Leaving the Past Behind (Repost)

[flipsix3]

08 December 2004

Just read all of this and it is a lovely piece of writing. No wonder other people were glad to see you "back" as your story-telling ability is of a high quality, flipsix3. KUTGW

Cheers Spav, the story-telling part of this little hobby has always been as important to me as the game itself and I'm glad others get a kick out of it too

[flipsix3]

Ed had put the dream behind him, along with the wanderings of his mind. It was only natural that she would come walking out of his memories on occasion, they’d been together for long enough. Anyway, he had football to concentrate on – and he was still hoping to add another body to his midfield.

He’d asked the players to re-convene in midweek, ahead of the return to league action, the first one he saw was Matthieu Aernoudt. The injured midfielder, who had come in to do some light Physio work, appeared at Ed’s office door saying that he needed to discuss his position. The youngster, who was well known as a key part of the team (when fit), suggested to Ed that he had been thinking about his future and was unsure about where he stood – as such he had decided that he wanted to be put on the transfer list. This shocked Ed, and confused him a little too. He closed the door and told Aernoudt to take a seat.

An hour later a slightly happier looking Aernoudt, and a much happier looking Ed emerged from the office, the former with a new contract, the latter just relieved to have averted a minor crisis.

-----

Having returned refreshed from his break, in confident mood, Ed had found himself right back on the turbulent track after just one game. Admittedly that game was a magnificent Cup win over Brest, a team riding high in the Second Division, but once again the fallout from the game had been a concern. Kangu injured and out for a fortnight, Adjamossi facing a suspension, but for once he’d managed to put those concerns second – it had been his private New Year’s resolution to himself – stop worrying about every little thing!

…of course that might be easier said than done, but while things were going well Ed was confident that he could keep things in perspective – and he couldn’t have asked for things to go much better when Wasquehal came to visit. Despite their lowly league position the visitors had put together three wins on the bounce, Stéphane Millereau put paid to that run with three goals and a near-perfect performance.

After the game Ed had asked Khalifa Ba to come into his office, he’d been informed that the defender’s Marseille contract was running out and he wanted to feel him out to see if he could be tempted with a move in return for regular football. Ba was positive, he was certainly interested if Ed could come up with more than his initial offer in terms of basic wage. Ed thought that he had a good chance, he had plenty in reserve and he was keen to snap up Ba on a permanent basis.

The drive home that evening was particularly pleasant, and after a meal in a local café, Ed enjoyed one of the best night’s sleep he’d had in some weeks.

[flipsix3]

08 December 2004

Having just caught up on this myself, may I say

Fantastic read, really enjoying the style, KUTGW!

09 December 2004

as above and so forth. Great stuff - even if Mr. Allen seems a little miserable for someone doing so well in he league and the cup Keep the mind off Sonja

and also, having been to Pau a few times I agree it's a beautiful region in the South - magnificent views, lovely people too and plenty to do esp winter activities.

Cheers both, and I know what you mean Bri, he can be a right sullen git at times!

[flipsix3]

Ed breathed a sigh of relief and a large one at that, he hadn’t realised that he’d been holding his breath for large periods of time, waiting for the final whistle. After a flying start at Cherbourg, that had seen Bindi and Kangu netting their first Pau goals inside the opening quarter of an hour, the second half had looked like being a breeze. Two goals in 10 minutes had changed all that, even with Tchami’s eventual winner having come straight from the kick-off after the first it had turned into a fraught affair.

The win maintained their second position, although things were tight with three clubs all on 47 points. Ed had to mentally shake himself once again, and remind himself that pre-season predictions would have seen them twenty-odd points away at the foot of the table. The arrival of Bindi had certainly had an impact, with midfield now regularly comprised of a trio that looked comfortable playing together – with the full squad available again (apart from Aernoudt) confidence among the players was high and that carried over to the pitch.

He had hoped to see that confidence, and their on-pitch performances, finally convince Ba to sign on for a permanent move in the summer but things were beginning to look doubtful, three times he had improved his offer until he had tabled a contract that would double the youngsters Marseille wages, but he was still suggesting that the parties were “very close, but not there yet”. The day after the Cherbourg trip Ed made his final offer.

-----

Pau signed off the month in devastating form, the win over Croix de Savoie was narrow in the end, but there was a gulf in creativity. That gulf was more clearly shown in the final game, and the one that brought Ed the most pleasure so far. After the farce of the three penalties when Nîmes had visited Pau, justice was done with ‘Les Crocodiles’ being torn apart on their home turf.

Everything was coming up roses at Pau, with a single exception – after something like six meetings Ed had finally admitted that he had to give up on trying to lure Khalifa Ba into signing a permanent deal.

[flipsix3]

Originally posted 09 December 2004

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Today's monthly update is dedicated to the late 'Dimebag' Darrel Abbott - rest in peace

JANUARY 2005 SUMMARY

Brest 0

Pau 2 (Labat 40, Millereau 77)

French Cup

Man of the Match: Tchami (Pau)

Pau 3 (Millereau 14, 74, 81)

Wasquehal 0

Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)

Cherbourg 2 (Pedros 62, Richer pen 69)

Pau 3 (Bindi 7, Kangu 15, Tchami 64)

Man of the Match: Cami (Pau)

Pau 1 (Bédani pen 78)

Croix de Savoie 0

Man of the Match: Bindi (Pau)

News: Bochu (Savoie) sent off 87

Nîmes 1 (Verschave pen 86)

Pau 3 (Millereau 34, 74, Cami 46)

Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)

News: Where’s your pet Ref now eh?!

[flipsix3]

One thing Ed could say, no matter how well things were going he was getting sick of the sight of the inside of coaches. At the level Pau were playing, and the money it generated, there was no chance of flying the team everywhere – and France is a big country when it comes to road travel.

For the second time in a matter of weeks he loaded his team onto the bus for the trip all the way up to Cherbourg – this time in the Cup – and the home team were sure to be looking to avenge their recent 3-2 defeat.

Ed had to hand it to his squad, week in and week out they would load into a coach on Friday morning, travel all day, then get up on the Saturday and play out of their skins before climbing back on the bus for the trip home. Once again the players put the journey behind them and matched the home team chance for chance, eventually progressing with a duplication of the league result.

The win put them on a run of six unbeaten games but, more importantly, it gave them a great occasion for the fans, the draw for the next round would eventually serve up a home clash against top-flight opposition – Auxerre

[flipsix3]

10 December 2004

Quality is all I can say. I was thinking of ripping off this story (changing the characters and locale) and calling it my own...

What do you think...

"One thing Fred could say, no matter how well things were going he was getting sick of the sight of the inside of coaches. At the level Como were playing, and the money it generated, there was no chance of flying the team everywhere – and Italy is a big country when it comes to road travel."

Sounds like you're onto a winner to me, although maybe your alter-ego at Como ought to be Perry?

...thanks for the glowing endorsement by the way

Mao, another great - gone but not forgotten. flipsix3 July 2008

[flipsix3]

“Boss, good news for you” Marcel Lassus, the chief Physio, caught up with Ed in a corridor.

“What is it Marcel?”

“Matthieu’s training. Don’t get too excited, he’ll be a few weeks yet, but he’s looking good to make a full recovery – I think three, maybe four weeks and you can get him playing for the reserves”

That really was good news, and Ed’s good mood was lifted further – Aernoudt had been the model professional when it came to handling his injury. He’d taken heed of the relevant medical advice and made sure that he’d kept up with the obviously very painful physiotherapy sessions. Ed made a mental note to drop in on the youngster at the gym after first-team training – for now the mid-week league clash was the matter at hand.

-----

Djamel Mahamat Bindi had been brought in partly in response to Aernoudt’s injury and he’d settled in just fine as far as Ed was concerned. His performance in the game against Cannes, however, was his best by far and was one of those occasions that Ed really loved about management.

The midfielder could do no wrong as the team from tinsel town were sent packing, his movement off the ball was confident, his tackling sensational, and he laid on two of the three goals that Pau slotted away in another impressive win. So impressed was Ed, in fact, that he decided that it was time to do something he’d resisted doing so far, and talk to the press. He made it clear to the local sports correspondent that he was delighted with Bindi’s performance, and that he was happy that he finally had a consistently solid midfield to work with. The journalist obviously took the manager’s opening up as a signal that he might try to get a bit of an exclusive, and he pushed for Ed’s thoughts on the growing feeling that Pau could push for promotion. Ed, however, didn’t want to be drawn – there run of wins now had them level with Nîmes at the top of the table, but it was still tight and despite the confidence all round, he couldn’t believe that they weren’t due a poor run – it would only take two or three defeats to drop them down the table several places.

