprisingly, our biggest strengths were up top, where we had four strikers who'd scored 88 goals between them. Top earner Iain Hume had scored 17 goals, homegrown starlet Alan Scott had bagged 21, cult icon David Collins managed 24... and Indian superstar Baichung Bhutia was top with 26 goals.
Guess which of them was surplus to requirements? That's right... Bhutia.
When I compared all our forwards' strengths and weaknesses, I couldn't see where Bhutia would fit in. Hume was pacey and could consistently create chances as well as score them. Scott was a tall and hard-working target man, while Collins was an incredibly lethal poacher on his day. As prolific as Bhutia was, there were clear signs that the 31-year-old's physical and technical abilities were on the decline - and with his contract up in 12 months, now was the right time to cash in.
So the man who got 26 goals, 11 assists, a 7.95 average rating and was named Kidderminster Player of the Year was somehow the worst striker we had! This is an odd team, I must say!
Though we haven't yet found a buyer for Bhutia, we did manage to shift a lot of the dead wood over the first few weeks of the transfer window. Here's a quick rundown of the 12 (TWELVE) players who've already moved on:
NAME AGE POSITIONS TO FEE David Cowan 26 D/M R Tranmere £725K Alan Mahon 30 AM LC Man City £550K Michael Haxthausen 28 GK Crewe £190K Alex Smith 32 D/M LC Huddersfield £100K Martin Bullock 33 AM RC Millwall Free Paul Dennis 26 GK Stafford Rangers Free Ian Foster 31 F RC - Free Billy Mead 27 D R Nuneaton Borough Free John McGreal 36 D C Portsmouth Free Gary Odlum 29 D R Stafford Rangers Free Sigurður Örn Jónsson 34 D/DM LC Niort Free Daniel Ryan 22 AM L Southend Free
That's £1.6million in sales, with around £50,000 per week being cut from the wage bill. Not too shabby, eh?
Meanwhile, we've brought in EIGHT new players - all on free transfers or loans. The first of them was attacking midfielder Scott Simpson from St Mirren. The 25-year-old Scot is a fine playmaker and a determined playmaker who excels at set-pieces.
Also arriving from Scotland is Robert Garside - a quick and talented former Rangers striker who was capped by Wales when he was just 17. The now 22-year-old never quite made it at Ibrox, but moving to Kidderminster could well give his career the kick-start it needs.
Going further afield, I took holding midfielder Jorge Ormeño on a free transfer from Spanish Segunda División side Elche. The 31-year-old Chilean is a fiery character by most accounts, but his positioning and marking abilities should help protect the backline.
I'm not worried about Jorge's inability to speak English. One of our other defensive midfielders - former Manchester City star Jeff Whitley - spent four years at Rayo Vallecano and thus is fluent in Spanish.
I then secured another coup, signing 29-year-old centre-back Markus Heikkinen from Wolves. Okay, so we're paying him £10,000 per week, but a defender with his tactical awareness and tackling abilities would surely be one of the best in Division 1, let alone Division 2. He joins Marjamaa and right-back Hannu Haarala as one of three Finland international at Aggborough.
To continue the Nordic theme, I brought in a couple of Swedish free agents. Daniel Modigh (19) is a promising defensive stopper who will start his development in the reserves. Meanwhile, Kent Ivarsson (24) is a competent goalkeeper who will be the understudy to our new number 1, who is...
...Republic of Ireland Under-21s international John Forde, who joins on a season-long loan from Newcastle. Though he's only 19 and has never played a senior match before, I'm very impressed with his handling skills and agility. He's also quite strong physically, and so won't be intimidated by some of the league's more industrial forwards.
Lastly, I went back to Dagenham & Redbridge and took one of my former players on loan. Would you like to guess which one?
Okay... I bet you didn't expect me to bring back Leon Osman. As disappointing as Leon was for my Daggers in Division 1, I still believed that the Liverpudlian attacking midfielder's technique and creativity could blossom at a lower level.
There are still some areas where I'd like to strengthen over the summer. We still need some more cover in defence, particularly at left-back, where 20-year-old Terry Simpson is attracting strong interest from Guus Hiddink's Southampton. Another high-quality midfielder might also make a huge difference. Don't be too surprised if I sign a few more Dagenham players later down the road.
As things stand, we've trimmed our player wage bill from around £150,000 per week to £127,500 per week - with a few more high-earners still waiting to be moved on. Indeed, I reckon our new free signings and loanees have made this team stronger than it was when I arrived!
Hmm. We'll see if time proves me right...
