Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book II

[Amaroq]

Friday, 18th May, 2007.

Even as anticipation began to build for the Final, a week away yet, I continued to work on assembling next season's squad. I was very excited that 17-year-old Burnley attacking midfielder Joe Newell has agreed to join the Blades over summer. He's young and very talented already, so I hope he'll become a key part of the squad down the line, justifying the £650,000 I was investing in him.

We also added 17-year-old striker Chris Gray, of Workington, for £30,000, a move entirely based on his potential down the line rather than any belief that he might help the squad in the short-term.

On the other side of the ledger, the day after his crucial play earned the game-winning penalty, Ian Ross agreed to terms with Kidderminster. It may have been a shock to the fans that the youngster was leaving, especially given his hero status, but anybody who knows my style and was paying attention to the signings I'd made so far was unsurprised. Ross would fetch £50,000. Less notable were three other deals, primarily aimed at clearing out the deadwood: Paul Cooke has agreed a transfer to Ashton United for £3,000, and John Talbot signed with Moor Green for £1,000. 16-year-old Stephen Pearson has agreed terms to join Rushall on a free transfer.

My search for my own staff brought us a third new scout, Nick Andrews. That leaves us five, total, on the payroll, which is more than I want to carry. He's not as good a judge of talent as Dave or Spencer, but he's much more capable than either of the scouts I inherited. For now, I'll use Kevin Randall to scout the next opposition, and leave Wayne Broughton unassigned, scouting whichever targets of opportunity I might ask him to investigate.

In other news, the UEFA Cup Final was Wednesday night, and Borussia Dortmund defeated Manchester United, 2-0, limiting the Red Devils to a mere three shots on goal, and completely dominating the match. It was an inglorious end to the European campaign of all English club sides, and England was actually in danger of losing a Champions League berth as a result.

Thursday night was the second leg of the other playoff semi-final, and Barnsley, after a solid 4-1 victory in the first game, were content with a 1-2 defeat that saw them through on aggregate, 5-3. They would be our opponent in the playoff Final, the last obstacle between United and a berth in the Championship. The match was to be a week from today, at Wembley.

Paying attention to the fatigue which my players were exhibiting, I took my top sixteen players and placed them on an alternate training schedule which I devised for just this purpose. I eschewed physical exercise and strenuous workouts, and instead placed them on a regime which focused on the mental aspect of the game: videos, shadow play, chalkboard sessions. In particular, on the chance that the match would go to a shootout, I had them practice penalty-taking every day.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 21st May, 2007.

York City Football Club have named their new manager, appointing Margate manager Chris Kinnear to the position I had vacated. Under his watch, Margate won the Conference South in the 2005/06 season, and then narrowly avoided the drop from the Conference National this year, placing 19th, one point clear of 20th place and relegation. I was glad to see York name a new manager, as I'd been horrified at Viv Busby's mistakes in the final two games, and worried that they were going to entrust their League One season to his tender mercies. Apparently that experience was enough to ensure that Steve Beck didn't want to promote him to manager, either, but was Kinnear the man to consolidate their new status in League One?

The post-season shuffle continued over the weekend, with Dene Cropper agreeing to terms with Stockport County, a fellow League One side, for £75,000. I was happy to get the club's original investment back. Dominic Roma was moving to Conference side Worksop Town for the price of £30,000, a big part of their transfer budget, to be sure. Andrew Roberts agreed to join Bradford Park Avenue down in the Conference North for £1,000, and for the same price John Collins would be going to Wales to play for Gresford Athletic.

In an intriguing boost to our depth, Andy Liddell returned to camp, his season-long loan with Harrogate Town having concluded with their final match complete. I would have to consider naming him to the substitutes bench for the final. He's not a very creative attacking midfielder, and certainly doesn't warrant converting the squad to my 4-5-1 before such a key match, or merit a contract extension, but he would provide some veteran expertise on the bench, and he's wicked from the spot should it come to that.

Eric Deloumeaux, Chris Sedgwick and Alan Quinn were named to the League One Team of the Week for their performances on the week - Quinn, in particular, had won that honour four weeks in a row, now!

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 24th May, 2007.

The big match is tomorrow, but already excitement has been whipped to a fever pitch. Barnsley are, believe it or not, the next town north of Sheffield, located between Sheffield and League One champion Leeds. It must have been a wonderfully entertaining season locally, with all those close rivalries! Of course, it meant that the final was eagerly anticipated.

Of course, I spent too much of my time dealing with the media, and apparently told somebody that after the great finishing last week, I was relishing playing another rivalry match on Friday, and that matches between the clubs were historically great entertainment for the fans.

Barnsley manager Steve Kember responded with a quote about going all out to win promotion, and how there was no tomorrow. I tried to calm things down, again reiterating my comment from the Wednesday build-up about how we intended to do all of our talking on the pitch.

Unfortunately, a number of my players took this the wrong way, and reading that some of my players were "Relieved that the boss doesn't expect too much from the team, and hoping that the side can go into games without too much pressure on them" in the Thursday morning paper caught me by surprise. I'm certainly mentally prepared for the team to lose the match, and fight for promotion next season, but I don't want the fans thinking that I don't expect victory tomorrow!

Sheffield Wednesday have filled their vacancy, ironically naming John Gregory, my predecessor at Sheffield United. He had been the Blades manager from January of 2006 to April of this year. Despite a successful turn at Villa several years ago, he was widely accounted a failure at United, having been unable to stave of relegation in 2005/06, and barely able to keep the team in the playoff fight during this season. I can't believe he'll be well-received at Hillsborough.

Andy Liddell has agreed to terms with Scottish side Raith Rovers on a Bosman transfer, a move primarily designed to get him starting football at the end of his career. He'll stay with us through the playoff match, of course, and move in the summer.

Two new coaches had arrived - 34-year-old Phil Hogg, a younger man who is exceptional at working with developing players, and came well-recommended after working with Under-14 players at a youth club. Craig Shields is also 34, in his first major coaching job, but showed an excellent tactical acumen in his interview, and may be one of the best coaches I've ever worked with.

I took a moment away from preparing for the match last night to watch the Champions League Final between A.C. Milan and Bayern München. You'll be unsurprised, I'm sure, to hear that it was my new hero, Roque Santa Cruz, who scored the game winner, in the 30th minute. Miroslave Klose headed down Diego Placente's cross for Santa Cruz, who had found a smidgeon of space at the 18-yard-line, and hit it high and hard into the corner of the netting. From there, it was solid German defending that really seemed to stifle the Italian side until a frenetic final ten minutes as they threw everybody forward. Still, the final was 1-0 for FC Bayern, and the Germans had retained their title as champions of Europe.

It was a fun, fun match, and certainly gave me something to aspire to: I was in danger of getting ahead of myself, dreaming of European glory while an important match loomed on the morrow!

[Amaroq]

Friday, 25th May, 2007. League One Playoff - Final, vs Barnsley at Wembley.

The Star broke the news, literally on the morning of the Playoff Final, that midfielder Paul Thirlwell wants to leave the club. According to the paper, he has demanded a meeting with the board to discuss his release, and feels he needs to move to a bigger club to further his career. I felt utterly blind-sided: I'd been counting 'defensive midfielder' to be a key area competently filled by the veteran. The timing couldn't have been worse.

Kevin Randall's scouting report on Barnsley warned that they have an exceptional team. Though their attack is slow, they have a combative and hard-working midfield, which sets the tone for a side that works hard in all areas of the pitch. They'd finished third in the league, missing automatic promotion by a single point, and combined the third-best offense in the league with the fourth-best defense, a combination which should surely give any side trouble.

My starting lineup for the last game of the season included nothing but the best on the side. Allan McGregor was in goal, while the back four of Rory Beanes, Steve Foster, Hayden Foxe, and captain Eric Deloumeaux remained unchanged. Whether he'd gone over my head or not, Paul Thirlwell joined Alan Quinn, Jack Lester, and Chris Sedgwick in the flat 4-4-2 midfield, and in fact the only change to my starting lineup was the return of Peter Weatherson alongside Billy Sharp up front.

Wembley.

Full of ninety-thousand supporters, split almost 2-to-1 in our favour.

It was a dream come true, a once-in-a-lifetime moment - for me, at least. The players had already made one trip to Wembley this season, though they might rather forget the LDV Vans Trophy defeat to Torquay.

Kickoff.

Barnsley threatened first, with Hamilton playing a long pass in front of McLeod, who had gotten by on the left side of my central defenders. He broke into the area with Hayden Foxe in close attendance, and the Australian defender did just enough to put him off, the shot going left of the post. Referee Ian Milsom set the tone for what would be a fair but strict afternoon with early yellow cards to Jack Lester and central defender Steve Foster. It was to be a hard-tackling affair, and I was faced with early knocks to Alan Quinn and Peter Weatherson, two of the keys to our offense. Both were able to continue, and with no tomorrow to save them for, I left both on.

Though each side put more emphasis on defense than attack, both goalkeepers were seeing action. At the half-hour, Billy Sharp's 22-yard effort was saved by Barnsley keeper Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard, and in the 32nd minute, Barnsley captain Graham Barrett drove a 20-yard free kick inches over the crossbar. At 38 minutes, Chris Sedgwick made an abrupt switch over to the left sideline to confuse the Barnsley defense. It wasn't something I'd called for, but it worked, as the defense scrambled to recover, leaving Sharp unmarked for a moment. Sedgwick picked him out, and from eight yards away, the striker's effort looked golden, but Stuhr-Ellegaard made a fine save to parry it.

At halftime, the match was still scoreless, but we'd accumulated five yellow cards to Barnsley's three. Weatherson's ribs were bruised, but Tom Mitchell taped them up tightly and gave him a pain-killing injection to send him back on. Quinn's knee was swelling but he growled at me, "Don't even think about taking me off." God, how I wish we'd retained him! A similar pain-killing injection, and ten minutes of ice, and he went back on with the lads. The Tykes had taken Nicky Wroe out with an injury, and in the 49th took off Gareth Roberts, their second injury substitution.

A corner kick moments thereafter looked dangerous when Sedgwick picked out the head of Eric Deloumeaux, but the Danish keeper was up to the challenge, and kept it scoreless. In the 55th, the injured Quinn found a high gear on a breakaway, but Stuhr-Ellegaard was able to slow him down just enough for Ryan Laight to get back and clear. The young central defender was having a fine game, and that wasn't the first time his intervention had cost us.

Shortly after the hour, I noticed Paul Thirlwell limping, and brought him off for Ian Ross. The young midfielder didn't influence the play as much as he had against Wednesday. In the 70th, Quinn fed Sharp into the area, but his narrow angle shot from the left of goal blazed just over. Both sides were cautious and defensive, despite the 4-4-2 formations, and it looked like the match was heading for extra-time. With Jack Lester tiring and carrying a yellow card, I brought him off for Andy Liddell, the first Sheffield United appearance of the year for the veteran. I was looking ahead - he's an excellent penalty taker.