[flipsix3]

The trip to Tours was exactly the sort of game that had Ed resisting comment on his team’s form. The third placed side, despite two defeats, were only a couple of points below Pau and the wrong outcome would see their hosts bounce back to top spot. He was without Labat for the match, the fullback had missed only one game in the season so far, a Cup tie, but a couple of bookings ruled him out and Khalifa Ba was asked to cover.

Tours were obviously keen to regain their high position and they started the game at an incredible pace. Inside 90 seconds they had the ball in the net, but Pau were rescued by the offside flag – it was a taster of things to come though. Ba, a fine central defender, clearly struggled on the flanks and was exposed on a handful of occasions, letting Tours in for their opener.

Ed tinkered and toyed, made changes, gave instructions, but it was to no avail – the home side took the game by the scruff of the neck and were still attacking when the final whistle blew. Defeat left Pau in third place, more importantly it now meant that 2nd to 5th places were separated by goal difference alone. In fact, with just nine games remaining in the season, 14 points covered the entire top 8 in the table – the run in was going to be tight and, for the first time, Ed dared to speculate (to himself) that promotion might not be out of the question.

[flipsix3]

The change to the Champions League, turning the latter stages into straight knockout, was one of the better things that UEFA had done in recent years as far as Ed was concerned. His counterparts in England probably disagreed though, four clubs had progressed into the knockout stages and Ed sat down to spend a quiet evening at home watching them in action – it was easy to do, Liverpool had drawn Chelsea and Man United were playing host to Arsenal. That, he was sure, was not meant to happen in the first round but who was he to question UEFA? It was fair to say however, that it was probably not the most popular knockout draw in the history of any of the teams involved*.

Liverpool, struggling in a lowly 9th place in the Premiership, held leaders Chelsea to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their clash. Following recent league results that was probably a scoreline that Rafa Benitez would take as positive, and something to build on.

Arsenal had no such problems in finding the net though – also struggling with league form, and sitting 7th, they silenced Old Trafford with two Thierry Henry goals inside the opening 10 minutes of the game. Scholes pulled one back for United before the home side sounded the charge but Jens Lehmann, so often criticised, played a blinder and helped the Gunners to a vital advantage for the return leg.

*(Writer’s Note: I try and avoid pointing out bugs but that draw was too good not to comment on.)

-----

The next morning Ed was in his office running over some paperwork, and having a look through Robin’s scouting report for their next opposition, as he poured over the details he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Come in”

The door opened and Matthieu Aernoudt limped in.

“Matt, take a seat, how’s the training coming along?”

“It’s going very well thank you” the midfielder looked nervous “I think I’ll be up to full training in a few weeks, that’s why I need to talk to you”

“OK” Ed leaned back in his chair “go on…”

“I want a transfer”

That was the last thing that he’d been expecting, after all he’d just arranged a new contract for Aernoudt a few weeks ago, a fact that he reminded the youngster of.

“I know, I’m sorry, I’m just not sure where my future lies – the team are doing very well without me and…”

Ed cut him off mid-sentence “Matt, I’ve already told you, you’re a first team starter – guaranteed – get back to full fitness and you’re in the starting line-up, you have my word on that”

“I know, and I appreciate that, but I still want to go on the transfer list”

“Why Matthieu?” Ed was genuinely worried now

“I… erm… because… look, I’m sorry, I just want to have options. Will you put me on the transfer list?”

Ed closed his eyes and thought about things for a moment

“Monsieur Allen…?”

”I’m sorry Matthieu, no – I won’t do that – now you go and carry on your training, Get fit, get back in the team. We’ll talk again when you’ve played a few games, maybe in the summer”

Aernoudt left without comment, he didn’t appear angry, but he said nothing more. Ed sat and watched him go – something had sparked this, but for the life of him he couldn’t tell what it was.

[flipsix3]

FEBRUARY 2005 SUMMARY

Cherbourg 2 (Moukouri 45, Mazurier 89)

Pau 3 (Bédani pen 30, Tchami 35, Bonnel 70)

French Cup

Man of the Match: Cami (Pau)

Pau 3 (Tchami 10, Cami 38, Millereau 54)

Cannes 1 (Sissoko 79)

Man of the Match: Bindi (Pau)

Tours 2 (Machado 19, Milazzo 64)

Pau 0

Man of the Match: Milazzo (Tours)

[flipsix3]

The game was being billed as a ‘must win’ for Robert Buigues, the manager of Racing 92 – a little harsh in Ed’s opinion as the visitors had, like Pau, been tagged as relegation fodder at the start of the season and were in a relatively healthy 15th place. Even as a player he’d felt that too often it was the manager who took the fall when things weren’t going well, often seemingly nothing more than a scapegoat. He glanced across to the Racing bench when Tchami won a penalty, and the look etched on Buigues’ face said that he genuinely was concerned for his job.

Bédani tucked the spot-kick away well, and a second half strike from Tchami sealed the win, and the Racing manager’s fate as it transpired. Ed was sympathetic, but he had bigger matters of his own to deal with – not that he could have done a great deal to make Buigues feel any better. Whilst many managers might not agree with the idea of being the first in the firing line, it was an unwritten rule that they all accepted it.

Ed’s attention turned quickly to the imminent Cup tie, so far they’d had it quite easy, even Second Division opposition hadn’t put up much of a fight, but he didn’t expect to be able to say the same of Auxerre.

-----

“OK lads gather round, come on Bert you too…… OK it’s the Auxerre game tomorrow. I’m not going to tell you that we can win this, we can of course but it’s hardly likely at it’s definitely not our expectation – there will be no shame in getting beaten by First Division opposition, only if we get beaten badly.” Ed waited for the murmurs to die down “OK I’ve thought long and hard about this, I’ve been trying not to talk about the subject but it seems that now is as good a time as any to bring it up…”

The murmuring grew again, there were a few nervous glances exchanged among the players

“…OK quite down lads, don’t get worked up. What I’m talking about is promotion – at the start of the season the press expected us to go down, the fans expected us to go down, hell even the Board asked me to fight to keep us up, but we’re nearly at the end of the season and we’re in the running for a promotion spot – there are several people responsible for that. In fact, by my calculation, there are about twenty or so of you. Yes we’ve coached you, we’ve asked you to try and play a certain way, but it’s you lot out on the pitch who have confounded all the predictions.

Now tomorrow is a great opportunity for you, all of you who play, to learn plenty. If we do go up, and I’ll still stress the if until it’s decided one way or another, the level of play is going up a notch too – I’m not suggesting that everyone we play will be as good as Auxerre, but they’ll all be striving to be that good. I can’t escape the fact that, if we’re playing Division Two football next season, then the chances are that some of you won’t be here, tomorrow is your chance to learn what will be required to survive at the next level.

I want you all to go home, get a good night’s sleep – you have nothing to worry about, nothing to lose, and certainly nothing to fear. When you play tomorrow you play for the occasion, for the enjoyment, and most of all you play to learn. Now get out of here, go on.”

Ed patted each of them on the shoulder as they left, exchanging a few words with one or two. Despite the opposition this was far from the biggest game they would play this season, and he just wanted them to make the most of the chance before the real hard work started.

[flipsix3]

14 December 2004

Damn, this is good. Wasted almost an hour of my bosses time to read this.

I'm actually pretty jelous too. I tried to write a CM03/04 story last year, but it was crap. Stopped it after three or four posts. Might try to do one again now.

Keep it up...

Thanks Meervogel, but I hope you don't make a habit of it - wouldn't want you getting the sack over FMS

[flipsix3]

Ed hadn’t been joking about expectations, and he’d been pleased to see the players looking relatively at ease when they’d arrived for the pre-match sessions – in fact, if anything, it was he who was experiencing nerves more than anyone. He’d told himself time and again to calm down and, eventually, had managed to get himself down to ‘only’ frantic when the game kicked off.

It wasn’t a game that he could exactly describe as pleasant, the Auxerre players wee clearly up for it and they tore into Pau with ferocity from the opening whistle. Captain for the day, Jacques Leglib, put in the sort of performance that can make a reputation and though he’d tried to keep calm Ed changed his plan with 10 minutes to play. Somehow it was still 0-0, Leglib was easily in the running for Man of the Match, and the ball came out for a Pau throw-in near to the dugout. Ed grabbed the ball and held it out for Cami – rapidly giving him some instructions

”OK we go for it, I want everyone pushing up when we get the ball, I want their defence pushed back, if we can grab a goal now we’re through”

He was careful not to imply undue pressure, if they managed it then it would be against the run of play, and beyond anything they could have hoped for, but the player in Ed – the player who had collected two runner-up medals in the League Cup – was coming to the fore.