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ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- After five years as champions, Manchester United concede the Premiership title to Chelsea after being held 1-1 at Sheffield Wednesday in their final game. While Jean Tigana's Blues celebrate a first championship in 53 years, arch-rivals Tottenham sink to 16th place and replace manager Paul Bracewell with Norwich's League Cup-winning coach Brian Flynn.
- There will be TWO teams from Division 1 playing in the UEFA Cup next season. West Ham lift their fourth FA Cup after Luke Chadwick's penalty secures a 2-1 win over Leeds in the Final. However, Alex McLeish's Hammers are subsequently relegated from the Premiership alongside Wolves and Crystal Palace - and will play in the second tier alongside Norwich next season.
- After finishing 2nd in the Premiership, Leeds' season ends with a THIRD Cup Final defeat. Goals from Simone Inzaghi and Hernán Jorge Crespo see Lazio snatch the Champions League trophy from a weeping Peter Ridsdale's arms in Lisbon. Juventus also narrowly fail to defend the UEFA Cup in Rome, where they fall to a 79th-minute winner from HSV's Miroslav Baranek.
- It's double delight for Dortmund! BVB are crowned Bundesliga champions on the final day with victory over Leverkusen, and then put four goals past Schalke 04 to win the DFB-Pokal. While previous holders Leverkusen narrowly escape relegation, Schalke aren't so lucky - and drop into the second division just two years after winning the championship!
- It's as you were in the other major European leagues. Lazio finish two points clear of Roma in Serie A, while Barcelona withstand Valencia's challenge in La Liga, and Marseille retain Ligue 1 ahead of Saint-Etienne. The biggest surprise comes in Holland, where PSV regain the Eredivisie by a whopping TWELVE points from Ajax!
IN OTHER NEWS...
- At the London mayoral election, millions decide they've finally had enough of long-time Labour mayor Ken Livingstone. They instead vote in someone who is more in tune with working-class Londoners - the charismatic but gaffe-prone Eton old boy Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson of the Conservative Party.
- Vladimir Putin is forced to step down as President of Russia at the end of his second term. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is elected as the new President, and subsequently announces that his new PM will be… Vladimir Putin. Huh.
- Russia's Dima Bilan wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade... as "X Factor" reject Andy Abraham finishes dead-last for the United Kingdom. The BBC's usually jovial commentator Terry Wogan is so dismayed by claims of Eastern European 'bloc-voting' that he quits, after more than 30 years in the role.
- Two devastating natural disasters strike east and south-east Asia within nine days. Barely a week after an extremely severe tropical cyclone kills over 138,000 people in Myanmar, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province claims another 87,000 lives.
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MAY 2008
After more than five months out of work, I'm delighted - and quite relieved - to tell you that I have finally found a new job!
I've been in football for two decades now - and until now, I have never played for or managed a club from outside Greater London. I took a journey into the unknown when I drove north-west from my Dagenham home for three hours... until I found myself in Worcestershire, in the West Midlands.
Upon my arrival at the Aggborough stadium, I was warmly greeted by an affable local businessman named Darren Gibson. The 63-year-old had been chairman of Kidderminster Harriers since buying the Division 2 outfit from Lionel Newton last summer.
Kidderminster were a club who - just like Dagenham & Redbridge - had enjoyed a meteoric rise from non-league football. Former Liverpool midfielder Jan Mølby led them to the Conference title in 2000, which was followed by two more promotions in 2003 and 2005, taking them into Division 1.
After surviving in a respectable 13th place in 2005/2006, however, it all went wrong. As my Daggers team followed Kidderminster into Division 1 for the 2006/2007 season, Mølby's Harriers went into a tailspin that cost the Dane his job in March. The experienced Lennie Lawrence took over the reins but could not save his new side from dropping back into Division 2.
The 2006/2007 season was another challenging one for Kidderminster, as they fought to return to Division 1 at the first attempt. They possessed one of the best attacking records in Division 2, but at the other end, they also had one of the leakiest defences. Eventually, a late surge was enough to take them up into the play-offs, finishing in 6th place ahead of Torquay on goal difference.
But then, just as Kidderminster were preparing for the play-offs, Lawrence dropped a bombshell. The 60-year-old had agreed a deal to become the next manager of Fulham, who had themselves finished just outside the Division 1 relegation places. Gibson was so dismayed with the disloyalty Lawrence had shown that he dismissed his manager with immediate effect.
Assistant coach Shane Westley now had to lead Kidderminster through the play-offs, which turned into an unmitigated disaster. In their Semi Final first leg against 3rd-placed Reading at the Madejski Stadium, the Harriers had THREE players sent off - including two goalkeepers - as they went down to a 3-0 defeat.