In the 83rd, I was ready to make the last substitution for either side. Again, I checked with the injured Weatherson and Quinn, but they both shook me off, indicating that they didn't want to come off. I wound up bringing Sharp off for Dene Cropper. There was still little that either side could manage against the other, and regulation time expired, as did the allotted stoppage time.

[Amaroq]

The match would go to extra time, and to my relief it looked like we were the most fit of the two sides: resting in the build-up had really paid off! The physios massaged cramps, poured water down throats, and I looked for something inspiring to say. "Alright lads, let's win this," may not have been original, but it summed up my feelings.

In the 94th minute, Weatherson made a nice run up the right sideline, and when he looked inside, spotted both Liddell and Cropper unmarked in about the same space. He played it to them, but Cropper got in Liddell's way, and the attacking midfielder golfed the shot over.

In the 96th, Cropper took it into the area to the left of goal. From eight yards out, rather than shooting, he threaded it through the defense square for Chris Sedgwick. With Stuhr-Ellegaard respecting Cropper's shot, I thought Sedgwick had space for a second game-winner, but he put it back to the left post, where Stuhr-Ellegaard was, and again the keeper made the save.

In the 98th minute, Quinn was the threat, dribbling into the area with Liddell trailing. The defense closed down on my left winger, who left a backheel for Liddell, but his shot was weak and directly to the keeper.

It was looking like one-way traffic indeed, but Barnsley mounted the next attack, with Neil Barrett searching out substitute Wayne Andrews. McGregor made the save right on the 100-minute mark.

In the 103rd, Liddell's long pass down the middle sprang Dene Cropper, with the freshest legs on the field, on a breakway. Unfortunately, Cropper is better in the air than at feet, and Stuhr-Ellegaard came out to take it away from him in the one-on-one.

As the first half of extra-time expired, Barnsley had a corner kick, which came to defender Ryan Hartslief. His shot from 12 yards out was charged down by Sedgwick, and deflected heart-stoppingly close to the near post, going just wide in the end. The next corner was headed out of danger by Ian Ross, and Dene Cropper held up the ball while we broke free on the counter-attack. Chris Sedgwick made a dazzling long dribble, always a step ahead of the exhausted defense, and by the time he entered the box he had time to settle it on his preferred right foot ten yards from goal. Stuhr-Ellegaard made a brilliant save, but the shot was too powerful to handle, and rolled goalward, only to trickle out just this side of the post.

Still knotted at nil-nil, the match went into the second half of extra-time. The fans, who had been on the edge of their seats for an hour at least, looked as tired as the players, though bless their hearts our lot kept singing, buouying spirits and urging us onward. It would be the final 15 minutes of the season, and I started pushing the wings and fullbacks forward looking to win it in extra time rather than go to penalties.

We had every chance to do just that, but Weatherson's shot from the top of the arc was saved. In the 110th minute, Quinn played a long ball for Weatherson, who was onside and through the defense, but Stuhr-Ellegaard stole it off his feet just before he could reach it.

Finally, in the 117th minute, it was Dene Cropper with the golden chance after fine passwork from Quinn and Liddell. In the area, fourteen yards out, he launched the shot just wide. It was the last shot of the match, and the winner of a penalty shootout would play in the Championship next season!

We drew the first shot, and I called on the injured Peter Weatherson, normally a clinical spot-taker. Bruised ribs should be no impediment to his shooting, I hoped. I was out at centre-circle, joining my players for the momentous event, and I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown as he stepped to the spot...

He drilled it to the lower-left corner, and we led, 1-0! I thanked my lucky stars that I'd concentrated so much training time on penalty-taking this past week!

Barnsley defender Ryan Hartslief placed his shot calmly to Allan McGregor's left, and it was knotted at 1-1.

Alan Quinn was injured, and utterly knackered, but he insisted on being named to the penalty lineup. "I'll make it," he assured me, and limped slowly towards the spot.

He made good on the promise, ripping his shot right past Stuhr-Ellegaard as the goalkeeper started to dive, and then saw it go past within an arms-width of where he'd started. Quinn has the heart of a lion; we had a 2-1 lead.

Barnsley captain Graham Barrett followed, but put too much power on his shot, sending it wide left!

I'd included Andy Liddell in the lineup for just this circumstance: he's an expert marksman from the spot, and he had been converting something like 95% in the week of practice.

The sharp-shooter placed his shot perfectly in the lower-left corner, and even though Stuhr-Ellegaard had guessed correctly, there was no way he could make the stop. 3-1!

Left-footed Robbie Williams followed for Barnsley, and it was into that nerve-wracking "must make" category. The left back had spent most of the year on loan to Stalybridge Celtic, and was in only his 8th game of the season for Barnsley.

Faced with such a crucial kick, he missed, banging it back off the crossbar. He couldn't believe it, collapsing with his head in his hands, before coming back to the centre-circle to be consoled by his teammates. With a 3-1 lead, if either of our last two takers converted, we would win the playoff!

I'd saved captain Eric Deloumeaux for just such a situation, and I sent him up now. The veteran Frenchman had made an impression as the most composed player I'd had the pleasure of coaching, and though he isn't particularly reknowned as a penalty taker, I needed somebody who wouldn't be rattled by the eyes of 89,971 fans and a national television audience.

He stepped up, and put a softball shot to the right post. Stuhr-Ellegaard had guessed wrong, diving the opposite direction, and the ball seemed to float gently into the net!!

For a moment, silence reigned..

.. and then bedlam erupted!!

My players were jumping and hugging each other for joy, running down the pitch to pile on Deloumeaux, and the cynical Frenchman found himself overcome by tears of joy!!

Sheffield United 0 (pen 4-1), Barnsley 0

----; ----

MoM: Stuhr-Ellegaard (Barnsley GK)

It was a celebration I'll remember for the rest of my life: the adulation of the sellout crowd in Wembley, one of London's most famous venues, the sweet taste of champagne made all the sweeter because of the nerve-wracking nature of the victory.

Even if I don't remember the entire evening that followed, those first few hours remain a treasured memory to this day!

[aaberdeenn]

Congrats \o/

Good Luck in the Championship

[Wag]

Excellent result, well done

KUTGW!

[Jammer86]

Yesssssss! After reading the 90 minute match report and seeing no extra text I thought you'd been horrible and left us with a cliffhanger!! Glad you posted straight after.

I honestly thought the Blades weren't going to make it and you'd make it through automatically next year. Can't wait to see how the Blades fair against the big guns.

[Amaroq]

Thank you! I'm happy to have brought something home for the season after your patience with the move from York.

Jammer, I didn't honestly think we were going to make it this year, either. I did consider just leaving it at ninety minutes.. ..but that seemed unnecessarily cruel.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 26th May, 2007.

I woke up in an unfamiliar room, with the hangover to end all hangovers. It took me several minutes to place my surroundings: a hotel room.

A hotel room .. in London?

Why was I in London?

Oh, yes, I was starting to remember. If only they'd turn off the jackhammer and make me some coffee!

We'd won, we were going to the Championship. Brilliant! I yawned, and began rolling over.

I stopped, chills running down my spine.

There was a girl in the bed. A girl with red hair. Shockingly metallic red hair.

My wife is a brunette.

I went cold with horror. Oh my God, what had I done?

I couldn't breathe. Then I started taking in details. She was facing away from me, not snuggled up to me - that's a good sign.

I slipped out of the blankets - and couldn't help but notice that she was mostly dressed - a Sheffield United shirt covered her almost to her knees.

I was still mostly dressed, myself - in boxers and the dress shirt and I'd worn to the match.

That's an even better sign - still dressed means nothing happened, right?

Still, I was sure I'd checked into this hotel with my wife, and she'd never have agreed... In fact, where was my .. ?

Just as I was tumbling to it, the girl rolled over, and I recognized Stacy's Italian features underneath that brilliant long red hair. She smiled at me, then winced at my laughter - apparently she was hung over too. Still, I remembered now: she'd dyed her hair 'metallic red', telling me "It'll bring you guys luck - and it'll wash out in a week."

I was laughing out loud, despite the fact that that hurt my head, and made Stacy wince. When I finally got an explanation out that she could understand, it had her laughing as well.

"You thought I was..", she spluttered, "... that you had... Silly man! Like I would EVER let you..."

A big bottle of overpriced water, a pot of coffee, a shower, and a breakfast later, we both felt much closer to human. It was just beginning to sink in - I had to read the account of the match in the morning paper to convince myself it had really happened!

That night, I was back at Wembley, this time with my red-haired wife and seated in prime seats near midfield. We were there for the F.A. Cup Final, between Liverpool and Arsenal. It was a match harshly adjudicated by disciplinarian Rob Styles, who sent off Milan Baros and Sol Campbell in the first half, leaving a ten-on-ten match to decide the prestigious domestic trophy.

The added space was a boon for pacey French striker Thierry Henry, who struck twice for the Gunners, and provided the assist for José Antonio Reyes as Arsenal turned a halftime deficit into a 3-1 triumph.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 28th May, 2007.

What a year it had been! Just thirteen months earlier, I'd been managing York City in the Nationwide Conference. Two titles, a new job, and a thrilling playoff victory and I found myself three divisions higher, managing a prestigious, historic club in the English Championship, the second-highest division of English football!

Eric Deloumeaux was named to the Player's League One Select. Despite my only joining the side recently, I came third in the voting for League One Manager of the Year "for the way I'd turned the club around" - frankly, I think considering me for a League Two award would have been more accurate. Chris Sedgwick earned the Goal of the Season for a headed goal he'd made back on August 19th against Wycombe, long before I was paying any attention to the club.

There was little time to reflect on glories won, however. There was a lot of work to do, and the side I'd been considering 'acceptable' for another campaign in League One might need serious revisiting to have any chance of being competitive in the Championship. I would need to go through the entire lineup, it seemed, and identify areas of strength and weakness.

Reserve goalkeeper Phil Barnes was making it clear he was in the latter category, stating to the club's website that he's finding it hard to accept not being in the first team. He's clearly not our best goalkeeper, though he did start the year between the posts prior to the acquisition of Allan McGregor. Still, he's a far cry from the Championship level, and I'm willing to let him go if he doesn't want to be here.

I bid the players adieu for the summer break - I could only give them five weeks, but most of the squad would be coming in from other teams, so perhaps it wouldn't be that bad.

[Strankan]

Congrats on promotion!

[Amaroq]

Friday, 1st June, 2007.

"Congratulations again on the promotion," Derek Dooley said to start the monthly board meeting. "Let me say that the supporters are very pleased with the good start that you've made at the club. We directors are hopeful of a long and successful era with you at the helm."

"Its going to take a lot of changes," I told them, "For us to stay competitive in the Championship. Honestly, I was expecting another year in League One to consolidate the changes I want to make in the club."

I tried to explain how many holes we had, but in his excited state, my warnings seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Terry Robinson did say that the board was delighted with the club's financial status. With the gate receipts from the playoffs, we'd made £1.3M last month, bringing the season's profit to £5.7M, and leaving the club with a solid balance of £11.9M, almost double the remaining debt to the chairman. Further, I was entrusted with almost all of the transfer revenue that I could bring in, and my budget was increased by £0.4M to a total of £4.4M. I don't think that's going to be enough, but it was coupled with an increase of £1.0M in the annual wage budget, bringing that to £7.5M p/a, of which I was using only 40%.