The goal didn’t come, but the sudden application of an attacking mindset caused Auxerre to back off and the match was forced into extra time. In the brief break Ed restored the previous match strategy, pressure their midfield, don’t push too far out of defence, and try and catch them on the break ”…if we’re lucky we might be able to take this to penalties” he told them, but he knew that the First Division side’s fitness ought to give them the edge.

The first period came and went, the second got under way, and still the chances for Pau were few but Ed had saved one substitution and he used it, throwing on Gaël Bonnel for the last 15 minutes, if someone could put him through then he certainly had the pace to give anyone a run for their money – certainly anyone who’d played over 100 minutes of this match already.

With a little over 5 minutes remaining Ed was on his feet, pacing the line, it was going to penalties and he had no idea who he was going to pick – it would have to be on volunteers he decided. Bédani lobbed a hopeful ball forward but Fabien Cool dealt with it easily, launching his clearance well over the half-way line. Kangu got to the keeper’s ball first and nodded it back to Bédani on the centre spot – Bédani flicked it on to Cami and the playmaker spotted Tchami’s run into the box. His pass was perfect, bypassing the onrushing defender, and the striker picked up the ball on the edge of the area, he fired in a low shot… Cool threw himself at it and parried, the ball broke towards the corner of the area and Cami had carried on his run. Cool had to make a quick decision…

Auxerre would, of course, have done their homework – Cami was obviously one of the better players on the team and his confidence would be high with the season that he’d been instrumental in so far. Cool made his decision, Cami was the threat, and the keeper had to close him down.

…Cami saw the keeper coming, and saw Bonnel peeling off to the far post, his chip was delightful and the teenager threw himself at the ball, burying it with a powerful header.

The crowd were ecstatic, the referee had to pull apart the Pau celebration and force the restart of the game. Ed was terrified, not for himself but for the heartbreak that could be waiting for his players. Auxerre threw everything into the last moments of the game, Cool came up for a corner but Yann Lachuer, the Auxerre skipper, volleyed it straight at Leglib and the keeper immediately booted it downfield in the hope that someone might get to it before the back-pedalling defence.

The minutes seemed to stretch on for hours, Ed felt like he was watching the game frame-by-frame on recording (Writer’s note: damn the extra-time second half bug!) but finally Bruno Coué raised his whistle and signalled that Pau would be going into the draw for the quarter finals.

[flipsix3]

Along with Pau, Angoulême were the only other team from outside the top-flight to have reached the last eight of the Cup. For the amateurs it would be an even bigger occasion than for Ed’s lads and he was torn as to whether he wanted them in the draw or not. He sat and watched as the French FA’s special guest, one Jean Tigana, got the draw under way.

He didn’t have to wait long, Paris St Germain were first out, playing host to Strasbourg, and the third ball out of the bag was Pau’s – they had a home tie and five teams from whom their opposition could come…

…it was Metz, firmly embedded in mid table and without a win in the last month, on paper it wasn’t too bad a draw – certainly no worse than Auxerre had been – but the match would come right in the middle of the league run-in.

Hopefully, one way or another, the league campaign will be all over by then he thought as he dialled Freddy Robin’s mobile number – he wanted Metz watching, suddenly the Cup run wasn’t the unimportant diversion that it had been a couple of days ago.

-----

Ed had expected a ‘hangover’ after the Cup match, especially with the extra time that his team had played, but Bindi’s 3rd minute goal had him re-thinking. Their pace did drop though, and Sannois SG battled themselves back in front, taking control of the game until the introduction of Testas. The youngster, who hadn’t played in midweek, caused the home defence problems, winning the penalty that delivered the equaliser, and giving them at least one player to worry about when the rest of the team started to fade.

What was more, with Nîmes and Sète both losing, Ed saw his team go top with seven to play.

[flipsix3]

16 December 2004

Top of the table, eh? Best of luck for promotion for Pau. KUTGW

Yeah, just a shame that pre-patch I couldn't produce regular table updates as is my usual style. Cheers for the support, I know the boys appreciate it

16 December 2004

Originally posted by Meervogel Col:

Damn, this is good. Wasted almost an hour of my bosses time to read this.

I'm actually pretty jelous too. I tried to write a CM03/04 story last year, but it was crap. Stopped it after three or four posts. Might try to do one again now.

Keep it up...

Of course it's good - it comes from the 2003 Writer of the Year, and a strong contender to re-peat this year I think

I'd be a bit surprised to be in the running this year as this is about all I've done - but still it's nice to know my writing finds an appreciative audience

[flipsix3]

Clubs were being relegated already, Royes and Raon-l’Etape were both a massive 16 points adrift with seven games left in the league schedule. Ed pinned the league table to the notice board in the changing rooms and circled the bottom four or five clubs. He added, in marker pen, a little note for his players

Whatever happens in the next few weeks, remember that this is where everyone expected us to be. Well done!!

It was only a gesture, just one more little thing to keep the confidence reserves topped up. He had to admit that, with things being so far from where he’d expected, he hadn’t received any inspirational thoughts, all he could do was to keep urging his players to maintain their self belief.

They seemed to take heed, although the visit of Bayonne hardly provided a sparkling game for the casual spectator a second-half goal from Bonnel (in for an inured Millereau) kept them in top spot.

[flipsix3]

MARCH 2005 SUMMARY

Pau 2 (Bédani pen 39, Tchami 67)

Racing 92 0

Man of the Match: Leglib (Pau)

Pau 1 (Bonnel 113)

Auxerre 0

French Cup

Man of the Match: Leglib (Pau)

Sannois SG 2 (Liri pen 14, Poinçon 28)

Pau 2 (Bindi 3, Bédani pen 57)

Man of the Match: Raboteur (Sannois)

Pau 1 (Bonnel 50)

Bayonne 0

Man of the Match: Ba (Pau)

[flipsix3]

16 December 2004

It's quality not quantity flip

Well I don't suppose I can argue with that statement at least

[flipsix3]

Things were still extremely tight at the top of the table, so tight that a disappointing defeat at Besançon dropped them to 3rd place, with the next two sides within a point of them. It wasn’t the defeat that was disappointing as much as the manner of it. Pau had stepped up a gear from the Bayonne game, they’d gone hunting for goals and Millereau had struck early to give them the lead.

They’d defended the lead until the final whistle was in sight, smothering the home side’s attacks and getting the ball up to the front two, but a momentary lapse saw them pulled back and in the ensuing confusion, and attempts to reorganise, the home side pounced to steal the points – less than 2 minutes from winners to losers.

Ed had a real problem on his hands now as well, Aernoudt was declared fully fit but he was still insistent that he wanted to leave the club – still he could (or would) only say that he was unsure of his role at the club. Ed had tried hard to make it crystal clear, maybe there was a language barrier but he couldn’t imagine it. His view was simple, Aernoudt was first team – simple as that – but Ed couldn’t play him with a broken leg! He made it his priority to give the midfielder pitch time in every remaining game.

-----

With the end of the season approaching fast things were in the balance for all of the teams in Ed’s life. Huddersfield were in the relegation spots but, with four games to play, they had ample opportunity to escape it if, and it was a big if, they could notch a win or two. Spurs were in the running for Europe, although mainly thanks to the financial mismanagement at Everton – the Toffees, deducted 9 points after going into administration, were enjoying a hell of a season and should have been in 5th rather than the 8th spot they occupied.

In France Bordeaux were having a mixed season, but a couple of wins for them could deliver a potential top three finish, and then of course, there was Pau. Having allowed themselves to be caught on the break early on, they fought back against GFCO Ajaccio but could only manage another draw in front of their home crowd.

The point wasn’t enough to keep them in the top three and suddenly, with four to play, it was looking like the season was going to be a month too long.

[flipsix3]

Ed woke late on Tuesday morning, it had been a long day training on Monday and he’d made sure that he got involved – he wanted the team to know that the whole club was pulling the same way so he’d rolled his sleeves up and got stuck in on the practise pitch.