While Kidderminster's play-off campaign was imploding, Gibson had begun looking for a permanent manager. As an unemployed manager with a proven track record of taking a smaller club into Division 1, I was at the top of his shortlist.
After a successful interview, Gibson invited me to join him in the VIP boxes at Aggborough, where we watched the second leg of Kidderminster's Playoff Semi Final. The Harriers battled valiantly but could only manage a 1-1 draw, bringing their season to a disappointing end. Reading celebrated a 4-1 aggregate win and advanced to Wembley, where they would lose to Leicester in the Final.
The following afternoon, on Wednesday 14 May, I was formally announced as the new manager of Kidderminster Harriers on a two-year contract. The long-term aim was to lead this team back to Division 1... but a more immediate concern was to repair the club's financial damage.
Upon taking the job, I was worried to find that Kidderminster were £1.4million in the red. Yes, that debt would be mitigated when a new season's worth of TV revenue started flowing in, but our wage bill of over £150,000 per week was simply not sustainable for the third division - and I wasn't only talking about our players.
When I looked through the staff contracts, seeing Shane Westley's salary almost gave me a heart arrhythmia. He was earning £10,500 per week! That was at least three times what I was getting as manager, and almost as much as our highest-paid player - the Canadian international striker Iain Hume.
When I brought this to Gibson's attention, he shrugged, "Well... that was Len’s idea." It appeared that Lawrence had been very liberal with backroom wages during his tenure, and that the chairman had seen no reason to question someone who had been a Football League manager for over 25 years.
That recklessness would not be repeated on my watch. My first act as manager was to remove Westley from the payroll and look for a newer, cheaper assistant. I wouldn't have to look very far.
Former Scotland and Everton defender David Weir had joined the Kidderminster scouting set-up last summer after hanging up his boots, but he aspired to go into coaching. With his vast tactical knowledge and motivational skills, Weir was just the guy I needed to be my right-hand man.
I also brought in another three coaches. Goalkeeping specialist Richard Burke arrived from Leigh RMI, and the disciplinarian technical coach Andy Peake was brought in from Halifax. We would also welcome in an exciting young coach in 35-year-old Paul Tisdale, who signed from Scarborough.
Of the club's existing coaching staff, both Gavin Hall and Phil Robinson kept their jobs. Carl Hoddle (aka Glenn's kid brother) did not. Jamie Hewitt and Mike Newell also left, as their contracts had expired and their wage demands were too high.
Weir's promotion aside, I retained the entire scouting team - consisting of English quartet Paul Blades, Barry Hand, Kevin Scott and George Talbot, plus Irish duo Michael Conway and Niall Murray. Our physio Jimmy Conway - another Irishman, but not related to Michael - also stayed on.
So, that’s the backroom sorted. Time to have a closer look at the playing staff…
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1 minute ago, dtown1414 said:
Always like the interviewing process. I know at times, the questions are redundant, but it's always been fun for me. And fairly realistic.
There is no interview process on CM01/02 - when you apply for a job, you either get offered it or you don't. Job interviews were only added to the series a few FMs ago. I've just added them to this story for extra realism.
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ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- Lazio close in on another Champions League Final after thrashing Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the Semi Final. They could well face a showdown with holders Leeds, who take a 1-0 lead over Porto after their young Italian forward Roberto Bruzzone scores a late winner at Elland Road.
- Barça's continental hopes might be in ashes, but they look set to win La Liga once again after beating Valencia 2-1 to go back to the summit. Meanwhile, Villarreal finally get a league victory on the board - at the 33rd attempt, against Málaga. Suffice to say, the yellow submarine is sinking back into the Segunda División next season.
- After winning seven matches in a row, Chelsea need just one more point from their final three games to take the Premiership title away from Manchester United. The Blues immediately get the jitters and lose 1-0 to Bolton, raising the pressure on their remaining two fixtures against Leeds... and Manchester United.
- United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is named PFA Player of the Year for the sixth time after scoring 19 Premiership goals - and dedicates his latest award to everybody except his manager Hélio dos Anjos. Meanwhile, Celtic regain the Scottish Premier League title after 18-year-old boy wonder Gordon Weir inspires them to an emphatic 4-1 derby win over Rangers.