I'd suggested some friendly matches to Robinson last week, and we've arranged our pre-season schedule, five matches. We'll open with League One side Grimsby Town on July 11th, then travel to York to visit my old club on the 15th. Three home matches follow, against our rivals Sheffield Wednesday on the 21st, against Scottish side Gretna on the 25th, and against fellow Championship contenders Leeds United on the 28th, exactly one week before the start of the season.

I took a brief review of our training progress with Assistant Manager Stuart McCall, but it was fairly perfunctory, with only a month's worth of data. Rory Beanes was the most improved player, and defenders Kyle McFadzean and Steve Foster were also playing better. Most of the team were too fatigued to show any improvement, and a number of the veterans were noticeably degrading, especially those whom I had most had to overwork.

John Collins officially departed the club, as his contract had expired on May 31st. He moved to Welsh side Gresford Athletic, a deal worth £1,000 to us immediately, and potentially much more as 40% of his next transfer fee would also route to our coffers.

In bigger news, we'd agreed a transfer for Cheltenham attacking midfielder John Melligan, who would be the fourth attacking midfielder I would add, at £50,000. We also agreed a deal with Bray Wanderers to bring 18-year-old defender Martin Edwards to the Blades for £14,000, and signed a young goalkeeper who had spent the season playing for Whitehall Welfare, a club I'd never heard of.

GK Dean Bond, 17, England: An athletic keeper with good balance, this youngster shows reasonably strong mental skills for a youth player. He's not a technically adept keeper, and has a lot of work to do in the skills areas, but I think those are coachable. His requested wages are miniscule compared to the club's budget, and with the dearth of goalkeepers as the squad I did want to bring in a warm body, especially in case Phil Barnes does leave the club.

The Ian Richards-era changing of the guard had officially begun.

[Amaroq]

Thank you, Strankan!

Its going to take us a while to get through this summer; it was a very busy time!

[Chel10ham Town fc]

Well done on promotion ! j.j melligan good player for us.

Hope you win the championship !

[SamCCFC]

Just to let you know, I'm still reading this. Good luck in the championship!

[Amaroq]

Thank you, lads. Your support, as always, is appreciated! Chel10ham Town, I wasn't expecting much more than cover from Melligan at this point.

Regarding the posting schedule, I think I've got the summer blocked out the way I want it now - If I stick to my daily-posting schedule, the opening match of the Championship season will be posted on Monday September 10th.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 2nd June, 2007.

No sooner was the club season over and done with than the internationals started - the fifth and sixth games of the European Championship Qualifying were today and this coming Wednesday.

The headline result was a shocker: Poland 2, England 0, in Chorzow. The Poles got two first-half goals from Emmanuel Olisadebe, and honestly outplayed the English throughout the match. Of course, the press saw it differently than I did, half laying the blame squarely on the strike force and poor finishing, and the other half faulting Sven's tactics. The one bright spot for England was Shaun Wright-Phillips, who earned Man of the Match honors after dominating the right wing. The other result in the group wasn't as significant; Denmark recovered a bit of their savaged pride by defeating Malta, if only by the score of 2-1. At the halfway point of the campaign, England lay third, but trailed Poland and Georgia by just a point apiece.

Scotland pounded Cyprus 5-1 after the visitors had a man sent off just before the half. Darren Fletcher completed a hat-trick in the 89th minute, Kevin Kyle took advantage of the shorthanded opposition to score the second international goal of his career, and Paul Hartley converted a 54th minute penalty. Elsewhere in Group 3, group leaders Sweden beat Slovenia 2-1, and Turkey squeaked by Liechtenstein by the same scoreline despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half. Turkey remained one point behind the Swedes, with Scotland almost eliminated at seven points down.

In Group 1, ten-man Ireland got a gutsy goal from Liam Miller in the 77th minute to rock a Dublin crowd that had been facing the possibility of a scoreless draw with FYR Macedonia. Even better for the Irish, Spain struggled with Bulgaria's stifling defensive outlook, and settled for a 0-0 draw. Ireland's 1-0 win, therefore, lifted them into sole posession of first place, with Bulgaria two points back and Spain third, three points out.

In Group 9, Wales suffered the expected result against Italy, a 2-0 defeat that felt like it was over from the beginning: Fabrizio Miccoli scored in the first minute. The Welsh played bravely, in fact outshooting their guests, but a second-half goal by Alessandro Del Piero sealed the result. Northern Ireland stood idle, and Russia beat the upstart Israeli team 2-1. This put Italy solidly in first with 12 points from four games, and no goals conceded, with Russia three points back. Wales and Northern Ireland are a distant fourth and fifth in the five-team group.

A few other notable results: Holland completed a perfect opening half with a 6-0 rout of San Marino. Portugal's 3-1 win over Lithuania kept the Portugese in first, with Latvia second after a 2-1 victory at Andorra. France are already five points clear of Romania after beating Moldova 3-0. Germany drew with second-placed Norway 1-1 despite having the home-field advantage, a result which may keep that group undecided until the rematch on the final day of qualifying. Croatia took the lead in their group with a 2-1 victory over the Ukraine.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 5th June, 2007.

The lower-league transfer window officially opened tonight at midnight, allowing us to complete the first of a number of transfers, substantially altering the shape of the side.

Attacking midfielder Marc Bridge-Wilkinson will be a key player, tempted away from Stockport for a minimum-fee of £875,000. John Melligan would join him as the second attacking midfielder in my stable after a £50,000 move from Cheltenham. 17-year-old Chris Gray struck my scouts as one to watch for the future, so we signed him from Workington for £30,000.

AM C Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, 28, England, uncapped:

44 games, 4 goals, 8 assists, 11 MoM, 7.14 at Stockport, League One:

My biggest acquisition of the summer, I'm expecting him to be the creative hub of my offense this season, my next Tappa Whitmore. He is a very good finisher who also solves my free-kick taker trouble, is deadly from the spot, and likes to have a go from long range. He isn't as fast as I would like at this level, and if he has any real weakness its his aerial game, but with the ball at feet he's deadly.

AM RC John Melligan, 25, Ireland, 1 U-21 cap:

45 games, 1 goal, 12 assists, 2 MoM, 7.02 at Cheltenham Town, League Two:

A versatile player who can play either the attacking midfield role or out on the right wing, I brought Melligan in for depth. He was willing to accept a backup role, and honestly he doesn't have the decision-making or mental polish to start in the Championship, but he will be a nice player to have on the bench. He's got phenomenal concentration, can crack 'em in from range, and has some flair. The rest of his game might be better suited to League One or League Two.

S C Chris Gray, 17, England, uncapped:

2 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 6.00 at Workington, non-League:

A reasonably swift, fit athlete who shows very good concentration for his age, Gray needs to work on a number of the technical aspects, from his shooting to his dribbling to his first touch. He is absolutely abysmal in the air, an area I won't ever expect him to excel in, but if he can develop the rest of his game he may be a very good investment.

Unfortunately, my deal with York for talented attacking midfielder Robert Cousins, whom I viewed as the midfield partner to play alongside Bridge-Wilkinson, fell through: he failed a medical due to the pulled groin and physiotherapy session I'd committed him the day I left Bootham Crescent!

I was utterly willing to sign him anyways, but Terry Robinson overruled me, stating that we couldn't risk splashing out £1.2M for damaged goods!

I'll try again in September, if he's recovering nicely from his injury; in the meantime, maybe Melligan will get more playing time than I'd expected.

On the other side of the ledger, a number of players left this morning. The biggest move was Dene Cropper (13 starts, 21 games, 8 goals, 1 assist, 6.76), who would stay in League One with Stockport, a £75,000 move. He certainly didn't feel like 'the answer' to me up front, and he was delighted with the switch after being frustrated at the lack of first-team opportunities here.

Ian Ross, the 21-year-old midfielder who was the hero of our thrilling playoff against Sheffield Wednesday, moved to League Two side Kidderminster for £50,000. Right back Dominic Roma (4 starts, 5 games, 1 goal, 6.60) dropped all the way to the Conference North to join Worksop for £30,000, a huge fee for such a small club. They must really rate the 21-year-old highly, though I had to laugh when he announced that he expected the manager to rebuild the squad around him. If he were that good, I wouldn't have let him go!

In minor transfers, 18-year-old striker John Talbot (0 starts, 1 game, 7.00) moved to the Conference National to join Moor Green for £3,000. Another striker, Andrew Roberts (0 starts, 3 games, 1 goal, 6.33), also 18, moved to the Conference North to join Bradford Park Avenue for £1,000. 18-year-old midfielder Paul Cooke (0 starts, 3 games, 6.33) joined non-Conference side Ashton United for £3,000. 17-year-old youth team midfielder Mark Murray (0 appearances) moved to non-Conference side Ossett Town on a free transfer.

Even with all the deals in place, I was still working the phones in search of new talent, and this afternoon agreed to terms with Harrow Borough to bring in winger Graham Allen for £95,000.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 6th June, 2007.

More players officially joined the side today, though of course none have yet reported for training - I won't get to meet any of them until July when the players report for camp.

Joe Newell became our third attacking midfielder after a £650,000 move from Burnley. The youngster isn't worth that much just now, but has great potential, and he's only 17. Right wing Graham Allen joined us from non-Conference side Harrow Borough, where he'd scored 23 goals in 68 games over the past two seasons, for £95,000. Joe Keenan, who had been a stalwart of my York defense at left back, transferred to the Blades for £300,000, while another former York player, Jamie Cooper, joined us for £90,000.

AM C Joe Newell, 17, England, uncapped: 32 games, 3 goals, 0 assists, 0 MoM, 6.44 at Burnley, Championship:

An incredible long-range shooter who has also demonstrated the ability to put them in from short range, this youngster has all the potential I could ask for. He doesn't have any real weaknesses, and his decision-making and creativity are quite solid for one at his age. In addition, he's a realist, which means he's likely to accept a squad role while he develops rather than pushing for a place too early in his career. He may not play the biggest of roles in the senior side this year, especially not if I can bring in another attacking midfielder or two, but I expect great things from him. The supporters are as excited about him as I am, reportedly thinking that I made a real bargain in acquiring, and thinking that the 17-year-old will prove a great piece of business.

AM R Graham Allen, 20, England, uncapped: 38 games, 13 goals, 5 assists, 4 MoM, 6.95 at Harrow Borough, non-League:

I had shortlisted Allen after his trial at York two summers ago. His salary demands then had been out of line with his abilities, so despite a successful trial I failed to sign him. Here, however, its worth taking a bit of a flyer on a talented youngster. His concentration is incredible, and he has very good balance. After two years starting at Earlsmead, he already displays the attributes I'm looking for in a winger: pace, dribbling, and crossing, as well as a reasonable understanding of the game for a younger player. If he can develop his technique, he may have a real place on the squad.