Grabbing a quick shower he got into the car and drove down to Pau, listening to an old ‘mix’ CD and enjoying the spring sunshine. He arrived later than he would have liked, but still in time for training. When he walked through the doors he found the whole coaching and playing staff congregated around the TV.

“OK lads, come on, we’ve got work to do, no time for television, we’ve got a Cup game coming up”

Brahim Naïmi turned to Ed and laughed “You’ve not heard have you? Here, watch this” and the assistant stepped aside, giving him a seat in front of the set. The face on the screen looked familiar, but it took him a moment to place it

…cannot overlook the fantastic few seasons that we’ve had, but the time has come for us to make a change…

then the face clicked, it was the English that did it, with the French subtitles, it was David Gill – chairman of Manchester United. It couldn’t be, could it…?

…it’s not been a good season for us and the hope is that a new face can shake things up a bit, maybe even grab us a Champion’s League spot. Everyone involved with the club, of course, extends their eternal gratitude to Sir Alex but it’s by mutual consent that we’ve decided to look for a new manager…

Ed couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he had to admit that he’d envisaged Ferguson staying at Old Trafford until he retired (or dropped dead) but with United in 5th place Gill and the board had obviously decided that enough was enough. The timing was wrong though, that’s what struck him, with six games to go you see out the season, surely? Then if it doesn’t happen, you find someone new in the summer. He looked at the table again, and began to wonder if Arsene Wenger might be next!

-----

Eventually he did get people out onto the practise pitch, and the training went well. The quarter final of the Cup was upon them but suddenly, with the league situation, it was back to being nothing more than a distraction.

Ed gave Aernoudt the start against Metz, he’d looked sharper than expected in the 20 minutes he’d played at the weekend and the Cup seemed the ideal opportunity to test his match fitness.

For a while it looked like the dream was going on, Ed had often heard to managers referring to the incredible with the tried and tested “Oh he’s done that in training a hundred times” – well he could safely say that Nicolas Cami had never lashed home a dipping, swerving, shot from thirty-odd yards in training – but he did exactly that 15 minutes into the Cup tie. Like Auxerre in the previous round, Metz set about the Pau goal looking for vengeance but, again, Leglib was in superb form and they came within 2 minutes of securing a place in the semi-finals before Lamouchi threaded home a side-footed shot from the tightest of angles.

It was devastating for Ed’s men, but what bothered him more was the 30 minutes of extra time that they faced at such a crucial point in the season. Metz made sure that there would be no more giant killing for the National League upstarts, with a finely crafted goal, and when Anthony Gardan received his second yellow the fight was done for Pau. The Cup run wasn’t without reward though, a healthy cheque banked courtesy of the French FA, and Ed went home to work out how to play out the season.

[flipsix3]

18 December 2004

I think this may be the first time I've posted on this forum, but I think this excellent story, nay, experience deserves a few words. I love it, I really do. I frequently read these FM Diaries and rarely do I come across something that captures my interest in the way that this has. From the drama of Auxerre in the cup to the general building of the Edgar Allen character, if there's another writer more worthy of an award I have yet to read his work. Keep it up!

Thanks very much SP, knowing that someone is really enjoying not just the results, but also the narrative, makes putting the work into something like this even more enjoyable

[flipsix3]

The general feeling from the coaching staff was that Pau needed to control midfield more – at the moment they were feeding the ball through quickly and losing it too easily. Ed decided to tinker a little – Aernoudt was defensively minded and, with Bédani, would make a good holding pair – he decided to use the two of them to hold the ball up and have Cami operate in the more adventurous role. It meant one less supply line, but hopefully more possession.

He was conscious that it might not be the best time to be making changes, but it was hardly a revolution in Pau’s playing style and he decided to stick it out. Rouen would be the first team to face the new setup, and their poor league form had Ed hoping for a push back into the promotion spots.

Cami revelled in his new role as free-moving playmaker, time and again he split the defence with a telling pass or mazy run, and that home defence had to resort to desperate measures to try and stop the Pau front line – Millereau, in particular, showed a speed of both body and thought that had his marker in a panic from early on, and that won him the first of two penalties to deliver the points.

Ed felt a moment of sympathy his Rouen counterpart, early in the season he had berated the referee who awarded their opponents three spot-kicks, now he was grateful for Monsieur Ennjimi’s disciplinarian approach.

With three to play Pau were back into the promotion spots thanks to goal difference alone, and the crunch games were coming up fast.

[flipsix3]

APRIL 2005 SUMMARY

Besançon 2 (Barro 83, Agouazi 84)

Pau 1 (Millereau 4)

Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)

Pau 1 (Tchami 33)

GFCO Ajaccio 1 (Féron 30)

Man of the Match: Bindi (Pau)

Pau 1 (Cami 15)

Metz 2 (Lamouchi 89, Renouard 105)

French Cup Qtr Final

Man of the Match: Leglib (Pau)

News: Gardan (Pau) sent off 120 mins

Rouen 0

Pau 2 (Bédani pen 29, pen 75)

Man of the Match: Cami (Pau)

News: Macalou (Rouen) sent off 74

[flipsix3]

A quick flick through the papers, as he arrived at the ground, told Ed that Steve Bruce had taken over at Old Trafford – it was an interesting appointment, and he wasn’t too surprised – Bruce obviously knew the club but Ed wasn’t convinced that the big man was the right one for the big stage – only time would tell of course.

Following the Rouen result things had shown all the signs that Ed had hoped for in training, the performance of the midfield had been stellar and he’d worried that it might have been one of those ‘one off’ occasions – where a change just confused the opposition. On the practise pitch though, Cami continued to show an enthusiasm for his new role as lynchpin. With the visit of Sète – the table toppers – coming up fast he’d decided that their next match was the decider, get something and they’d be up, get beaten and the chances were that the promotion push would be over.

There was just one problem with that… with Tchami, Ba, Bédani and Gardan all suspended, and Bonnel injured, he was back into the realms of forced line-ups. It didn’t seem to matter though, Cami was relishing his freedom in the middle of the park, and he’d got wind of the fact that the press were tipping him for all sorts of National Division awards – clearly he wanted them. Either side of half time the playmaker blasted the ball into the net from the edge of the area, and he kept laying on delightful passes from all angles, eventually setting up Sartolou for Pau’s third. For a team at the top of the table Sète found themselves humbled and they simply couldn’t produce a result.

If Ed had expected it to be all over though, he was wrong. Rarely in his playing days had he seen a table so tight, so late in the season – five teams were separated by just two points and in a weeks time the schedule would include 3rd vs. 4th, and 5th vs. 6th. He had to accept that the league was going right down to the wire.

[flipsix3]

“Ah, come on in Monsieur Allen” Jacques Le Coadou ushered Ed into his office, he looked a worried man “thank you for taking the time out to see me, obviously things are very busy for you at the moment”

Ed didn’t want to contradict the chairman, but as far as he was concerned things were far from busy, his work for the season was all but done. The team were well trained, they knew what lay ahead, and if things went their way then promotion was looming large. If not, then no-one would be too concerned in the long run.

Of course, after the season they’d put together, there would be a feeling of disappointment but the summer would see them back in training for the new season, and they’d have a great story to look back on. Nobody that Ed had spoken to had ever expressed a view that promotion was a genuine expectation.

“What can I do for you sir?” he asked

“Please Edgar, when we’re alone it’s Jacques, as for what you can do for me – probably very little. I just needed you to know that I’m worried Edgar, things are moving too fast. What if we get promoted? We can’t cope”

Well, this was certainly a turn-up, a chairman worried that his club was doing too well, a chairman who, it seemed, feared promotion.

“What we do Jacques is we enjoy the challenge, we play our best and the players gain experience from it. Some will go on to bigger and better things as a result, some will just have great memories, something to tell their grandchildren about”

“But can we afford it? What about the squad? We’ll have to turn professional, go full time, you’ll need to buy players, we’ll…”

Ed held up his hand to cut him off. What he was saying was nothing new, the manager couldn’t deny that he’d had similar thoughts in the quieter moments, but he’d decided not to let such things worry him too much, at least not just yet.

“Well firstly I think that with a couple of signings we could have a team that wouldn’t embarrass themselves in the Second Division. Secondly there are players who know that they won’t make it as professionals, if we get promoted then it’ll be down to me and my staff to manage those issues. The main thing is this, we’re still saying ‘if’ – we have two games to play and we could still finish fifth”

The chairman thought about this for a moment and nodded to himself, lost in thought.

-----

Ed was secretly please, the chairman was more worried about promotion than he was, if they managed to play their way into the Second Division (and on the back of the last two games he reckoned the chances were better than even) then there would be even less pressure on him than there had been this season.