- The battle for Bundesliga survival heats up, as the last two champions both battle to avoid relegations. Dethroned champs Leverkusen climb out of the bottom three after beating Nürnberg 3-1... but 2006 winners Schalke 04 are in real danger after being spanked 5-1 by 1.FC Köln. Frontrunners Dortmund close in on their first championship in 12 years, thanks partly to the unlikely defensive partnership of Dani Alves and Michael Dawson.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- Charlton Heston - the prolific Hollywood actor who was also president of the National Rifle Association of America - passes away aged 84. He rose to prominence in the 1950s, playing Moses in “The Ten Commandments” and the title character in “Ben-Hur”.
- Leona Lewis becomes the first British woman in 20 years to top the Billboard Hot 100, with her international breakthrough single "Bleeding Love". A week later, Lewis' idol Mariah Carey retakes top spot with the subtly-named "Touch My Body" - her 18th US number 1 single.
- Silvio Berlusconi throws his biggest ‘bunga bunga’ party ever after being re-elected Prime Minister of Italy for a third time. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party win the snap election, which was called after Romano Prodi’s government lost a Senate vote of confidence in January.
- Danica Patrick puts the chauvinistic women drivers stereotype to bed by winning the Indy Japan 300 for Andretti Green Racing. The 27-year-old is the first woman to win a race in the top-level IndyCar Series.
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APRIL 2008
The season is nearly over, and it probably won't surprise you that I still haven't found a new job. However, there is some good news to report.
Dagenham & Redbridge are staying in Division 1 for another season. In fact, they secured their survival with several games to spare.
That shock FA Cup defeat to Northwich notwithstanding, the Daggers have played quite well since Willy Wordsworth replaced me as manager in December and instilled a new tactical philosophy.
While my team was renowned for playing intense attacking football, Wordsworth has instilled a more disciplined defensive approach and frequently lined his players up in a wide 5-3-2 formation. That's a huge departure from my go-to method of packing the midfield and putting the wing-backs in sole charge of our wide play.
I'll admit that Wordsworth's rather unorthodox approach is getting results. Their last 19 league matches have seen them record seven wins (mostly by single-goal margins), eight draws, and just four defeats. Survival was wrapped up over the Easter weekend, in which they stunned promotion-chasing Middlesbrough 1-0 at Victoria Road before grinding out a 0-0 away draw against a Charlton team with play-off ambitions.
Though Paul Rachubka was in goal for the first few weeks of Wordsworth's tenure, he was displaced in February - but not by Espen Baardsen, who's hardly caught a football since I left. Instead, Daggers fans have witnessed an unexpected Indian summer for 38-year-old Alan Miller, who's kept six clean sheets in 15 games!
Miller's resurgence has not been entirely smooth, mind. In the middle of March, Dagenham were spanked 4-0 at Norwich, whose striker Isaiah Rankin scored two late goals against his former employers.
My decision to sell Rankin to Norwich for just £200,000 last summer was probably a mistake. In his one season at Victoria Road, Rankin got 7 goals and 2 assists in 31 league games, posting an average rating of 6.97.
Since his move to Carrow Road, Izzy has bagged 20 goals and 10 assists in 36 league outings, for an incredible 8.02 average rating! Whoops.
Rankin's firepower has clearly been missed, as Dagenham are set to end this season as the fourth-lowest scorers in Division 1. They head into their final game at home to Ipswich next month having scored just 48 goals in 45 matches. With 17 goals, Cherno Samba is the only Dagger to have hit double figures.
Last season's top scorer Luke Beckett has sadly endured a rotten run of form and lost his place in the team. Beckett has now requested a transfer, along with several midfielders who have fallen out of favour since Wordsworth's tactical switch. Alan McLean, Steve Sidwell and even Ryan Carter have asked to leave.
It's clear now that Wordsworth wants to build his own team at Victoria Road, and who can blame him? I just hope - as someone who served the Daggers as a player, coach and manager for a decade - that he doesn't disenfranchise our fanbase or plunge the club into financial ruin.
As for me, it's now time to move on from the Daggers and focus on the next phase of my career. The job market will surely open up again once the final league games have been played, and I'm sure there'll be a great opportunity somewhere. Whether that's in England or elsewhere, that remains to be seen...
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ELSEWHERE IN FOOTBALL...
- A thrilling derby at Maine Road sees Manchester United recover from 3-1 behind to defeat Manchester City 5-3 - and push their arch-rivals closer to Premiership relegation. The turning point comes in the 59th minute, when City's England Under-21s goalkeeper Anthony Talbot is sent off for a reckless foul on Paul Scholes. Meanwhile in the League Cup Final, Division 1 side Norwich record a stunning 4-0 win over nine-man Leeds.
- Things don't get any better for Manchester United in the Champions League, where a 3-1 loss at Benfica condemns them to elimination at the second group phase. Liverpool and Roma also fall short, both finishing just one point behind Porto and Barcelona in a ridiculously tight Group A.