D/DM LC Joe Keenan, 24, England, uncapped: 33 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, 0 MoM, 7.09 at York, League Two:

Once a product of the Chelsea youth system, I rated Keenan as 'Championship quality' when I signed him to York. Now we'll find out if that was really true. As you might expect, he has fine technique, crisp passes, and good marking. His concentration and teamwork are quite good, and he has creativity and good timing for his off-the-ball runs. He doesn't have quite the pace that I would want at the highest levels, and he's just recovering from 4 months of physiotherapy due to a torn calf muscle suffered in that Carlisle match back on the 20th of January. He's back in training, and passed the physical, but it would be understandable if some people had doubts.

D C Jamie Cooper, 18, England, uncapped: 27 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 0 MoM, 7.15 at York, League Two:

This young defender was a consistent improver throughout my time at Bootham Crescent, and consequently I rated him very highly. He's got great composure, he's very determined, and he already makes very good decisions. I don't think he really has what it takes to contribute at the Conference level yet, and he may not really have the pace to star at this level even when he's done maturing. Still, if he can continue to excel with the better training staff and facilities, he may really blossom, and I'm interested to see if he does or not.

That brought the total Sheffield United transfer spending for the year to £7.0M, a new club record. Personally, I'd burned through close to half of the transfer budget allocated to me, but I still had £2.6M remaining.

I asked Stuart McCall for his evaluation of the team, after those changes were made, but it was a disappointing report he gave me. He felt that the squad would require real strengthening even to compete at the League One level, let alone in the Championship. He rated Allan McGregor, Steve Foster, Joe Keenan, and Peter Weatherson as my strongest players, but he isn't even happy with them. He was happiest with the acquisitions of Jamie Cooper, Joe Newell, and Chris Gray, thinking all of them potential stars.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 6th June, 2007, evening.

Wednesday evening saw the next European Championship Qualifying matches. I had cleared my desk to watch, as England had a tough away match against Denmark, and the other groups were shaping up with key games as well.

It was a command performance from Sven-Goran Eriksson's troops, with Frank Lampard and Darius Vassell netting late in the first half, and the counter-attack keeping their hosts on their heels for the remainder of the day. The 2-0 win might serve to revitalize the English campaign, but it was Georgia who catapulted into the group lead with a 4-0 pounding of Malta in Tbilisi. Poland was idle, but stood within striking distance of the two leaders with a game in hand.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 7 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Georgia 11 3 2 0 12 6 + 6 5

2 England 10 3 1 1 14 4 +10 5

3 Poland 8 2 2 0 8 5 + 3 4

4 Denmark 4 1 1 3 5 10 - 5 5

5 Malta 0 0 0 5 3 17 -14 5</pre>

In Group 3, Scotland's faint hopes came crashing to the ground in Glasgow. After 80 minutes of hard work to keep the second-placed Turkish side equal, a late goal by Ates Necati put the visitors into a 1-0 lead, and Scotland fell too far adrift to have a realistic hope of recovery. Sweden maintained the group lead with a 2-1 win over Liechtenstein, battling back after the tiny nation took a 15th minute lead, and Cyprus beat Slovenia 2-1.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 3 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Sweden 16 5 1 0 12 5 + 7 6

2 Turkey 15 5 0 1 12 4 + 8 6

3 Cyprus 9 3 0 3 9 13 - 4 6

4 Slovenia 6 2 0 4 8 11 - 3 6

5 Scotland 6 2 0 4 9 9 0 6

6 Liechtenstein 1 0 1 5 6 14 - 8 6</pre>

In Group 1, Bulgaria took the group lead with a 1-0 victory over host Ireland, the former leaders. Martin Petrov scored early on, and despite the urgings of a 43,000-strong crowd at Lansdowne Road, the Irish lacked the creativity to find an equalizer. Spain beat Estonia by a 2-0 scoreline, and Macedonia kept their faint hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over bottom side Armenia.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 1 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Bulgaria 14 4 2 0 11 4 + 7 6

2 Ireland 13 4 1 1 12 2 +10 6

3 Spain 13 4 1 1 15 1 +14 6

4 FYR Macedonia 9 3 0 3 7 11 - 4 6

5 Estonia 3 1 0 5 7 20 -13 6

6 Armenia 0 0 0 6 3 17 -14 6</pre>

Group 9 continued with the inexorable weight of inevitability: Italy ground out a 1-0 win against Israel, keeping their unscored-upon record for the tournament to date, while Russia dispatched Northern Ireland by the same score. For the Irish, there was another embarrassment: they were the last team left in any group which had yet to score. Wales, idle, was well-positioned to move up to third, but looked well out of touch of the two giants.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 9 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Italy 15 5 0 0 10 0 + 8 5

2 Russia 12 4 0 1 7 3 +12 5

3 Israel 4 1 1 3 4 8 - 2 4

4 Wales 3 1 0 3 5 8 - 5 5

5 N. Ireland 1 0 1 4 0 7 -13 5</pre>

In Group 2, Holland were given quite a scare by hosts Azerbaijan, who scored in the 7th minute and held the 1-0 scoreline through 65. The Dutch recovered to keep up their perfect record with three goals in a 13 minute span and a 3-1 win. Slovakia scored in the 8th minute at home against Iceland and then weathered 61 minutes with ten men thanks to their opposition losing three players including their goalkeeper in the second half after exhausting all of their substitutions. Greece kept pace with a defensive win over San Marino by the same 1-0 scoreline.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 2 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Holland 18 6 0 0 18 2 +16 6

2 Slovakia 15 5 0 1 11 3 + 8 6

3 Greece 12 4 0 2 8 6 + 2 6

4 Iceland 6 2 0 4 7 7 0 6

5 Azerbaijan 3 1 0 5 6 16 -10 6

6 San Marino 0 0 0 6 1 17 -16 6</pre>

Group 4 saw two reversals, as high-flying Portugal were brought to earth in Brussels. Belgium led 1-0 when Thomas Buffel was sent off in the 84th minute. Portugal's Tiago equalized in the 89th, only to see Ajax striker Wesley Sonck score a dramatic short-handed game-winner in injury time. Luckily, the Portugese lost no ground to their closest competitors, Latvia, who lost to Serbia & Montenegro 3-1. Lithuania scored their second victory of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Andorra in front of a miniscule crowd of 707.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 4 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Portugal 15 5 0 1 13 4 + 9 6

2 Belgium 11 3 2 1 10 7 + 3 6

3 Latvia 10 3 1 2 11 11 0 6

4 Serbia & Mont. 9 3 0 3 9 7 + 2 6

5 Lithuania 7 2 1 3 8 13 - 5 6

6 Andorra 0 0 0 6 4 13 - 9 6</pre>

In Group 5, France continued their easy path to the finals with a 4-0 win over Kazakhstan, notable for the side seeing four goals scored by four different players, who got the assists from 3 others - 7 players in all involved in the four goals. The real drama in the group was the battle for second place and a playoff spot, which was played out between Finland and Romania in Helsinki. A 1-0 lead for the hosts was erased by Adrian Mutu in the 82nd minute, but Mikael Forssell's dramatic goal in the 86th put the home crowd into hysterics and left the two teams equal on points with four games to play. Moldova and Albania played a fairly pedestrian 1-1 draw.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 5 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 France 18 6 0 0 19 1 +18 6

2 Romania 10 3 1 2 11 8 + 3 6

3 Finland 10 3 1 2 9 9 0 6

4 Moldova 6 1 3 2 7 11 - 4 6

5 Albania 3 0 3 3 6 11 - 5 6

6 Kazakhstan 2 0 2 4 1 13 -12 6</pre>

In Group 6, Germany did not have such an easy time of it, and manager Felix Magath was left to conclude "We underestimated them," after the German side lost at home 2-1 to Belarus. Second-placed Norway, who were idle, suddenly found themselves in striking distance of the group leaders. Hungary beat Luxembourgh 2-1.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 6 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Germany 10 3 1 1 8 3 + 5 5

2 Norway 8 2 2 0 7 3 + 4 4

3 Belarus 7 2 1 2 5 7 - 2 5

4 Hungary 5 1 2 2 5 7 - 2 5

5 Luxembourg 2 0 2 3 3 8 - 5 5</pre>

Group 8 saw Croatia maintain their lead with a 4-1 victory over Bosnia, while the Czech Republic crushed the Faroe Islands 6-0.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Group 8 Pts W D L GF GA GD GP

1 Croatia 13 4 1 0 11 3 + 8 5

2 Czech Republic 11 3 2 0 15 3 +12 5

3 Ukraine 6 2 0 2 5 7 - 2 4

4 Bosnia 4 1 1 3 5 10 - 5 5

5 Faroe Islands 0 0 0 5 2 15 -13 5</pre>

[Damien77]

Congrats on your promotion, now comes the hard part staying up. KUTGW

[Amaroq]

Thanks Damien! Yeah, I don't think I've ever had more work to do on a single offseason!

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 7th June, 2007.

Another day, another new player to add to my burdgeoning roster. Thursday, it was former Histon defensive midfielder Steve Histon, a 17-year-old who cost us £16,000. I really wanted to list him as third on my depth chart, though at the moment he'd rate second.

DM C Steve Histon, 17, England, uncapped: 33 games, 4 goals, 4 assists, 2 MoM, 6.27 at Cambridge City (Conference South) and Histon (non-League):

At the moment, he looks like a relatively average Conference-level player, with a good work ethic and good heading skills. He's only seventeen, and my scouts raved about him, so I'm willing to give him a shot: if he doesn't develop its an inexpensive mistake, and he provides cover and depth at a thin position.

Globally, the big news was the announcement of the hosts for the 2014 World Cup: Sepp Blatter, who had just won re-election as the head of FIFA, had controversially named Mexico! The Brazil contingent, who had thought it a lock, as they'd been the only substantial bid from South America, were irate. It was as blatant a back-stab as you'll ever see: Blatter had all-but-promised a South American World Cup in his re-election campaign.

I couldn't see how it would affect me, and neither could most of England: the press, at least, was focused on what this would do to the much-vaunted England 2018 bid.

Even those headlines were stolen by news that Alan Shearer agreed to depart his beloved Newcastle to join West Bromwich Albion in the English Championship rather than returning to the Premier League. Newcastle had earned promotion back to the top flight, and were forced to admit that the iconic striker no longer has what it takes to compete at that level. The fans were devastated, but I could empathize with management's decision: he's surely not worth the drain on their wage budget at this stage of his career.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 9th June, 2015.

61-year-old scout Kevin Randall came into my office Sunday afternoon, to announce that he has decided to retire at the end of the 2007/08 season. He did so with class and dignity.

"Its been an honour to serve the Blades these past thirty years," he told me, "But its obvious that you've got your own management team and ideas, and I just can't see moving to another club when my contract expires."

I told him that I appreciated the advance warning, but I felt a bit guilty over it; I certainly hadn't intended to force a loyal servant of the club into early retirement.