[flipsix3]

20 December 2004

I'll just have to join the chorus... excellent story, flip!

Cheers 'Nana, as always the feedback is appreciated

Going into the penultimate weekend the managers of Nîmes and Sète were at eachother’s throats in the Press, each claiming imminent victory for their side and an end of promotion hopes for the other.

Thankfully for Ed there were no such mind games being played and he simply worked with the players to ensure that they maintained their focus.

Libourne St-Seurin were bogged down in mid-table, nothing to win and nothing to lose, but they were stubborn opposition for much of the first half and Ed began to wonder if the breakthrough was going to come. It did, eventually, and it came in some style. There was a little over an hour on the clock when Pau won a throw-in deep in enemy territory, Cami received the ball and touched it straight back to Adjamossi before breaking for the box – he threw his arm into the air and gave the call but the defender had other ideas. Kangu was lurking unmarked on the edge of the box, he trapped the ball, turned, and rifled it into the top left corner. The home fans erupted, glory was within touching distance, and they urged their side on. The points were secure, any but the most ardent Libourne fan could see that, and the late penalty that Bédani slotted away wasn’t needed – Ed actually felt a moment of sympathy for the offending defender.

The team quickly made their way to the changing rooms, but the cheers of the fans left them in little doubt of the situation. Ed checked the scores from around the league and confirmed the news – Pau, his Pau, had won promotion to the Second Division. The players raced back out onto the pitch whilst Ed took a moment to sit and think.

For a minute or two there was a feeling of great relief, his first season – though not quite over – was a success and once the final game was out of the way (the title decider, he reminded himself) he could take a couple of weeks of to relax.

That feeling didn’t last long as the reality hit him, although he would like nothing more than to take the entire squad up to the next level, the harsh reality was that not all of them were capable of holding their own – and it was down to him to make the decisions, to make or break their careers, and to break the news himself.

The period of rebuilding had to begin, and that would mean pouring over pages of notes and contracts – so much for the holiday idea.

[flipsix3]

When he got home the light on his answerphone was flashing insistently, he tapped the button and found that he had half a dozen or so messages waiting for him. All were of congratulations - a couple of former colleagues from Bordeaux, friends from back home, and - most touchingly - from Marc Lévy and his wife, Emily. He didn’t listen to the rest, first he had to ring Marc and talk to him.

The former manager was in fine spirits, delighted for Ed and the team obviously, and pleased to let his successor know that Emily was battling hard. It wasn’t easy, there were days, he said, when she would sit and quietly cry for hours, but for the most part she was a fighter and the specialists were giving her a better-than fifty percent chance of recovery.

That was great news for Ed, it meant more to him than Pau’s promotion – after all this was someone’s life they were talking about. After talking for more than an hour Ed thanked his former boss again, and hung up the phone. He punched the button on the answerphone again, there was one last message, it was his Dad

‘Good work son, well done, I’ll try you again later and see if you’re in. Oh by the way, seen the Premiership yet?’

He hadn’t, he walked into the lounge and turned on his laptop – a couple of minutes later he sat at the screen in disbelief. After 38 games, and with a hard charging Arsenal finishing just a single point behind them, Aston Villa had taken the League title for the first time in 24 years. He dug deeper on the website, extracting the always-enthralling last day stories.

Arsenal, knowing that only a win would give them a chance, had played host to Newcastle and thrashed them by a 5-0 margin – it hadn’t been enough. Spurs had beaten, and relegated, Blackburn Rovers only to be pipped to 5th place on goal difference by Steve Bruce’s United – and Bolton Wanderers had gone to St Andrews and secured Premiership survival in the 86th minute, thanks to Kevin Davies.

Huddersfield were down, he discovered, a bitter blow to the Allen family – but each week he’d found the English game becoming less of an important matter to him, and more a thing of passing interest. What he needed now was a beer, a bath, and bed – it was ‘only’ 10pm and he was – as Dad would say – cream crackered.

[flipsix3]

On paper their last game of the season couldn’t have been easier, Raon-l’Etape were long gone into the basement levels of French football with a points tally of just 14 from a possible 111, and a goal deficit of some fifty or more. Their hosts may have been down, but they were by no means out and they played with pride and determination – sensing the opportunity to crash Pau’s potential title party.

Ed was confident that the breakthrough was coming though, but he would never have predicted the source – Khalifa Ba heading in Di Bartolomeo’s cross on the hour. After that it was easy, Millereau grabbed a poacher’s strike before Raon’s Mickaël Boissenin talked himself into the book – not a good idea when he’d already been cautioned. Millereau signed off the way he’d started the season, with a two goal haul, and Ed watched with pride as his players made a circuit of the pitch and applauded both sets of fans – as well as their opponents.

They’d been tipped for relegation but Ed had seen a tight-knit squad fight every inch of the way and, in defiance of the odds stacked against them, lift the National Division title. He couldn’t have been more proud than he was at that moment.

-----

Ed didn’t want to waste any time, the quicker he got started the less chance he had of missing out on anything vital – it was time to get on with strengthening the squad. He drove home late in the evening, having taken the time to meet with the Board. As he wound his way through the streets of the town he allowed himself a broad smile at the sight of crowds of Pau fans, and residents, celebrating in the streets.

[flipsix3]

MAY 2005 SUMMARY

Pau 3 (Cami 42, 55, Sartolou 71)

Sète 0

Man of the Match: Cami (Pau)

Pau 2 (Kangu 61, Bédani pen 66)

Libourne St-Seurin 0

Man of the Match: Bédani (Pau)

News: Mérabti (Libourne) sent off 76

Raon-l’Etape 0

Pau 3 (Ba 62, Millereau 70, 90+)

Man of the Match: Millereau (Pau)

News: Boissenin (Raon) sent off 90+

| Pos   | Inf   | Team               | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | C     | Pau                | 38    | 22    | 10    | 6     | 65    | 29    | +36   | 76    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | P     | Nîmes              | 38    | 22    | 8     | 8     | 71    | 36    | +35   | 74    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | P     | Valence            | 38    | 22    | 8     | 8     | 64    | 43    | +21   | 74    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Sète               | 38    | 21    | 9     | 8     | 71    | 44    | +27   | 72    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Tours              | 38    | 21    | 5     | 12    | 64    | 38    | +26   | 68    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Cherbourg          | 38    | 20    | 8     | 10    | 55    | 47    | +8    | 68    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Romorantin         | 38    | 18    | 8     | 12    | 61    | 49    | +12   | 62    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Besançon           | 38    | 16    | 10    | 12    | 72    | 54    | +18   | 58    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   |       | Libourne St-Seurin | 38    | 15    | 11    | 12    | 60    | 54    | +6    | 56    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | Wasquehal          | 38    | 15    | 9     | 14    | 58    | 60    | -2    | 54    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Sannois SG         | 38    | 16    | 6     | 16    | 65    | 63    | +2    | 54    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Cannes             | 38    | 15    | 8     | 15    | 63    | 53    | +10   | 53    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | Rouen              | 38    | 15    | 7     | 16    | 54    | 61    | -7    | 52    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Croix de Savoie    | 38    | 13    | 8     | 17    | 44    | 51    | -7    | 47    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Valenciennes       | 38    | 13    | 8     | 17    | 58    | 71    | -13   | 47    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Racing 92          | 38    | 12    | 8     | 18    | 49    | 59    | -10   | 44    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  | R     | GFCO Ajaccio       | 38    | 11    | 7     | 20    | 48    | 71    | -23   | 40    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  | R     | Bayonne            | 38    | 10    | 5     | 23    | 47    | 69    | -22   | 35    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 19th  | R     | Roye               | 38    | 4     | 4     | 30    | 39    | 99    | -60   | 16    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 20th  | R     | Raon-l'Etape       | 38    | 3     | 5     | 30    | 29    | 86    | -57   | 14    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[flipsix3]

There had been no celebration, no fanfares, in fact nothing at all when he’d taken the reins at the start of the season, and that was just the way Ed liked it. Now, with the manager facing the task of preparing for life in the professional leagues, sports writers from all over the south-west corner of the country were gathered for a press-conference. At first Ed had resisted the chairman’s idea but it made sense, he had to admit that – Monsieur Le Coadou had managed to get the various publications, and channels, to agree to keep interruptions to a minimum throughout the summer in return for access to the backroom staff for a couple of hours.