- Tottenham start dreaming of UEFA Cup glory when Joe O'Shea's double gives them a 2-0 first-leg lead over HSV in the Quarter Final. Naturally, Spurs being Spurs, they promptly lose the second leg 4-0 in Hamburg.
- Lazio retain a six-point lead in Serie A after Hernán Jorge Crespo heads in a 75th-minute equaliser against Roma. Crespo's 22nd goal of the season keeps him on track to win the league's Golden Boot for a fourth year in succession.
- Lionel Messi's halo slips at Deportivo, where the Barcelona wonderkid is sent off for screaming profanities at the referee. Barça lose 1-0 - a result that allows Claudio Ranieri's Valencia to replace them at the top of La Liga. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard's fitness is questioned by Real Madrid fans after the England midfielder is injured in a derby loss to Atlético Madrid.
IN OTHER NEWS...
- British science-fiction writer and futurist Sir Arthur C Clarke dies aged 90. Nicknamed the 'Prophet of the Space Age', Clarke co-wrote the groundbreaking 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" with its director Stanley Kubrick.
- After a turbulent five-and-a-half-year marriage, Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney divorces his second wife Heather Mills on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour”. Former model Mills tries to argue otherwise, but she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
- 25 years into her pop career, Madonna is elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with the Dave Clark Five, John Mellencamp… and Leonard Cohen. Hallelujah!
- Disgraced British athlete Dwain Chambers considers switching to rugby league - and playing in the Super League for Castleford Tigers. But after hearing he must take a drugs test first, Chambers sprints away.
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25 Years
in FM Stories
Posted · Edited by CFuller
JANUARY 2009
The new year began with a couple of players leaving Aggborough. Nick Roberts had been consistently asking to leave throughout my tenure, and after 10 largely mediocre games, the versatile defender got his wish - and joined Tranmere on a free transfer.
Finland right-back Hannu Haarala was also on his way out, having posted an average rating of just 6.27 in 15 games this term. Despite his poor form, Premiership side Aston Villa still saw reason to pay £450,000 for him. Perhaps Villa's tea lady retired and they needed a replacement?
Those departures left me with a first-team squad of 20 first-team players that I could trust with confidence, and that I could happily rotate in or out as I wished. There was also a little wiggle room for some younger talents to break through if they impressed in the reserves. Barring any major catastrophes, I did not plan on signing any more senior players this season.
Our first game of 2009 was a play-off duel at home to Nottingham Forest, who had the chance to leapfrog us into 4th place with a victory. Though we had a healthy 11-point lead on Cambridge in 7th, there could be no room for complacency as we entered the second half of the season.
7 JANUARY 2009: Kidderminster Harriers vs Nottingham Forest
With this being such a big game in the play-off race, it was important to keep cool heads... but we weren't cool in the first four minutes. Shortly after loanee midfielder Gareth Roberts was booked for a holding foul, goalkeeper John Forde committed an even costlier offence in the penalty area. After clumsily bringing Andy Reid down, Forde then faced a penalty kick from Chris Bart-Williams, which he could not save.
David Collins was denied an equaliser on the hour mark by Forest keeper Nick Colgan, but their next encounter early in the second half would have a different outcome. After Colgan parried a low left-footer from César Gallego, Collins pounced on the loose ball to make it 1-1.
Collins' 17th goal of the season appeared to have shifted the momentum our way, and he was unlucky not to give us the lead with another strike on 66 minutes. However, there would be another twist in the 75th minute, when Forde gave away another penalty - this time for fouling Beli Moumouni Dagano! Bart-Williams took that spot-kick as well... with the same outcome. 2-1 Forest.
As I fumed at Forde single-handedly costing us three points, our afternoon got even worse when Collins pulled up with a knee injury. He was replaced with 17-year-old Jamie Berry, who later fired wide our last chance to take away a draw.
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Collins 53)
Nottingham Forest - 2 (Bart-Williams pen4,pen75)
Division 2, Attendance 5,564 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 5th, Nottm Forest 4th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson, Miller (Gallego), Bell, T Simpson; Heikkinen; Whitley, Roberts (Aðalsteinsson); S Simpson; Garside, Collins (Berry). BOOKED: Roberts.
That could be a worrying turning point. As well as losing three points on Cambridge and David Collins for the next two weeks, it seemed that John Forde had lost his head.
We needed to get back on track three days later, as Aggborough hosted a seemingly less intense meeting with Colchester. The Essex side were second-from-bottom and had scored a league-low 22 goals in 26 matches.