I'd been working like a madman - more than once, I'd slept at the office, to cut out the commute time. I was feeling a real sense of time pressure, not just towards the start of next season, but as I was taking two weeks away from the club, starting tomorrow.

The first week was to attend the UEFA school to get my "B" license while Stacy took her finals, and the second week we were going on vacation to Italy.

I don't know why, but I was really dreading the "mandatory" schooling. I mean honestly, I'd been managing with success for three years. What can they possibly teach me in a week?

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 14th June, 2007.

What an amazing week!

I've been at Warwick University since Sunday for the week-long, 50-hour UEFA "B" license course, put on by the English F.A.

There are about 25 students, ranging from managers to coaches, from England, India, Australia, and one over from Sweden. I'm the only American.

I've read articles where the writers are concerned that the UEFA licensing process is "forcing all managers to play the same style"; what uninformed poppycock!

We haven't even covered tactics in specific, and there's certainly no mandated approach to the game. They also didn't cover the laws of the game, or specific coaching techniques; it wasn't at all what I expected.

For example, one key section covered the psychology of different players, and the importance of morale and motivation both to results on the pitch and training improvement. I have a degree in psychology, and even so learned quite a lot.

There was a section on discipline, in terms of warnings and fines - the basic rules were "be firm but fair", with warnings about draconian, and "no favouritism".

The press and media handling section was interesting, but unfortunately didn't include anything on how to address a columnist with an irrational hatred of the local manager.

A section on the nurtitional needs and fitness requirements of players was very interesting, and I learned quite a bit from it. I may actually want to bring in a club nutritionist, if we can afford it.

One big thing I learned was that the matches themselves tend to maintain aerobic fitness during a season, but speed and power decline if not maintained regularly. According to the research cited, at least five percent of training time needs to be dedicated to anaerobic fitness to maintain strength.

There was a section on recognizing injuries, both in-match and in-training, knowing when to have the physios look at something, and a reminder of course that the player always wants to play on even if his foot's broken. There was a scare-video on the risks to a player's career and livelihood - thinking of the risks I'd taken letting Alan Quinn, Peter Weatherson and Allan McGregor play through injury in the playoff battle gave me the willies.

Beyond that, however, the amount of knowledge I'm absorbing is overwhelming. After my early successes, I'd grown confident in my abilities as a manager, but now I realize I've just scratched the tip of the iceberg. What I don't know could fill volumes yet. I'm actually very excited about taking what I've learned and putting it to practical application at Bramall Lane.

One segment talked about analyzing performance through match analysis. I shared my approach, of measuring specific performance metrics in training, but it was well-critiqued by the instructors. Among other things, they pointed out, the sorts of attributes we can measure on the training pitch overlook many key intangibles. I'll probably continue with it, as I was getting some value from it, but I see their point, and I'm looking forward to developing an ability to analyze match performance.

One of the most useful topics covered understanding the concepts of team play, and specifically, conveying what you want from a tactic to the players. The instructors placed a real emphasis on shadow play: working XI against just an empty net, or a single goalkeeper, covering an empty pitch. The focus is on having the players follow a certain passing pattern as the move upfield, working specific timing for their off-the-ball runs. Given the task in front of me at home, teaching the 4-5-1 to a group of players used to the 4-4-2, I imagine I'll employ this quite a bit.

Another concept which I'll be putting into practice is that of having specific training regimens for each position. Believe it or not, for my whole time at York, I'd basically had three training schedules: pre-season fitness, first-team, and youth team, in order of intensity. Well, four, as obviously you have goalkeepers working on their own as well. It seems blindingly obvious, once the instructors covered it, that your defenders need to learn different things than your strikers do.

The candidate practicals are tomorrow - I'm actually more than a little bit nervous. I'd better pass, it would be horribly embarrassing not to! Rupert Wormwood would have a dozen column-inches on it, I'm sure.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 17th June, 2007.

No worries.

I passed.

I'm now the proud holder of a UEFA "B" License - and registered for the next available "A" license course to boot.

Anyways, between the course and my vacation, I stopped back by the office on Sunday, just for an hour or two, to check in on developments.

When I left, I'd left a contract offer on the desk of the agent for Irish striker Noel Hunt. I was glad to learn that he had counter-signed in my absence, joining the side from Reading for £150,000. He'd been stuck on the sidelines at Reading in the Premier League, and found himself loaned out through most of the season, first to Luton Town and then to Hereford, where he had scored 16 goals between the two sides. He was glad to see his Madejski Stadium nightmare at an end, and I was happy to add a striker whom I felt could stand in for Peter Weatherson.

S C Noel Hunt, 24, Ireland, 10 caps, 1 goal: 31 games, 16 goals, 5 assists, 2 MoM, 7.41 at Hereford (League Two) and Luton (League One):

The prototype target man, great in the air, brave, with excellent positional skills and the strength to box players out, Hunt scores most of his goals through the air. He's quick as well, and has the creativity to open things up for those around him on occassion. He's not apt to get back on defense, he shows a lack of determination which I consider almost a character flaw, and his salary is more than I wanted to pay, but if he can play to match his size it will all be worth it.

Stuart Cross has agreed to terms with Rushall Olympic, a non-League English club from Walsall whom I had never heard of. They look like they are loading up for a bid at making it to the Conference, and the 17-year-old fit into their plans. It was a free transfer which would complete on July first. That left me with only one remaining unwanted player, a weight off of my shoulders, though I would need to fill out the youth squad with trialists this summer.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 21st June, 2007.

Between the stress of last season's campaign with York, and the sudden shift to Sheffield United, first the intense pressure-cooker of the playoff chase and now the rebuilding task - God, I hadn't taken a day off with my wife since I could remember. Sunday evening, we took the train south, winding up in Milan shortly before midnight.

I'll not bore you with all the details, but the Cinque Terra was a wonderful place to visit, very charming, very romantic: excellent food, great wines, and beautiful views. By Thursday, we had worked our way south to my favorite mideival hill town, Assissi, and over the weekend we planned to stop through Roma, possibly going on to Napoli and Pompeii if the whim struck us.

It was a pleasant vacation, a tranquil interlude from the soap opera turns my career had taken thus far. More importantly, it was a chance to reconnect with my wife - between her intense two-year study programme and my devotion to my job, we'd really let that slip. I suppose a cooling of the passion is inevitable when a married couple are over-stressed by other factors, but I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed our former ardor until it reignited in Italy.

Talking it over with her, we decided to try and treat each other like a "date" one night a week - dressed up, shaved, cologned, you know, the whole nine yards, just as though trying to make an impression on a third date.

The other thing the vacation gave me was time to sit back and savor the victories we'd achieved already, in my short tenure. I still couldn't believe I was manager of Sheffield United! I found the victory against Sheffield Wednesday particularly fulfilling, despite my recent baptism to the rivalry. The fact that we'd gone on to win the playoffs was icing on the cake - just last year I was worrying about how to keep my brave York City squad away from relegation in League Two, and now they were League Two champions and I was worrying about how to assemble a squad to keep Sheffield United in the Championship!

[aaberdeenn]

KUTGW

Looking forwards to the new season

[Sean06]

Super story, just finished reading the first book and this. KUTGW

[Wegason]

I just wish you'd post it all as quickly as possible!

[Amaroq]

Thank you, aaberdeenn, Sean06.

Wegason - LOL, I got scarred at one point back when I was just lurking, some kid was posting his story just post-post-post-post, one after the other, and somebody said "Hey! You're scaring off your readers! Nobody wants to read an avalanche!" .. so I went with the serial format.

[Amaroq]

I know its easy to have a thread bookmarked, or simply look below the stickies, so if you missed it (and you're reading this as I post, not several months down the road!), it is now time for the annual FMS Awards. Please check out:

.

FMS Awards 2007: Introduction

.

They're user-nominated and user-voted awards; if you're interested in voting - remember, even "lurkers" who've not posted a thing are eligible to vote! - you can register to vote at

.

FMS Awards 2007: Registration

[Amaroq]

Monday, 25th June, 2007.

I returned to the office Monday morning, refreshed, revitalized, and eager to put what I'd learned into practice.

Scout Kevin Randall told me that, while I'd been gone, Hayden Foxe had been called up for Australia's Confederations Cup squad, a tournament that was currently in progress. I hoped it wouldn't interfere too much with the defender's rest - he'd been part of that utterly overworked squad I'd first inherited.

Randall provided video tape of each of Foxe's matches. He played all 90 minutes of the first match, in Sao Paulo, as Australia crushed Egypt 3-0. It was clear who the better side was, and though Foxe's defense helped limit the Egyptians to merely five shots on goal, the domination at midfield was so thorough that none of the Australian defenders had a chance to particularly excel.

The second match of the group stage was a shocker, as Australia built a 3-1 lead over Argentina, and then held on through a desperate final ten minutes as the South American side scored to draw within one, and threw all-out pressure against the Australian defense. Foxe came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute, and so was a key part of that desperate stand - though he shared part of the fault for Tevez's goal.

He was back on as a starter in the final match, against Greece. The Greeks had already lost to Argentina, so a draw in either match would be sufficient to see Australia through the the semi-finals. Argentina was going well against Egypt, and the Australia match was 1-1 at halftime. Foxe was on from the start, and played all 90 minutes, but with three matches in five days, he looked fairly tired and pedestrian. So did the Greek offense, however; they just didn't seem to have the creativity to break down Australia's defense in the second half. A 1-1 draw was the result, and Australia were through to the semi-finals as group winners.

Domestically, there was a lot less to do now - once I'd gotten through the accumulated e-mails from my absence, my workdays were perhaps six hours or so, mostly calling clubs and agents, and reading scouting reports.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 30th June, 2007.

Stacy spent the last week house-hunting - with my signing bonus and new salary, we can certainly afford to buy a place rather than renting. She found a couple of great houses near Sheffield, and in fact one in particular, in a nice suburb of Rotherham, caught our eye. It was shaded, in a quiet neighborhood which reminded me of my grandfather's house in a small town outside of Cleveland, Ohio: trees, bicycle paths, and a mix of retired folks and children at play. We'd bid the asking price, they accepted, and just like that, it was in escrow!

Australia's Confederations Cup adventure came to a crashing end on Thursday, as Spain knocked in three goals in the first thirty one minutes. Australian captain Harry Kewell was really struggling, and the entire Australian side seemed to have trouble with the 104-degree heat. Our man came on in the 61st minute, and played 30 competent, scoreless minutes to close the tournament, but a 3-0 defeat would see the Australians out.

There was a third-place game on Saturday, and Australia drew Argentina, who had lost to Brazil in the other semi-final. Argentina seemed upset about their defeats in the tournament, and definitely had something to play for, coming out with a vigorous, aggressive style that seemed to completely overwhelm the relatively experimental side named by Australia manager Frank Farina. Foxe, partnered with some lesser-known defenders, drew a yellow card and was eventually substituted after 63 minutes, while Argentina rode four first-half goals to coast to a 4-0 victory.