The chairman handled the opening statement and questions smoothly and professionally, he looked a world away from the nervous man that Ed had spoken with just a couple of weeks ago. That conceded Ed is why he is a successful businessman, and chairman of a football club.

Having accepted the opportunity that the future held for his club, Le Coadou no projected an air of confidence, of a man ready to grab that opportunity and make the most of it. No, he admitted, he didn’t expect another season of such success. Yes, he knew that work would be required and Pau would be a name appearing toward the bottom of next season’s table. Ed had to admire the man for his honesty, not once did he make rash promises, or doom-laden predictions, he simply told it how it was – Pau would take their place in the Second Division and make a damn good go of keeping it.

Now came the moment that Ed could’ve lived without, thanking those present for their patience the chairman handed to microphone to his manager. The questions were pretty standard fare, nothing from out of left field, and Ed did his best to answer them as honestly and openly as he could.

What were his thoughts on the season just passed?

I’m thrilled, obviously, and yes – a little surprised. Not by our commitment and hard work, but I can’t deny that we had our share of good fortune and results going our way.

What about the current squad?

Of course there will be departures, but not huge numbers and I’d be most surprised if any of the core team are not with us when the new campaign kicks off

Have you made any signings yet? Any names that we should look out for?

No new contracts have been offered as yet, I’m waiting until my scouting team get back to me. It’s early yet, I don’t have any target names but rest assured, as soon as anyone signs up then details will be released.

The questions went on for what felt like hours, but eventually Le Coadou called a halt to proceedings and allowed Ed to get back to his office and get on with the search.

[flipsix3]

22 December 2004

Finally a table I like to compare

23 December 2004

I think I may have figured out why I like this diary so much. Your writing style is similar to that of Danny Wallace, who wrote Join Me and co-worte Are You Dave Gorman?

In those books I loved reading about him and his girlfriend, and there are similarities between that and between Ed and his now ex-girlfriend.

Oh, and it's really good. Congratulations on promotion.

23 December 2004

Lovely stuff - a championship season brilliantly written up.

I hope that this continues for many more seasons to come. KUTGW

Cheers guys.

PM: I know what you mean about the table, the problem was that I'd played about 3 seasons before the patch - thankfully SI have now included the 'previous years' table feature so at least I can backtrack and give final positions for those seasons - in the future they will obvioulsy be more frequent

SP: I remember seeing a review of '....Dave Gorman' and thinking it looked like something worth reading - thanks for the reminder

Spav: Thanks a lot, and fear not for Monsiuer Allen has a good few seasons in him I think

[flipsix3]

The next day, as Ed was working through stage one of his strengthening and rebuilding plan – current contracts – there was a knock at his office door. Before he could answer his secretary (a new appointment – Monsieur Le Coadou insisted that he had to have one now that they were heading for Division 2) opened the door and came in, a huge smile spread across her face.

“You have seen the papers?”

Ed hadn’t and he told he so

“Ah then you do not know – look at this, we are famous!”

Famous was maybe too strong a word but Ed could forgive her that, she was young and enthusiastic and it was probably the first time that it had really sunk in that she was working for someone who would be attracting media attention. Sitting in one of the chairs opposite Ed she proceeded to read to him the pertinent details for the post-season awards:

French National Star Player of the Season: Nicolas Cami (Pau)

French National Most Promising Player: Nicolas Cami (Pau)

Manager of the Season: Edgar Allen (Pau)

French National Stars Team: Cami, Millereau and Bédani

The only are that had eluded them was in the top goal scorer category, but that was of little concern to Ed – he asked Catherine to cut out the article form the paper and arrange for it to be framed. Of course they would receive some small trophy, or similar, but to Ed the newspaper article meant a little more.

That done he went in search of his coaching staff, they needed to sit and discuss half a dozen names that Ed had put question marks next to on his contract list.

[flipsix3]

23 December 2004

I'll just throw my congratulations into the ring.

Great achievment; now all you have to do is consolidate.

Which I'm sure you have done

23 December 2004

Indeed well done on the title. I'll pretend I'm not more secretly pleased that Villa won the Premiership , and here's to future success in Pau, a town that until know I had only known for it's constant ability to go on strike every other day. Thank god for football

Cheers lads, and rest assured binny - I am somehwere further down the road than the posted story so far but nothing will be revealed until the time is right

[flipsix3]

Bédani, Labat and Bonnel all signed new contracts quickly, Ed had decided – at this stage – to only offer extensions to those players with a year remaining on their deals. For those with more he didn’t really see a need yet, they may be back in the National in 12 months time – he would review their deals in the winter break – the one exception being Cami, he wanted to get the playmaker’s contract signed as soon as possible. He was still waiting on Kangu and, more importantly, Jacques Leglib. The good news was that Monsieur Le Coadou had agreed to lift the salary budgets but, with only certain players being offered new deals at the moment, he was loathe to use such tactics unless absolutely necessary.

The period of negotiations also saw Ed try, once again, the temp Khalifa Ba into signing on a permanent basis – once again the Senegalese defender suggested that both parties were close to reaching a mutually agreeable deal, but he wouldn’t go as far as to say how big the gap was. Ed was growing impatient of the gamesmanship and made it clear that his latest offer was his last – he desperately wanted the teenager on board but there was only so far he was prepared to go.

One person was still giving Ed more worries than anyone else though, Matthieu Aernoudt. Despite the fact that he’d played in every game since his recovery, the midfielder was still apparently making noises about his role at the club. After discussions with his coaching staff Ed eventually decided to bite the bullet and test the youngster’s resolve – truth be told his form hadn’t been great, and Mahamat Bindi had shown that he was more than a match if the two were fighting it out for a spot. After resisting three requests from the player himself, Ed finally put Aernoudt up for sale, along with two or three of the Reserves.

[flipsix3]

He’d tried hard to avoid getting into ‘big’ money deals but he was getting desperate on a couple of players, Kangu had signed up but it was becoming ever clearer that Khalifa Ba was slipping out of Ed’s grasp. Leglib and Cami were playing hardball too, and Ed was running out of options – it would be far harder to sign new talent than it would be to secure the existing squad and, eventually, Cami became Pau’s first ‘four figure’ man by signing a three year deal worth £1000 per week.

The only one left now was Leglib, Pau’s talismanic keeper kept pushing Ed further and further on offers but, like Ba, wouldn’t actually say what he wanted – when the media speculation started too, he began to get a little worried. Jacques had shown no desire to move, indeed he had repeatedly indicated that a deal could be done, but two or three clubs were now sniffing around and Ed was on edge over the whole thing.

It didn’t help that he’d had no word back from his scouts yet regarding new talent, ideally he wanted a couple of new faces at least but his contacts were out roaming France and Germany and, so far, he’d not had so much as a phone call to say hello.

-----

The first bid for Leglib came in two days later, Bastia offered a paltry £60,000 up front but with a further £350,000 over two years. The total value of the deal was actually a decent figure, and as an up-front offer might have tempted Ed to start looking around for options, but he had no interest in spread payments. If he was going to sell anyone of Leglib’s quality it would have to be for cold hard cash.

Obviously Leglib didn’t like all the messing around either, to the point that he went on the record to say that he anted matters settled so that he could concentrate on training and the like, Ed was delighted until he managed to get his head around the rest of the statement – the part where the keeper said that he would be interested in a move to Montpellier. All Ed wanted to do was coach his team, and take pride in their actions on the pitch – he was beginning to grow weary of the other side of management already.

[flipsix3]

By the time the fixture list was drawn up things hadn’t progressed a great deal in terms of playing staff. The Leglib saga was still up in the air and the scouts were yet to turn up any significant targets. Ed sat at his desk and tried to convince himself, once again, that everything would be OK. As he looked down the fixture list again his phone rang, the light flashing indicated that it was his secretary.

“Hello Catherine, what is it?”

………

“Really? Who?”

………

“Well that is interesting, you’d better put him through”

………

“Khalifa? Hello, how are you?”

………

“Well that’s very sad, I’m sorry for you”

………

“You would? Well I think we could probably find a spot for you, but I do have others that I’m talking to”

………

“No, nothing definite yet, I’ll tell you what – why don’t we meet for lunch tomorrow? My treat”

………

“Okay, I’ll see you then”

Ed hung up the phone and rubbed his hands together, maybe something would go his way after all. Khalifa Elhadji Ba had been released by Marseille and, all of a sudden, he found himself without a club. A week earlier Ed had been trying to tempt the defender with a deal worth nearly £1,000 per week, two days later he would sign on for less than twenty percent of that figure

[flipsix3]

Things were not so bright on the Leglib issue, Montpellier decided to break their silence and came in with a bid worth £550,000. It wasn’t an all-cash deal but there was a healthy lump sum up front and, with the cash that the club had been given from TV rights, the bank balance was looking healthy – add in the steady source of income for 2 years worth of instalment payments and Ed had decided that it was worth the risk – he would have to go in search of a new keeper if Leglib decided to go.

