Sharpening a Rusty Blade - Book III

[Amaroq]

If my calculations are correct, I owe you lads two matches today, not one, so...

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 13th December, 2009.

Though it was a Sunday, not a Friday, it was still an unlucky 13th.

Blades Injury Crisis

The dire situation for Ian Richards' midfield has reached epidemic proportions after Bruno Cheyrou's MRI revealed strained knee ligaments. The French veteran joins midfield generals Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Juan Carlos Valerón on the sidelines, leaving Richards without all three of his best playmakers.

"He's expected to be out until mid-January, at the earliest," Richards said, "Its awful luck, coming as it does right on the eve of the holiday fixture congestion."

The spree of injuries has raised questions about Richards approach.

Gabriele Mattiussi, who has never gotten along with his manager, has questioned the necessity of working the players as hard as the American does. "We're all professionals, there's no need to take things so seriously," he said.

A Sheffield United coach who asked to remain nameless indicated perhaps a worse concern. "Ian did it to himself," the coach said. "Bruno was clearly gimpy early in the match, and he should have been subbed off before doing himself an injury."

Still others question the wisdom of relying on veterans to the extent that the unproven manager has: all three of the injured midfielders are over the age of 30.

Those who wish to see youth get their chance will have their wish: Canadian international Ian Hume, England Under-21 standout Joe Newell, and promising youth Robert Cousins will see the lion's share of the action.

The midfield really was badly depleted, though Valerón was hoping to practice this week, and 18-year-old Gary Phillips had resumed training.

I'd concealed the extent of Bruno's injury as best as I could: physio Martin Baverstock warned me that he wouldn't really be match fit until mid-February.

It didn't help that I had a fax from the FA, reminding me that Jonathan Forte's fifth yellow card had produced a mandatory one match ban for the left winger. That wasn't much of a blow - I'd hoped to start Joe Hamill on Wednesday anyways.

Another person the date was unlucky for was Jürgen Klinssman. Manchester City had won only 2 of their last 16 encounters, and despite Issah Eliakwu's 81st-minute equalizer against Southampton, the 2-2 draw wasn't enough to save his job.

I was, for the second time, linked with a move to the City of Manchester Stadium, but again denied any interest in the position - I wanted to manage our lads in Europe, and told The Star so!

Sunday's televised match was absolutely captivating: Arsenal at Chelsea, with first place in the league at stake. The Gunners held a two-point lead, which they could retain with a win or a draw. It was a scintillating affair, with both sides playing offense throughout, the complete opposite of our recent match. Ricardo Carvalho's first-half goal put Chlesea ahead through the hour mark, but Claudio Pizarro scored two in six minutes to put the visitors ahead with 20 to play. Andrea Gasbarroni equalized in the 79th minute, to the great relief of the sold out Stamford Bridge crowd. Although Chelsea pressed for a winner, David O'Leary's men were able to hold on to the draw. The 2-2 result was enough to keep the Gunners just ahead of the Blues.

In the evening, Stacy and I got dressed up - tux and tails for me, with her in a wonderful shimmery turquoise dress - for the gala event of the Sheffield winter season, Derek Dooley's 80th birthday. The guest list included many of the legends of both Sheffield clubs past and present. Alan Kelly, Paul Stancliffe, Brian Deane and Keith Edwards represented the Blades contingent, while Lee Chapman, David Hirst, Mark Smith and the aged Redfern Froggatt were among those from the Owls who came to pay their respects. It was a pleasure to meet so many legendary players. I was especially pleased to take advantage of the opportunity to pick the brain of former United manager Dave Bassett!

There were other celebrities as well: author Keith Farnsworth was in attendance, as was a junior member of the Royal family, the first time I'd had a brush with royalty, even if if it was a lord well removed from the line of succession.

But the pair I was happiest to see?

It was Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and, on his arm, looking delighted and delightful, his lovely wife.

The injury may have been unlucky for us, but it looked for all the world like it may have saved their marriage. I hadn't seen Marc smile that much since lighting up the league back at the Championship level!

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 16th December, 2009. Premier League - Game 19, at Manchester United.

The first half of the season concluded at Old Trafford, where the Red Devils lay third, six points back of Arsenal, and four adrift of Chelsea, but still within shouting distance should the London sides stumble. Manager Peter Taylor had just celebrated his one-year anniversary with the club. He had been a breath of fresh air for the faithful, winning the F.A. Cup in his first attempt. He'd proved aggressive in the summer transfer season, selling five players to raise money to bring in Salomon Kalou for £17.5M from Blackburn, and had returned to the 4-4-2 favoured by the supporters but not seen since Alex Ferguson left. He'd done a good job closing the gap on the leaders after the side's distant fifth and failure to qualify for the Champions League the previous season. In their UEFA Cup campaign this season, they'd come first in their group, and were facing French side Sochaux in February as part of the first knockout round. Though the side hadn't won a title in the Supporter's Trust era, since the fans' spirited fundraising fought off the Glazer takeover, things were definitely looking up for United.