In club news, Marcus Stewart put the end to his career, announcing his retirement from football on the day that his contract expired. The 34-year-old had spent most of the season in the Reserves, and just wasn't prepared to drop down to the Conference to see out the final days of his career. We had a small press conference together, though I didn't really know him, and I think his farewells to some of the others, such as Assistant Manager Stuart McCall, were more important to him.

As part of the purchase of Dene Cropper before I arrived, we'd been committed to a friendly with Worksop. They chose Friday the 27th, the day before the friendly I'd arranged with Leeds United. I was annoyed for a moment, but Stuart reminded me that I could effectively use it as a Reserve match. That reminded me, I'd wanted to schedule some Reserve and U-18 friendly matches for August, and I got on the horn to Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday, and York to propose Reserve matches. It was quick and easy to arrange the matches, and although the schedules hadn't yet been published for our non-competitive groups, I felt confident with the schedule I'd arranged. We also arranged one more senior friendly, accepting an invitation from Scunthorpe to come to Glanford Park on the 18th.

We'd also added two young players promoted from our youth academy while I was on vacation.

S C Dean Reid, 15, England:

Teamwork and determination characterize this youngster's game. In a number of places, I'm pleased with his development so far: his concentration, creativity, and decision-making are all reasonable, but in others I'm almost shocked - his technique is bad and his first touch is downright awful. In all, I don't think he has the pace or the bravery to develop into a Championship-calibre player, but I'm willing to give him two years on the U-18 team to prove me wrong.

GK Colin Hatton, 16, England:

My youth coaches are very excited about this youngster. He's got the natural balance and agility that one would hope for in a goalkeeper, and his concentration and teamwork are of the standard one would hope to see from a veteran. Unfortunately, he has three real weaknesses which may cripple his chances. He can't throw, he seems afraid of the ball, and his reflexes are utterly awful. He'll need to improve to earn anything more than a U-18 start.

The time was fast approaching when I would need to get to work integrating this mad witches' brew of names and faces into a coherent unit capable of playing at the Championship level, and that was beginning to sound like an impossible task.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 1st July, 2007.

I met with Derek Dooley and Terry Robinson again today.

This time, they wanted to present their seasonal goals. They're "sure they made the right choice in appointing me as manager," Mister Dooley assured me, and then informed me that they expect us to battle bravely against relegation from the Championship. The fans, likewise, have their hopes set merely on staying in the Championship.

That's all well and good, I told them, but I was aiming for a solid mid-table finish at least.

With the television revenue for the Championship, which came out to £625,000 for a newly promoted team, and £1.2M in season ticket sales, we had made £2.0M in revenue for the month of June. However, we'd spent almost that amount, £1.9M, in purchasing players. Combined with our other operating expenses, it meant we had lost £0.7M for the month, leaving us negative for the season to date, with an overall budget of £11.1M and a transfer budget hovering at £2.5M.

This meant that I would have to make do with the transfer budget I had - it doesn't look like we'll free up any more unless I sell off a few players. Terry did mention that he liked the transfers I had made so far, saying that he could see my imprint on the squad already.

There were, of course, many transfers with the official opening of the international transfer window today. Alan Shearer was the biggest name, completing his move to West Bromwich Albion. He admitted that the lure of playing regular first-team football outweighed his love of the club for which he had scored 163 goals over the past eleven seasons. His pace has really fallen off this last year, and he only made 7 starts for Newcastle last year; 7 goals was his worst tally since the injury-shortened 2000/01 season.

We had only one international transfer incoming: young defender Martin Edwards joined Sheffield United from Irish side Bray Wanderers A.F.C for a mere £14,000.

D/S C Martin Edwards, 18, England, uncapped: 13 games, 0 goals, 6.46 with Bray Wanderers in 2006:

A former York trialist, whom I had first looked at in August of 2005, I was very pleased to finally add this promising centre-back to my squad. He's determined, a hard worker, and he has pace. He makes good decisions for a young player, and has the trio of abilities I expect from a defender, tackling, marking, and heading. Everything else, I can teach, and had his contract demands been less he might have been on that York U-18 team that won their youth group title in 2005/06.

We also saw a few more departures, the biggest of which was left winger Alan Quinn. The 28-year-old Irishman had been a huge part of the club's success last season, playing in 57 matches with 4 goals, 7 assists, and 5 Man of the Match awards; he'd earned Team of the Week honors 12 times in his 3-year stay at Brammall Lane. Tragically, his contract was not renewed earlier this year, and he has signed with Swansea City on a Bosman transfer which will see him stay in League One rather than moving to the Championship with us.

Veteran Scottish forward Andy Liddell - who had converted one of our penalties in the playoff shootout after spending most of the season on loan to Conference National sides Harrogate Town and Gravesend - also departed, returning to Scotland to see out his career with Raith.

17-year-old midfielder Stuart Cross and 16-year-old midfielder Stephen Pearson both moved to non-League side Rushall Olympic on free transfers.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 5th July, 2007.

The season was fast approaching, and I still had no left winger. I'd had the structure of an arrangement with Fulham to bring one of their wingers in on a season-long loan, but they had decided instead to release him when his contract expired at the end of June. It felt like a big, gaping hole on the left side, and nothing I was able to do seemed to be able to upgrade the position. 20-year-old Jonathan Forte is reasonably quick and a very hard worker, but I wanted to bring in two more wingers to have some depth in case of injury or exhaustion.

There were a number of other question marks as I prepared for the first day of training camp. I only had one true starter in the attacking midfield role, I didn't have much confidence in either of my strikers, and two of my veterans, Eric Deloumeaux and Paul Thirlwell, had raised questions about their committment and happiness at the club at the end of last season.

With the pieces I had in place, I would have felt comfortable battling for promotion or even the League One title, but the jump up to Championship-calibre football has me worried, especially with the number of new faces and the entire squad learning a new system. It was going to take time to gel and learn to work together within my system, and I wasn't sure we could afford that time.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 7th July, 2007.

Today was the first day of training camp, and it was a day of introduction and hand-shaking.

I gave the players a brief speech, something I had not done last year, and outlined who I am, what I've accomplished at York and at Sheffield United the past two seasons, and then I told them my ambitious long-term goal:

"I don't just want to 'stay alive' and avoid relegation, I want to manage the Blades in the Premier League."

The first step towards that goal, I warned them, was to run, and run, and run some more - I'll be working them through a brutal training regime in the pre-season, with numerous matches, cross country running, weight training, and wind sprints to build 'shape'.

We started, however, with a chalkboard discussion of my formation and tactics. I was planning to use the same 4-5-1 which had served me so well at Bootham Crescent, with a flat back four, the fullbacks allowed to make forward runs sometimes. There is a defensive midfielder, who should close down from sideline to sideline, wherever he thinks the trouble spots is. The wingers' primary responsibility is to track back and shut down their opposite number; as long as they are able to accomplish that, they are allowed to make forward runs and/or dribble up the pitch as much as they like.

In attack, it looks almost like a 4-3-3. The two attacking midfielders work hard, playing both the role of creative provider for each other and the striker, as well as charging back to defend like a central midfielder. They are also allowed to shoot from long range, if they spot a good opportunity. The lone striker is not tasked with any defensive resposibilities, and is in fact encouraged not to pressure the opposition too frequently, but to save his energy for attack. Most of our goals come on the counter-attack, assuming the other team is willing to attack us to begin with.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> DL WBL <- ML

DC MC <- AMC

GK DMC SC

DC MC <- AMC

DR WBR <- MR</pre>

If we have to, while chasing a game I'll move from the direct-passing quick-strike approach to a shorter, patient buildup, pushing the wings up and asking the fullbacks to get more involved in the attack:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> DL -> WBL ML -> AML

DC MC <- AMC

GK DMC SC

DC MC <- AMC

DR -> WBR MR -> AMR</pre>

Using what I'd learned at the UEFA class, I had them run through it in Shadow Play, to familiarize themselves both with each other, and with what I was going to ask of them.

All in all, it was a good session, though I was still feeling the weakness along the left side keenly.

Stuart McCall suggested playing Joe Keenan at defensive midfielder, which was something I hadn't considered, but may actually be a very good idea. I'd moved him there several times when he played at York, and he did well, but I'd been thinking of him as primarily a left back here at the Championship level. Honestly, if we can bring in a winger or two, I think this will be a reasonably good team.

Our first match is Wednesday the 11th - I'd had to let the offseason break go a bit later than I might have preferred due to the exhausted state of the side after the playoff fight in May. I doubt any of my players will really be 'in shape' for more than a half by Wednesday - but the only date that matters is Opening Day on August 4th.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 9th July, 2007.

What a stressful - and exciting - day!

Nothing to do with the club, all to do with our new home. We closed escrow!

Its a two-level four-bedroom, detached residence in Rotherham, set well back from the road on a half-acre lot. It includes a sitting room, a delightful formal dinig room, and a conservatory, to go with all of the expected amenities, including a recently remodelled kitchen, all modern. Two of the bedrooms have en-suite shower rooms, and there's a third "family" bathroom.

I love the exterior, a long pebbled driveway for that rustic feel, the view as one pulls around the trees to see the house for the first time. The rear deck includes a hot tub, and the lawn is invitingly manicured. There's even a bocce court!

More importantly, perhaps, its close to the local hospital, where Stacy will be applying to work now that she has her nursing degree, and convenient enough to the M1 for my commute.

I thought I was getting familiar with contracts from all the player deals, but purchasing a home, wow, that is a monumental contract. Its a good thing we had a solicitor to explain, point by point, what we were agreeing to.

Oh, speaking of player deals, I've another one in the works, a kid who caught my eye with his performances against me at Bootham Crescent. I think he's going to be phenomenal.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 10th July, 2007.

The signing of Cambridge right back Keith McCormack was met with delight by the fans, who think he is definitely one for the future. To my bemusement, the club shop reported kids asking for his jersey - we haven't even assigned a number to any of our summer transfers yet - or at least to have his name placed on the back of their shirts.

Personally, I'd been very impressed by his performances against my York side last season: I'd had him on my shortlist, and knew exactly what sort of quality I was getting. He cost £275,000, and our board immediately rated him as worth more than a million.

D/M R Keith McCormack, 18, Ireland, 2 U-21 caps, 0 goals: 42 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 1 MoM, 7.05 at Cambridge in League Two:

This promising fullback has the speed and anticipation to be a very good defender in the Championship or even the Premier League already. He has a great physique, and his reading of the game and technical development are already very mature for his age. Given two or three years to develop, I think he will turn into a Premiership-quality player, especially if he can work on his first touch and his positioning. Considering his early debut for Ireland Under-21s, he has a bright future at the interntaional level as well.

For four days, good-natured grumbling met our morning run, but the players did put in the effort. In the late morning and the afternoon, they worked hard on everything from learning my tactic, to practicing set pieces, to 5-a-side matches, to skill-based physical drills. Two days a week they spent in the weight room under the guidance of coach John Ricards while I worked the phones in search of a left wing.