Almost as soon as the news was out Ed received a further phone call, this time from the management team at Guingamp – they wanted to know the price on Leglib. Ed was frustrated by now and, like the keeper, he wanted things done and dusted. The Montpellier bid was worth a total of £550,000 and Ed couldn’t be bothered with talking details, he gave Yvon Pouliquen the total figure – the next day he accepted their matching bid, all cash up front.

With his fate still undecided Leglib took to the bench for Pau’s one and only arranged friendly, at home to Laval – a team they wouldn’t face in the league until late October. There was no new blood to include in the team, and with Adjamossi back at Bordeaux, Ed had to juggle the defence somewhat. Nicolas Griffouliere was given the number one jersey as, somehow, Ed couldn’t see Leglib opting to stay now.

The conditions were pretty awful, it was a scorching hot day but there was a howling wind coming down off the Pyrenees that was sure to hamper any real attempts at flair play.

Only Bindi was missing form the team, he’d picked up a slight knock in pre-season training, and Ed was hoping for something of an indication of how his lads would fare in their new environment. The way his squad started delighted him, there were no signs of nerves and an early strike from Tchami could do nothing but boost their confidence. The second half was less one-sided, Laval came out to attack more freely and quickly levelled the scores, only for Cami to restore the lead moments later – but the difference in class, and fitness, was beginning to show and the scores were tied again as the hour mark ticked by. It stayed level to the end, although the introduction of Bonnel and Testas caused a brief closing down of the Laval defensive line – who had been getting a little adventurous.

All told it was a useful game for Ed, and one that settled some of his nerves. Laval were seen by the media as strictly mid-table – if his team could earn a draw against such opposition then they weren’t so very far away from what would be needed to survive, with or without their first choice keeper.

[flipsix3]

It was good to be back in full training. The occasional fitness session over the break had helped to keep him active but he’d just about had his fill of phone calls, contract negotiations, and reports to fill out. What he was most looking forward to was testing his squad against their Division Two counterparts.

With a lack of further friendly propositions he’d hit upon an idea and proposed that the club open their gates a couple of weeks before the season kicked off. He suggested an ‘open day’ to try and boost local interest in the club, a ‘meet & greet’ followed by a friendly game between his first team and the Reserves. Le Coadou had liked the idea and added his own touch, arranging for a friend’s catering firm to provide a post-match barbecue-cum-buffet for anyone who came along to the event.

He’d still like to make a couple of signings although funds were tight, Leglib was still to make his decision, so he was now working his way through a few potential loan deals. He wanted to move fast and get anyone that he could on board before the game.

-----

The line-up for the inter-club match would include one new signing at least, Ed wanted a little bit of experience in what was a very young squad and he picked up 32-year-old Mickaël Michel on a free transfer. Eyebrows were raised but Ed had been careful to offer the veteran nothing more than a squad role and he hoped that the hard-tackling midfielder could add, if nothing else, a bit of depth – something they were sadly lacking. Jacques Leglib would not be pulling on the ‘yellow & blue’ again however, the lure of a big money move to Guingamp had proved to be too much and the keeper would not be seen by the Pau fans until the second match day of the new season.

The sale of Leglib meant that Ed had money available and with only one goalkeeper on the books his priority was to get backup in, that was when Frédéric Robin decided to let him know about three very different possibilities for him to consider. Ed looked over the files on Florent Chaigneau and Sébastien Hamel – Hamel had just left Auxerre, having failed to put pen to paper on a new deal, and Ed stepped in immediately with the offer of a trial. Chaigneau looked a good prospect at Rennes and might, potentially, be available on a long-term loan. The third name on the list needed no further consideration and Ed made an immediate phone call and offer – the proposal was accepted and a contract offer was drawn up and faxed over. Ed wasn’t holding his breath, but if he

[flipsix3]

Things seemed to grind to a halt on the goalkeeper front so it was Griffouliere who got to start in the ‘open day’ game as the first team took to the pitch against assorted reserves and triallists*

Ed knew from the practise pitch that the game would be no walkover for his starting line-up and, despite a very early goal, Brahim Naïmi’s defence overcame the extremely windy conditions to acquit themselves well. It was true that the Reserves failed to mount a meaningful attack but they held their senior colleagues to 1-0 until very late on when Matt Aernoudt and Bertrand Tchami struck quickly to make the scoreline more impressive.

There were a number of positives for Ed; Aernoudt’s performance after coming on as a late sub, a strong showing from the ‘forgotten’ Anthony Gardan at left fullback, and the continued creativity and sheer precociousness of Nicolas Cami. The Gardan situation was particularly pleasing, with Adjamossi’s dominance last season there’d been no rotation of roles on the left of defence and Ed was now looking for the best man to take the place on, Gardan looked like he wanted to be that man.

The only disappointment of the day was the turnout from the fans, only a couple of hundred bothered to show up, but Ed supposed that the freak gales that seemed to be lashing the region might have been a factor in that.

-----

*Writer’s Note:You know the ones, grey tracksuits, very secretive

[flipsix3]

Ed sat and looked at the papers spread in front of him on the desk, it looked like they were going into the season with only Griffouliere in the frame as a keeper. Florent Chaigneau had looked down his nose at Pau’s offer of a loan move, whilst Hamel was making negotiations difficult by revealing that he had offers from First Division sides on the table. As for the attempted transfer coup, well that had come to nothing too, despite having zero impact on the first team at Marseilles, Pegguy Arphexad had made it clear that Ed couldn’t get close enough to meet his needs.

He was running out of options fast and he resorted to a tactic that he hadn’t wanted to use. He’d remained friends with Philippe Goubet, the scout who had brought him to Bordeaux from White Hart Lane. He rang his friend and asked if he might know of any keepers in the market for a trial, possibly players toward the end of their careers looking for a last shot.

Unfortunately, Philippe advised him, he was all out of ideas – but he did know that the Bordeaux manager was looking at getting rid of Mathieu Valverde, a young keeper who he actually thought might be worth a look. Ed didn’t need a second invitation, for starters he was getting desperate, and if there was one man he trusted in the French game it was Goubet – he fired of an emailed offer and waited.

[flipsix3]

Valverde agreed terms with Ed in the Pau boardroom, the day before opening matches of the season. He was too late to register for the game against Istres but he travelled with his new team-mates to the coastal town of Fos-Sur-Mer to see them in action. With Valverde ruled out, and a couple of suspensions carried over from the previous season’s run-in, Ed posted a fairly unfamiliar teamsheet in the changing rooms.

Griffouliere; Labat, Gardan, Kangu, Ba; Bédani; Michel, Bindi, Aernoudt; Millereau, Tchami

The midfield was a bit of a gamble but with Cami unavailable he decided to opt for the experience of Michel over Abdoulaye Niang who had more time with the team, but had never really shown much to shout about. If he’d been nervous ahead of his National League debut, he was petrified now…

-----

It was hard not to be disappointed as the players boarded the coach for the trip home, yet if anyone had offered him a share of the points from a six-goal game a day or two ago he’d have snapped their hand off. He had to put things into perspective, his side had earned a hard-fought point away from home, playing at a level that was frankly beyond them, and without two or three of last season’s leading lights. It was probably fair to say that Millereau’s opener, with just three minutes on the clock, had rattled their hosts – most times a 30 yard strike would have little chance of beating the keeper, but Rudy Riou had been unsighted by his defence and the ball had, indeed, found the net.

Istres had responded quickly, only to have Tchami restore the lead, all this inside 20 minutes. The game had settled down after that, the home side clearly possessing superior pace and creativity, but struggling to find a finish – obviously flustered by being behind. Parity was restored briefly, after a scramble on the edge of Pau’s 18-yard box, and when Tchami was accused of diving for the second time the game looked to be slipping away from the minnows. Ed was furious that the Ref had booked Tchami on both occasions, no previous warnings, no quiet word in the ear - just two offences (one of which looked justified, one a completely genuine foul to Ed) and two bookings.