10 JANUARY 2009: Kidderminster Harriers vs Colchester United
After a shaky start, we hit our stride midway through the first period. Winger Baldur Aðalsteinsson chipped a fantastic ball into space for attacking midfielder Scott Simpson, who fired us into the lead after 26 minutes. Simpson had scored his 6th goal for the Harriers - more than in his entire career at his previous club St Mirren!
The second half was less comfortable. As we struggled to kill Colchester off, the plucky underdogs started to fight back. They got a massive chance on 74 minutes, when a careless shove from Scott Simpson sent U's forward Dave Williams tumbling in the box. The man who'd given us the lead had given it away, as James Flood's penalty levelled the scores.
As we rued the potential loss of two crucial points, Robert Garside launched a one-man crusade to restore our lead. Garside's 79th-minute header narrowly missed the target... but when substitute Ryan Carter sent the Welsh striker through on goal a minute later, he made sure to apply the finish! With his first league goal for the club, Garside had secured a late 2-1 victory!
Kidderminster Harriers - 2 (S Simpson 26, Garside 80)
Colchester United - 1 (Flood pen74)
Division 2, Attendance 3,814 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 5th, Colchester 23rd
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-1-4-1): Forde; Berntsson, Miller, Bell (McCluskey), T Simpson; Heikkinen (Nicholls); Gallego, Whitley, S Simpson (Carter), Aðalsteinsson; Garside. BOOKED: Bell, S Simpson.
We might have won, but that was still a poor performance.
The press were getting on our backs as well, with the local newspaper - the Kidderminster Shuttle - accusing club captain Jeff Whitley of getting complacent. I knew Jeff was a model pro who wouldn't allow himself to get cocky, but I admitted that his recent performances were not up to scratch. With that in mind, I decided to drop him for the next two games, with Barry Miller taking on the captaincy for the time being.
In midweek, we played our fourth home game in a row - against Watford in Round 2 of the Football League Trophy. We'd beaten the Hornets 2-0 at Aggborough in the league just a fortnight earlier, and Peter Taylor's side had lost their next two matches as well.
There was a mixture of good and bad news on the injury front prior to this game. Target man Alan Scott was ready to return from a broken toe, but centre-back Simon Bell had damaged his shoulder and was ruled out for the next three weeks.
13 JANUARY 2009: Kidderminster Harriers vs Watford
Watford's lack of confidence was evident throughout the first half. Time after time, we sliced open our defence like hot knives through butter, only for Darryl Flahavan's valiant goalkeeping to keep the scoreline at 0-0. Robert Garside eventually broke through in the 44th minute, picking up Alan Scott's flick-on and dribbling past two defenders before beating Flahavan.
The Hornets looked to fight back early in the second period. Making just his second competitive start for Kidderminster, goalkeeper Kent Ivarsson made a couple of difficult saves from striker James Dickinson and midfielder David Livermore. Another shot from Dickinson in the 52nd minute did evade Ivarsson, but the post came to Kent's rescue by deflecting it wide.
Despite a good performance in the first half, Scott hadn't been fit enough to return for the second. Garside was now partnered up front by Jamie Berry, on what would be a memorable cameo for the teenage prospect. In the 71st minute, Scott Simpson chased down Gareth Roberts' long ball and curled it across to Berry, who headed it home for a 2-0 lead!
Berry's first senior goal was followed 11 minutes later by another lethal header - again set up by Scott Simpson, this time from a corner! Jamie couldn't quite make it a dream hat-trick, but he was involved in a third goal just before full-time. A selfless assist for winger César Gallego rounded off an emphatic 4-0 win over a truly woeful Watford team!
Kidderminster Harriers - 4 (Garside 44, Berry 71,82, Gallego 88)
Watford - 0
Football League Trophy South Round 2, Attendance 1,361
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Ivarsson; Berntsson (McCluskey), Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson; Nicholls; Carter, Roberts (Gallego); S Simpson; Scott (Berry), Garside. BOOKED: Roberts.
Looks like Jamie Berry's got a really bright future ahead of him! Two goals and one assists in his third senior game - not bad for a lad who's just turned 17!
Having stung the Hornets for the second time in two weeks, we were awarded with a South Quarter Final away to QPR. That match would take place at the start of February.
We returned to league action at Tranmere, who were 17th and looking to keep clear of danger. Despite keeping his first clean sheet in the Watford thrashing, backup goalkeeper Kent Ivarsson made way for Forde in the only change to my starting line-up.