There was still no progress on that front - I'd been turned down by every team I'd contacted so far. The only options seemed to be no better than Jonathan Forte, my incumbent, and I was getting desperate enough to consider picking up a veteran who didn't upgrade the position but could provide some depth and cover as a backup to Forte.

Wing or no wing, our Championship campaign officially gets underway tomorrow with our first pre-season friendly.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 11th July, 2007. Friendly, vs Grimsby Town.

For some clubs, Wednesday night was the first leg of the first qualifying phase of the Champions League. For Sheffield United, it was our first pre-season friendly match, against League One side Grimsby Town. Promoted from League Two after the 2005/06 season, they placed 12th last year, twice losing by 2-1 scores to Sheffield United before I took over the club. They started this season with a 2-1 friendly win over Accrington Stanley on Monday, which means they may hardly be rested for this match.

For this first match, I rolled out the lineup I was thinking of as my starting XI, starting of course with Allan McGregor in goal. Former York player Joe Keenan was the left back, playing his first match in almost five months. Chris Morgan was back from his injury as well to join Steve Foster at centre back - I let Foxe rest after the Confederation's Cup action. Frenchman Eric Deloumeaux, the captain of the squad, looked much happier after a full summer's holiday. Defensive midfielder Paul Thirlwell still wanted to find a bigger club; maybe it would inspire his play. Jonathan Forte was my only choice on the left wing, and 27-year-old Chris Sedgwick worked the right side. Up front, my biggest signing Marc Bridge-Wilkinson made his debut, partnered with 17-year-old Joe Newell, and Peter Weatherson was the starting striker.

Grimsby Town opened the match clearly the aggressor, operating in a 3-4-3, and keeping posession in our half for the opening stanza. My lads, coached in the concept of counter-attack, defended well to soak it up. In the 7th minute, Glenn Hill sent a long ball into the box from the right sideline, and Dele Adebola met it with a diving header. It would have been a fantastic goal, but Allan McGregor was up to the task, earning his first save of the year.

On the resulting corner kick, Chris Sedgwick intercepted, and started the counter-attack up the right wing. He played it ahead to Jonathan Forte, who was on the wrong sideline, but it was working, and it looked like they had a five-on-three rush as Grimsby lacked men back. When Forte reached the corner of the penalty area, he cut it back to set up his left foot, then sent a curling cross over from the right side, tailing towards the goal. It found Marc Bridge-Wilkinson free almost on the penalty spot, and my big summer acquisition rifled a half-volley into the net at the near post. A crowd of 2,015 had shown up for the friendly, and though they applauded the goal, the noise was almost absorbed by the cavernous 31,000-seat facility.

Forte continued to play very well on the left, and Grimsby were either too timid to venture forward again, or else we were simply much more confident. It seemed like the visitors could hardly string three passes together, and for the rest of the half we were in complete control. Young Joe Newell had a brilliant chance in the 33rd, reaching the by-line on the right side several steps ahead of the last defender, but he dallied with the ball, allowing time for the defense to gather and stifle him with numbers.

In the 35th minute, Bridge-Wilkinson showed he could be the provider, playing a ball into space between the 3-man back line for Peter Weatherson to run onto. With a two-step advantage over the nearest defender, Weatherson struck the ball with his laces from 17 yards, and Grimsby goalkeeper Oliver Richardson had no chance.

Sedgwick and Weatherson both had dangerous chances over the next five minutes, and Paul Thirlwell's header went just wide after a United corner kick. At halftime, we led 2-0, and the comfortable nature of the lead was a definite confirmation of my opinion that the squad would have competed for honours in League One. As I'd warned the players I would, I made eleven changes at halftime, literally subbing out the entire side.

Despite wholesale changes, we remained in easy control. Second-half captain Jack Lester nearly scored from 20 yards just 39 seconds into the second half, but this effort Richardson was able to tip over. Undaunted, Lester tried a long ball to spring John Melligan from the halfway line. The Irish midfielder caught up to it just before entering the area, but shot wide. In the 57th minute, Noel Hunt impressively towered over the defense on the end of Billy Sharp's cross, but his header skimmed the top of the bar on its way over. He came close with another header a minute later, this one tipped over by Richardson.

Just as I was thinking that even my second-string defense looked strong, Grimsby's second-half left wing Robert Burns decided to have a go from thirty yards. I don't think McGregor would have had trouble with it, but it caught my unimpressive Reserve keeper, Phil Barnes, napping. He got a late break on the ball, and was unable to keep it out. Seventy-one minutes gone, and it was 2-1.

I wasn't particularly worried about the final scoreline in a match which my starters left two-nil, but I wanted the backups and new players to experience a tradition of victory at Bramall Lane. If I'd had any worries, they were erased in the 79th minute when 19-year-old Grimsby defender Alan Conway tripped Noel Hunt in the box. It was a rookie mistake, as the pass was a hopeful ball into a crowd rather than a real danger, but perhaps the penalty awarded will cement that lesson for the youngster.

Hunt took the spot-kick himself, and drilled it to the keeper's left to make what turned out to be the final score, 3-1.

Sheffield United 3, Grimbsy Town 1

Bridge-Wilkinson 8, Weatherson 35, Hunt pen 80; Burns 71

MoM: Bridge-Wilkinson

I congratulated the lads on their victory, and told them I wanted them to think of this as 'our house', the place that other teams come to lose, even in friendly matches. Then we turned to breaking down some of the mistakes made, as especially in the second half I'd begun to see some dubious decisions. Phil Barnes, of course, received a real dressing down for conceding the goal.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, with a goal and an assist in his noncompetitive debut, was the consensus Man of the Match.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 14th July, 2007.

Dennis Pettitt, one of my physios, found me the next morning.

"I think we need to talk about Hayden Foxe," he said. "You're treating him the same as everybody else: tough physical training regime and all, but he hasn't had the summer break like the others have. He really needs to rest."

Foxe had only played 35 minutes of the second half before I made my 12th substitution to bring him back off, but he'd still gone to the physios in the morning reporting he was very sore. I tried setting up a lighter training regime for him, but unluckily he tore a groin muscle in the afternoon session, which would see him out for at least a month. Worse, both my physios recommended surgery, and that would keep him out of the lineup until December.

That's one way to get him his rest, I suppose.

The F.A. asked me to submit squad numbers today, which had the interesting effect of bringing recent changes into stark relief: there were just 17 players from last year still on the squad, one of whom had not had a squad number, and there were 14 new players who needed assignment!

I also took the moment to name my captains to the squad. Incumbent 34-year-old Frenchman Eric Delomeaux was the obvious choice, with injured Australian international Hayden Foxe as his second, and veteran defenders Chris Morgan and Steve Foster were co-captains, to fill in as needed if neither of the other two were playing.

We were chosen for four nationally televised matches, one each month from August to November. Our opponents for those would be Nottingham Forest on August 25th, the derby against Leeds United on September 8th, against Hull on October 13th, and West Bromwich Albion on the 25th of November.

Finally, we had an out-of-contract striker coming in on trial: Adebayo Akinfenwa, a 25-year-old Nigerian who had scored 7 goals over the past three seasons in limited action with Torquay United. I wasn't confident he really needed a home here, but he was willing to take a trial offer from a Championship side over a guaranteed salary from some lower-division clubs, which boded well for him.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 15th July, 2007. Friendly, at York City.

For my return to Bootham Crescent, my former team made some very nice gestures. There was a formal ceremony about a half hour before the match honouring and thanking me for the work I'd done, with chairman Steve Beck himself coming out to present Joe Keenan, Jamie Cooper, and I with our League Two championship medals. Though I heard some scattered derogatory comments, for the most part the crowd were warm and receptive, and it had a bit of the feeling of a homecoming.. though I had to laugh when I heard a recognizable loud voice from the crowd yell something like "Awww... very sweet, now BEAT 'EM!"

The scouting report was interesting: apparently new manager Chris Kinnear has been playing a 5-3-2 Sweeper formation, taking my defensive philosophy a step or two further than I had. It was a little worrisome that he hadn't made any significant transfers in over the summer, and would be missing four of the players I thought of as 'key' during my tenure, but that's no longer my problem.

My problem is that we had suffered a brutal injury blow in the pre-match warmups. 34-year-old right back Eric Deloumeaux sustained a slipped disc, a truly painful injury which left him writhing on the ground as the physios rushed to tend to him. It will certainly rule him out of the season opener, and possibly much longer: I'll know more when I can check in with the hospital.

That's left my defense fairly weakened, with two injuries. I started Allan McGregor in goal, of course, but only one of my 'first team' defense started in front of him. I couldn't deny Joe Keenan and Jamie Cooper the opportunity to get one more start at Bootham Crescent, and Kyle McFadzean joined them in central defense. The right back was young starlet Keith McCormack, who, thanks to Deloumeaux's injury, found himself in an unexpected fight with Rory Beanes for the starting position. Paul Thirlwell again took the defensive midfield role, with Jonathan Forte and Chris Sedgwick on the wings. Last match's hero, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and 17-year-old Joe Newell again partnered up front, and I wanted to see big Noel Hunt up front with the first team.

We came out pushing forward from the get-go, and were in complete control from the outset. In the 6th minute, a leading pass by Chris Sedgwick put Joe Newell past the defense. He reached the end-line, as he had last match, and began dribbling along it. Liam Fontaine got a foot in, but couldn't clear it out of the penalty area, and Sedgwick trailing the play blasted a curling shot which went high and wide.

In the 22nd minute, central defender Kyle McFadzean played a long ball that put Sedgwick up the right wing. He sent an inviting low cross into the box, and Noel Hunt pivoted on his left foot to volley on goal from 8 yards. The ball nestled into the far side netting, and there was nothing Alan Blayney could do to stop us taking a 1-0 lead.

Hunt was playing a fine game, and making a real case for consideration in the regular lineup, so I was stunned when I saw him lying on the ground behind the play at 31 minutes. Whatever had happened to him had occurred off the ball, but he was unable to continue.

While we were still recovering from that, and Peter Weatherson was finding his footing in the lineup, York earned a throw-in deep along our left sideline. Micah Richards threw to Joe Foote, who passed it back to him. Richards tried a right-footed cross which curled goalward. It seemed for a moment to have carried over everyone, but 17-year-old midfielder Craig Curtis, recently promoted from the York youth side, was there slipping behind McFadzean at the far post. He leaped in the air at the corner of the 6-yard-box, and headed back towards the near post, completely wrong-footing Allan McGregor. Though only 239 fans had bothered to attend, they made their approval known, and the goal had to be the highlight of the youngster's career so far!

It looked like that would make a 1-1 scoreline at the half, with five defenders back for York at all times. In the 41st minute, though, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson played a ball to his partner, Joe Newell, 25 yards out from goal and central. With the defenders laying back a few yards, the youngster had space to set up his right foot, and unleashed an incredible rip to the keeper's right, a shot curling into the top corner which would have done Zidane proud. That ability from range is exactly why I purchased him, and he's only 17 - if he can build the rest of his game to support that powerful right foot, he'll be unstoppable! I don't think I've seen a better shot, and that put us back in the lead, 2-1.