Pau faced 30 minutes with 10 men, but when Millereau headed home Bindi’s cross it seemed that they could spend that time defending a lead… not so – it took Istres just three minutes to haul themselves back for the third time in the game. That seemed to take something out of Pau, there was a feeling of inevitability, of knowing that they simply couldn’t hope to maintain a lead. Istres slowly turned up the pressure as their superior fitness started to show, the Pau back line were dead on their feet and Griffouliere was saved by the woodwork as they clung on for the point.

[flipsix3]

30 December 2004

Well an exciting opener anyway, better hope this Valverde's up to scratch

I have a bit of a history when it comes to losing keepers - in my days at Cittadella (CM01/02) I seemed to lose them at an alarming rate, in fact it goes right back to my first story when Keith 'Judas' Welch walked out on my Northampton side.

All being well, however, Matty V will do the job

[flipsix3]

…been a bad girl, she’s like a chemical. Though you try

Ed snapped off the stereo and swung his Audi over to the side of the road, he killed the engine and reached over to the passenger seat. After fumbling in his jacket pocket for a moment he retrieved his mobile – he was right, it had been ringing, he really ought to get around to sorting out a car-kit.

The call register showed that it was someone from the club who’d been trying to contact him, probably Naïmi. He hit the redial key and, sure enough, his assistant answered within two rings

“Brahim, what’s up?”

………

“Sorry, it’s an English phrase... you were trying to get hold of me, what’s going on? I’ll be in by…” he quickly checked his watch “half past at the latest”

………

“Really? I see, well tell him to keep them busy and get the number where he is. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes and get straight back to him”

Finally some news on the scouting front, Serge Lesnard had been sent to seek out African talent and had come across a number of young players at some sort of football clinic. It seemed a sensible idea, plenty of young hopefuls got released by clubs every season and a couple of enterprising agents had arranged to gather a few of the brighter prospects together in the hope of landing them jobs at smaller clubs. The problem, according to his assistant, was that Serge formed part of a much larger contingent of scouts and coaches from all across Europe and signatures were being snapped up pretty quickly.

He started up the car again, gunned the engine, and pulled back onto the main carriageway.

to stop it, she’s like a narcotic. You wanna torture her, you wanna talk to her…

[flipsix3]

01 January 2005

I'm really enjoying this. If I can do half as well on the new Dutch story that I'm writing as you have done here, then I will be a very happy man indeed. Top stuff, flippers.

Cheers Spav, from what I've read you won't have any problem with quality writing though

[flipsix3]

The list of names, and past clubs, that Lesnard had supplied had been impressive and Ed had needed to restrain himself from offering trials to a dozen or more players, in the end he’d entered negotiations with just three but, predictably, competition was fierce and he found himself still trying to cajole them nearly a week later.

In the meantime his current squad had been getting used to the Friday/Tuesday schedule of the Second Division. A record crowd of nearly 5,000 had turned out for the visit of Guingamp (at least a record for the league) and Ed felt slightly sorry for Jacques Leglib as the home support had made it clear that he was no longer their favourite son. With his side back to full strength he’d been quietly surprised at how good they looked when playing on home turf, matching the promotion contenders for chances and eventually securing a great win.

The return of Cami and Di Bartolomeo had been the big difference for Ed, and it was the former who volleyed home from the edge of the area just after the break. Leglib had taken some stick for that but, truth be told, there weren’t many keepers who would have got to the shot. To add insult to injury a composed performance from Mat Valverde had earned him a Man of the Match rating in the other goal, as well as three points for Pau.

The Tuesday game had been tougher, a trip to Châteauroux whose season had started with two high-scoring wins. Again Ed had watched his side carve out some decent opportunities, but only a couple of really telling efforts – easily handled by Vincent Fernandez, a on-time French Under 21 keeper. The defence were finding it hard, it was clear that they couldn’t afford any lapses in concentration, and Julien Labat was caught out as the home side struck early on. Once they were behind it had got harder, Ed wanted them to try and find an equaliser but the formation discipline faded the longer the game went on, and they paid the price with a second goal near to the end.

To be fair they were expecting a tough season and defeats away from home would undoubtedly be the rule, rather than the exception, he’d seen enough to give him a degree of optimism and if he could get a couple of these African players signed up he’d be able to add to the strength and depth of the squad.

[flipsix3]

The crowds continued to grow, obviously word was spreading that Pau looked like they could actually make a go of retaining their Second Division status. Over five thousand turned out for the Friday night visit of Montpellier and were treated to a real gem. Once again the home advantage lifted his side’s game, and Ed watched Valverde turn in another strong clean sheet as Cami ran the show in midfield.

Tchami’s opener was a beauty, racing onto Millereau’s through-ball to bury a long range shot in the second minute, but the fans had to wait until the second half for the real showpiece of the evening. Bruno Carotti had already been booked early in the game, and when he was spotted holding onto Tchami’s shirt he was directed to the changing rooms by Monsieur Fautrel. Ed had never particularly concentrated on fancy set-piece routines, he’d grown up as a no-nonsense kind of player. For direct free-kicks you take a run-up, and smash it at the keeper – if it’s indirect you take a run-up, the man over the ball gives it the lightest of touches, and you smash it at the keeper. He knew, however, that his players and coaches did spend time coming up with variations and they produced one from Carotti’s foul.

Tchami took a few steps and then cleverly disguised an almost square-ball to Khalifa Ba – the defender came in at an angle that gave him a clear line of sight to goal, cutting out the wall completely, and lashed it home to double Pau’s tally.

The win lifted them to 8th place in the table, not a position Ed expected to be seeing again any time soon, but more importantly it gave them a cushion over the early strugglers, and the belief that they could compete at this level. Now if he could just get a couple of the Africans to sign up…

[flipsix3]

“Well first of all welcome aboard, it’s great to have you both joining us, and secondly – we need to do something about those names, the lads need to tell you apart”

Ed had finally landed his men, or at least two of them. He’d missed out Ingi Hojsted – a former Arsenal trainee who Frédéric Robin had come across during his travels, but the African clinic had produced a couple of strong looking Senegalese players; Séga Doudou N’Diaye – who looked like he’d be giving Millereau immediate competition for the right to partner Tchami, and Leyti N’Diaye – a utility man with a commanding physical presence.

The pair were brothers*, born a year apart in Dakar, and they clearly came from strong stock. Leyti stood well over six feet and there were several of the current Pau squad who were clearly intimidated by him during their first training session.

After some discussion both agreed to be known by their first names, Leyti was quick to take to the idea – Ed was sure that he thought it made him sound Brazilian or something – and he soon sold it to Séga. Of course FIFA rules were such that they would be registered by their full names, and N’Diaye would appear on their shirts, but Ed just wanted to make communication among his players easier.

------

*Writer’s Note: I have no idea if this is true or not, the game does show them as being born in the same city, but it suits the story so well.

[flipsix3]

The brothers N’Diaye both made there debuts on the road at Sedan – another team hotly tipped by the media. Bertrand Tchami did the damage, his first a true poacher’s strike as he pounced on a moment of hesitation in the home defence and poked the ball under an onrushing Regnault. With Cami taking a knock Ed moved Bindi into the playmaker role at half-time, and Leyti got the nod to take to the pitch along with his brother, who replaced Millereau.

Sedan were clearly rattled at the fact that they couldn’t break down Pau’s impressive defence, things started to get niggly and a number of aggressive challenges eventually earned Nadir Belhadj a second yellow card. Moments later, with the defence struggling to catch him, Bindi broke into the box and saw his effort parried into the path of the charging Tchami – it was the simplest of finishes for the striker who needed no second invitation. Another dismissal followed for the home side, as their frustrations boiled over, and Pau sat back to play out the final minutes of added time.

Ed was pleased with what he’d seen, quite apart from the win Leyti had made it his mission to spray inch-perfect passes all over the park, and though he failed to get a clear opportunity, Séga looked sharp. With the deadline day approaching there was one more bit of good news for the manager too, his final target agreed terms to join the Pau revolution. Akwasi Nana Asare had spent two seasons at Feyenoord but the Dutch team had obviously not rated the fullback quite highly enough. Ed, on the other hand, saw him as the ideal man for the difficult left-back spot that Gardan had been holding down capably.

[flipsix3]

03 January 2005

Originally posted by flipsix3:

and poked the ball under an onrushing Regnault.

For a moment I read that as "an onrushing Renault."

that would have been impressive - and dangerous!

Anyway, I'm still enjoying this. KUTGW

Worth seeing though