17 JANUARY 2009: Tranmere Rovers vs Kidderminster Harriers
It was very gusty and rainy up in Merseyside, which didn't exactly bode well for this contest. Sure enough, the first half was a real toil for everyone involved - the only highlight coming when Alan Scott's 10th-minute half-volley was pushed away by Tranmere goalkeeper Ian Gray.
The weather had settled down by the second half, when Tranmere at last managed to get their natural attacking game up and running. Ex-Harriers winger David Cowan hit the side netting in the 56th minute, but another effort seven minutes later had more success. None of our defenders were quick enough to close down Rovers midfielder Chris Lewington before he volleyed Nathan Lowndes' cross in off the post. John Forde had not seen it coming.
After falling behind, we went for the route-one approach - hoof it up to Big Al! Target man Alan Scott skimmed the bar in the 65th minute, but it was second time lucky six minutes later, when he headed home a chipped delivery from Scott Simpson. That meant we took away a point from a surprisingly tough battle.
Tranmere Rovers - 1 (Lewington 63)
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Scott 71)
Division 2, Attendance 13,273 - POSITIONS: Tranmere 17th, Kidderminster 5th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson, Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson; Nicholls (Aðalsteinsson); Carter (Gallego), Roberts; S Simpson; Scott (Berry), Garside. BOOKED: T Simpson.
Next up was a local derby of sorts, as we travelled about 30 miles north-west to face Shrewsbury in midweek. Midfielders Kevin Nicholls and Ryan Carter were both fined and dropped after their abject performances in the previous game.
21 JANUARY 2009: Shrewsbury Town vs Kidderminster Harriers
Shrewsbury came out all guns blazing, with both of their centre-backs - yes, their centre-backs - having shots inside the first eight minutes. Gary Locke was denied by John Forde in the third minute, but Toni Kuivasto broke through five minutes later. Eddie Mooney bought 'two tickets to paradise' for himself and Kuivasto, who headed home the Irish midfielder's corner.
We hunted for an equaliser in the 26th minute, when team leaders Barry Miller and Jeff Whitley had shots saved in quick succession by Shrews goalie Robert Green. My former Dagenham & Redbridge keeper was keen to prove me wrong... but my current number 1 also knew he needed to impress. In the 45th minute, Forde bravely caught a left-wing cross from Jay Richardson, just as it looked like Shrews captain Neil Somerville was about to head them into a 2-0 lead.
Mooney had another fine chance for 2-0 in the 56th minute, when his half-volley went inches over the bar. But when that second goal did arrive eight minutes later, it was scored by us at the other end. Against the run of play, César Gallego had won us a corner, which he swung to the far post for Alan Scott to flick it home!
We then piled on the pressure through the rest of the second half, up until the last few moments of injury time. Standing with an indirect free-kick just 20 yards from goal, Gallego played a quick one-two before firing it towards goal. Green caught the ball before fumbling it right in front of Scott, who looked certain to score... until the referee blew for full-time! Alan and his team-mates were furious, but the ref insisted that time was up - and like it or not, his word was final!
Shrewsbury Town - 1 (Kuivasto 8)
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Scott 64)
Division 2, Attendance 7,188 - POSITIONS: Shrewsbury 13th, Kidderminster 5th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson (McCluskey), Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson; Whitley; S Simpson (Aðalsteinsson), Roberts; Gallego; Scott, Garside (Berry).
Thanks a lot, Mr Kevin Stevens. You've probably cost us two points there.
Our 11-point gap on those teams outside the play-off spots had now been cut to just 6. Our top-six position was now looking far from safe... and when I heard that QPR had just put SEVEN goals past Walsall, I didn't think much about our hopes of further progress in the Football League Trophy either!
Though Scott's return to form was a positive, he wasn't quite at Collins' level - so it was wonderful to see David back in action when we welcomed Bristol City to Aggborough. Left-back Kevin Hyde also made it onto the bench, having been beset by injuries for near enough the last four months.
28 JANUARY 2009: Kidderminster Harriers vs Bristol City
David Collins could have picked up from where he'd left off in the fifth minute. Even surrounded by Bristol City defenders, Collins still managed to get his head to a flick-on from Alan Scott, nodding it just over the bar. Collins' next effort in the 15th minute was saved by City keeper Paul McDonald.
While this match marked Collins' comeback from injury, it also represented Baichung Bhutia's first game back at Aggborough since I sold him in July. The Indian had so far scored 10 goals for Bristol City, and his 19th-minute volley almost delivered another, but John Forde just about tipped it wide.