I made four changes at halftime, and four more early in the second half, also instructing the lads to fall back and play more conservatively. With that instruction, we stifled a York offense that just couldn't find the creativity to get another shot off the entire second half. In the 55th minute, Peter Weatherson worked his way up the left wing, then dribbled along the end-line. As though showing Newell how to play the by-line, he cut it back for John Melligan just outside the six. Unluckily for the Irishman, the ball took a bad hop off the uneven surface just as it reached him, and he popped it up, missing the goal vertically by at least thirty feet to the derision of the home crowd.

Graham Allen was having quite a bit of luck hitting long balls up the right wing, where York were clearly missing the presence of Joe Keenan and John McGrath on their left sideline. Without coverage, Peter Weatherson was looking increasingly dangerous. Allen tried that ploy again in the 71st, and this time as both central defenders converged towards him, Weatherson picked out Jack Lester unmarked in the center, about 40 yards from goal. The veteran dribbled straight at goal, and two defenders closed on him, one from either side. With a burst of speed he cuts through the closing hole into the box, and finished the beautiful move with a 16-yard strike to make the final score 3-1.

York City 1, Sheffield United 3

Curtis 38; Hunt 22, Newell 41, Lester 71

MoM: McDonald (York GK)

That was the right result, I think - a win for us, a goal for the home supporters, everybody goes home happy. Though, to be honest, we'd only allowed one shot on goal, and the final score made the match appear closer than it was.

Looking around the small, comfortable confines of Bootham Crescent, I didn't feel a sense of triumph at defeating my old team, but rather a sense of sadness that I hadn't been able to do more for them in my time there.

Nick McDonald, the young goalkeeper who played the second half, was Man of the Match for York - he's a talent, and the Minstermen had rightfully refused to sell him to me when I'd inquired about him.

[Terk]

10 days, 4 pages. Someone posts quick Still working my way through the last page of book 1, nice to know I've got plenty more to read though

[aaberdeenn]

Still going great. Looking forwards to the start of the championship season.

[Wegason]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Terk:

10 days, 4 pages. Someone posts quick Still working my way through the last page of book 1, nice to know I've got plenty more to read though </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Not quick enough

[Amaroq]

Nah, Terk, its all the folks posting congratulations and well-wishes that have boosted my page-count.. .. aaberdeenn, Wegason, thanks for the support.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 17th July, 2007.

After the match, Stacy and I went out to dinner with Steve Beck, Jon Paul McGovern, and the McGills, at one of my favorite York restaurants - the only one I'd found which serves creative vegetarian fare. It was a fun evening, a chance to see old friends and relax.

At one point, I told Steve how well Liam Fontaine had played - the young defender seemed to be everywhere at times - and asked how much it would cost to buy him. Jon cut in with "Stay away from him, you vulture!" in mock anger which cracked everybody at the table up.

I did get one good bit of information - according to Steve, Robert Cousins's recovery from surgery is progressing nicely, and he should be starting some swimming and light jogging around the end of the month.

After overnighting in York, Stacy and I returned to Sheffield and a meeting I was dreading - asking my physios about my captain, Eric Deloumeaux, who had slipped a disc in his back. At a minimum, the injury should keep him out at least until October, but Tom Mithcell recommended surgery to correct the problem, which could be career-threatening for the 34-year-old, and may be a life-long ailment if not corrected.

Unfortunately, surgery will see him out six months at least, and probably longer, at the time when the club most needs his veteran presence and stability on the right side. Worse, thinking of how much of a difference there was for Tappa Whitmore before and after his injury, I knew that that might be a long enough layoff that he may never recover his current form. With a heavy heart, I authorized the surgery.

The other injuries from the match were not as severe. Striker Noel Hunt had bruised his ribs, which might see him out for a few days at most, and midfielder John Melligan had played the final fifteen minutes with a thigh strain, that should see him out of action for about a week.

Adebayo Akinfenwa was gone, the Nigerian having decided I was dragging my heels, and instead signing with non-League side AFC Telford. I thought he may have sold himself a bit low, as he belongs at least in the Conference, and as much as I wanted to advise him to fire his agent - any competent agent would have come to the team he was on trial with to see if they wanted to make a counter-proposal - I simply bid him adieu and good luck.

Monday's practice sessions went well, without incident, and Tuesday evening, we completed the signing of Brian Holmes, a 17-year-old left back from fellow Championship side Millwall, for £50,000.

DM L Brian Holmes, 17, England, uncapped: 1 game, 0 goals, 5.00 at Millwall in the Championship:

A determined, hard-working youngster who has the pace and concentration to make it at the Championship level, much of Holmes's game is currently down around the Conference standard. He'd have been a star in my time at Lancaster, but at the moment I'm purchasing him primarily because we lack depth at left back, and my scouts are impressed with his potential.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 18th July, 2007. Friendly, at Scunthorpe United.

Scunthorpe United have been a long-time League Two mid-table side. Three times since 1968, they have finished fourth, climbed their way up to League One via the playoffs, and then been relegated again the following year. Last season, they placed 19th out of 24 teams, and it doesn't look like they've done much to improve for this year's campaign. Their two friendlies so far this year are both draws, 2-2 with Southampton Reserves, and 0-0 at Margate. They're a relatively local side, east and a little bit north of Sheffield, so I'd accepted their offer of a friendly as much to boost local clubs as anything.

I was ready to start asking my players to play through more than 45 minutes. With a weaker opponent mid-week, and a match against rivals Sheffield Wednesday on the weekend, I decided to start a "B" squad. To that end, I named unhappy Phil Barnes as the goalkeeper. In front of him, the defensive line was Darren Wrack, Kyle McFadzean, Jamie Cooper, and the evening's captain, Rory Beanes. Steve Newton took the defensive midfield role, with 19-year-old trialist Nicky Thomson earning a look on the left wing, and Graham Allen on the right. The attacking midfielders were veteran Jack Lester partnered with 17-year-old trialist Gavin Atkinson. Last year's leading scorer, Billy Sharp, got his first start of the pre-season at striker.

Unforuntately, Rory Beanes picked up a knock early on, so I pulled him off in the 12th minute for Kevin McCormack, giving the captain's armband to Jamie Cooper. It was definitely a pre-season match: neither side could seem to put a shot on target. Jack Lester was getting the majority of chances for us, but drilled several shots over, and Billy Sharp put one wide. It wasn't until the 40th minute that Lester finally put a shot on target, which was saved by Scunthorpe goalkeeper Saul Deeney. None of our misses were as bad as Colin Vickers's for Scunthorpe, though. He managed to put a shot from the edge of the box so far wide, it was closer to a throw-in than a goal - by the time it crossed the by-line it wasn't even in the penalty area.

The crowd of 486 were growing restless and had started taunting the players, as it looked like a scoreless draw in the offing. Then, in injury time of the first half, Scunthorpe winger Martin Phillips seent in a cross from the left side. Goalkeeper Phil Barnes punched it away, but moments later Colin Webster blew his whistle: Barnes had pushed Paul Linwood on his way to the ball, and Webster pointed at the spot. Penalty!

Lee Matthews stepped confidently to take it, and drilled it past Barnes for a 0-1 halftime advantage.

I was furious with Barnes. He'd had the effrontery to demand first-time playing time, but conceded a penalty to a League Two side on a simple cross? I hadn't put serious effort into finding a new number two keeper, but that would become a priority after the match.

At halftime, I told the players to start pressing forward more, but through the second half Scunthorpe defended well, holding their shape despite the fact that I began filtering in a few of my first team through the final thirty minutes.

By the 80th minute, it looked like we would suffer our first defeat of the preseason, but Jonathan Forte, on as a substitute, reached the corner on the left side. After beating his marker, he cut it back to the holding midfielder rather than sending a cross into a packed box. Paul Thirlwell took one touch, then blasted a shot from the top of the arc. It deflected off of Linwood, wrong-footing Deeney and finding the net to equalize 1-1. That's when we learned that at least half the crowd were travelling United supporters, even if their cheers echoed hollowly around empty Glanford Park.

My two youngest players, goalkeeper Colin Hatton and striker Dean Reid, were getting their first action here in the final fifteen minutes, and both played reasonably, especially considering their ages. We continued to press forward, and in the first minute of stoppage, first-team right wing Chris Sedgwick sent a low pass from the right to Thirlwell. With a bit of creative vision, he used his first touch to continue the right-to-left movement, switching it over to Forte. The defense had cheated too far to the right side, leaving Forte unmarked on the left at the edge of the area. He controlled it, setting up his preferred foot, then launched a left-footed blast from 16 yards out that proved to be the game winner.

Scunthorpe United 1, Sheffield United 2

Matthews pen 45; Thirlwell 81, Forte 90

MoM: Thirlwell

Despite playing only fifteen minutes, Paul Thirlwell was named Man of the Match with a goal and an assist to inspire the come-from-behind victory, which might have been more dramatic had it been a meaningful game. It did provide an answer for me, however: my first XI are capable of winning League One; my second XI aren't capable of capturing the League Two title.

I was still furious with Phil Barnes, and resolved to place him on the transfer list as a result of the match. If there's one thing I won't tolerate, its mental mistakes.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 20th July, 2007.

After the match, defensive midfielder Steve Newton joined Conference side Carlisle United on loan for three months. I didn't have any other defensive midfielders on the squad, besides him and Paul Thirlwell, so I figured I would need to loan one in as a replacement for him. I'd been planning on doing that anyways, and if the 17-year-old could get some League experience at a higher level than he had so far, that was all good.

We balanced that move by bringing in 17-year-old Scotland Under-19 striker Darren Gibson from Dundee. It had been a tough negotiation process, as the promising youngster wanted to be promised a larger role at the club than I was willing to promise. We compromised on calling him a 'Hot Prospect' and giving him more wages than he had been asking for. He's very excited at coming to Sheffield, and told the press that he can't wait to break into the first-team setup.

S C Darren Gibson, 17, Scotland, uncapped: No appearances at Dundee:

This promising, determined young striker shows incredible control on his headers. He has very good concentration, and good teamwork, pace, and finishing already. He will need to do some work on other aspects of his game, in particular working on his technique, and he isn't as brave as some, but overall he looks quite talented already, and if my scouts are right about him, he has the potential to turn into an excellent player and the mental discipline required to make good on that potential.

The deal was finished up at 11:15pm Wednesday night, so I was tired at Thursday morning's training session! Things went very well, however: I was impressed with young Gibson, this being the first time I'd gotten to see him in person, and he played well. Certainly not a first-teamer at the moment, but I was favorably impressed.

Friday also marked the end of our second week of pre-season, and with it I switched pre-seaon training regimes. I had been focusing primarily on the physical aspect of the game, building strength and stamina as best as possible. Now, we switched to really heavy work: continuing to push the stamina side of things, but starting to really work on both technique and on the mental side of my tactical instructions. It'll be hard work now, but hopefully it will pay off later in the season.

Unfortunately, the first dividend was a strained wrist for defender Kyle McFadzean, which may keep him out for a week or so.