Bristol City suffered a couple of injuries in the second half - to striker Marvin Brown and right-back Graeme Murty - but had another chance to break through in the 63rd minute. Former Peru striker Vasallo Aldo Olcese set up an effort for winger Jimmy Corbett, who fired it comically wide. Sadly, we didn't fare much better going forward later on, and so this match ended in the first goalless draw of my Kidderminster tenure.
Kidderminster Harriers - 0
Bristol City - 0
Division 2, Attendance 4,023 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 5th, Bristol City 18th
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson, Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson (Hyde); Whitley; Carter, Roberts; S Simpson (Garside); Scott, Collins (Gallego). BOOKED: T Simpson, Roberts, S Simpson.
After three draws in a row, could we get back to winning ways when 21st-placed Wrexham came to town? After enduring an exceptionally terrible start to the season, the Dragons had risen from the flames under new manager Steve Bull - and had shown signs that they could yet survive. This match would not be as easy as the table suggested.
31 JANUARY 2009: Kidderminster Harriers vs Wrexham
Kidderminster captain Jeff Whitley was fired up from the start - and after a reckless challenge on Wrexham midfielder Gavin McCann in the second minute, he was lucky to escape with only a yellow card! The subsequent free-kick from McCann was well blocked by Terry Simpson... but just moments later, our left-back pulled up with a thigh injury. His game was up.
The referee then issued a couple more bookings - including one to Simpson's replacement Kevin Hyde - before making an even bigger call in the 11th minute. Whitley was wiped out in the Wrexham box by the visitors' left-winger Danny Jackman, and the referee awarded us a penalty, which Ryan Carter coolly converted to give us a 1-0 lead!
Eight minutes later, the referee was pointing to the spot again - OUR penalty spot! Barry Miller had lost his head, going in two-footed on Paul Everitt as the young Wrexham forward dribbled into our area. Miller was sent off in disgrace... but when John Forde saved McCann's penalty, it seemed we'd got away with it! Despite being a man down, we remained a goal up!
This was already turning into a feisty contest, and things only heated up in the 38th minute, when Wrexham equalised... well, kinda. Jean Dika Dika horribly mistimed a slide tackle on David Collins, which led to the Dragons centre-back receiving a red card of his own! With both teams down to 10 men, me and my Wrexham counterpart Steve Bull were desperately trying to calm our players down.
Unfortunately, there would be ANOTHER red card just before half-time. Forde went from hero to zero when he committed a professional foul on Wrexham striker Gareth Armstrong, leaving us with only NINE men! Kent Ivarsson came off the bench to try and save the penalty from his Swedish compatriot Daniel Almqvist. Though Almqvist scored the first attempt, the referee ordered a retake... and Ivarsson couldn't keep that one out either. 1-1 at half-time.
The Kidderminster dressing room was not a happy sight at half-time. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, I angrily ordered Miller and Forde to apologise to their team-mates for their sendings-off, which had left us seriously handicapped for the second period. I was particularly upset with Forde, who in just a few weeks seemed to have turned from an exceptionally reliable goalkeeper into an unpredictable psychopath!
Unsurprisingly, the Battle of Aggborough would end in a decisive Welsh victory. Ivarsson bravely kept Armstrong off the scoresheet in the 53rd minute, but the inexperienced Swede was beaten by an excellent strike from Everitt 10 minutes later. With Wrexham now 2-1 up and Kidderminster in total disarray, the final half-hour was a painful anti-climax.
Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Carter pen11)
Wrexham - 2 (Almqvist pen45, Everitt 63)
Division 2, Attendance 4,483 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 5th, Wrexham 21st
KIDDERMINSTER LINE-UP (4-4-2 Diamond): Forde; Berntsson, Miller, Heikkinen, T Simpson (Hyde); Whitley (McCluskey); Carter, Roberts; S Simpson; Scott (Ivarsson), Collins. BOOKED: Whitley, Hyde. SENT OFF: Miller, Forde.
Words fail me. Do we even WANT to get promoted this season?
Here's a recap of how our January has gone. We've won one league game, drawn four, lost two (both at home), we've given away FOUR penalties - and we've gone from being 11 points clear in the play-off places to just 4 points clear!
We're about to lose our goalkeeper AND our vice-captain to three-match suspensions. Not only that, but our best left-back Terry Simpson will miss the whole of February with a calf strain!
Even my assistant manager has now deserted me! That's right - David Weir has only gone and hot-footed it to Bristol Rovers! The Division 3 side needed a new manager after Ronnie McFall was poached by Cambridge - and just eight months after I promoted him from the scouting team, Weir couldn't wait to take his first top job! You ungrateful git, Davie.
It's like sod's law, isn't it? Anything that can go wrong WILL go wrong!