Last year, our regulars had earned a 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane, but only five of the players from that squad were on the pitch thirteen months later. Allan McGregor was in goal, with Joe Keenan, Hayden Foxe, David Rozehnal, and Danny Payne providing a veteran defense. I called on Mathieu Berson to man the defensive midfield though he had played on Saturday. On the wings, Joe Hamill returned from his wrist injury and Victor Sikora from his suspension. 21-year-old Phil Davidson had been clamouring for a chance, and got his first start of the season in attacking midfield, partnered with Canadian international Iain Hume. Peter Weatherson made his first start since September at striker.

It was the ultimate test of Stuart McCall's patience theory: I let the lads come out a little bit more adventuresome, but in the slow tempo and short passing of my 'patient buildup' regime. Manchester United started in complete control, however, and within five minutes had taken the lead. French left winger Jérôme Rothen, who had led the club in assists the past two seasons, launched a curling cross from the left corner. Alan Smith, whose 20 league goals had led the club last year, towered over Joe Keenan and David Rozenhal at the back post to head it home from six yards out. Allan McGregor could do nothing about it, and with just 4:39 on the clock, we were down 0-1.

Our hosts kept the pressure on, to the delight of the Old Trafford crowd, and Keenan's tackle of big summer signing Salomon Kalou in the 12th minute surely saved a second after the 24-year-old from the Ivory Coast broke around him and into the area with a fantastic display of dribbling. Keenan showed a veteran's calm, recovering to slide in front of him as the winger reached the six, putting the ball across the byline for a corner.

We were still being utterly dominated, however, and even the watchword of 'patience' wasn't enough for us to retain posession. In fact, as halftime approached, we still hadn't taken a single shot, while the United strikers were getting target practice. In the 43rd minute, Wayne Rooney's wonderful through ball freed Kléberson across the eighteen, and the 30-year-old Brazilian showed why you can't afford to give him any space. His savage right-footed shot from a mere 15 yards out struck the roof of the net at the far corner, and gave the Old Trafford faithful an 0-2 lead going into the half.

In all honesty, we put up a meek second half. With only one striker, we never looked like going to threaten, and I wasn't willing to expose my defense by pushing players forward into the attack. I tried Noel Hunt in the 66th, but he had no more luck than Peter Weatherson had, and giving 18-year-old Chris Rowe his debut on the left made no impact whatsoever. I tried direct passing, I tried long passing, and nothing seemed to be working: without our playmakers in the attacking midfield, we simply didn't look in the same class as the Red Devils.

I finally put aging veteran Juan Carlos Valerón on in the 78th minute, but the 34-year-old Spaniard wasn't really match fit. Even with his touch passing, he was unable to find a gap in the rock-solid Manchester defense. When the final whistle blew, we still hadn't managed a single shot.

Manchester United 2, Sheffield United 0

Smith 5, Kléberson 45; ----

MoM: Kalou (Man U MR)

If I could have, I would have torn the lads up in the locker room, as we'd been utterly outplayed despite the absence of United's leading scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy. As it was, I couldn't find words to express myself, and left without uttering a word.

The £17.5M paid in the summer for Salomon Kalou may have raised some eyebrows, but he'd proved worth every penny on this day, at least.

It is worth giving credit to the defenders that so throttled us: Argentinian veteran Gabriel Iván Heinze was the left back, Irishman John O'Shea and Romanian star Christian Chivu central, with pacey Wes Brown at right back. They're all between 28 and 31 years old: it looks like United should have a fine defense for the next few seasons!

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 17th December, 2009.

Blades Bubble Burst

Sheffield United fans are fooling themselves if they think that this team will still be in a European spot at the end of the season.

Since the 17th of September, they have won but 4 matches, barely more than one per month, and that is hardly the pace of a team in contention for Europe's biggest stage.

Only the poor performances of the other teams in the mid-table crowd, and the abysmal start made by Manchester City, have prevented the Blades from dropping out of the top ten. Their position in the table is far more flattering than their performances on the pitch.

This latest embarrassment, being held entirely without a shot - not, mind, no shots on target, but literally never once letting fly - has merely gone to confirm what Blades fans have been seeing for the past two seasons: manager Ian Richards is utterly without tactical creativity, unable to react and utterly at a loss when a team has the perfect counter to his stodgy 4-5-1.

Surely chairman Derek Dooley cannot countenance the continued ineptitude displayed by his right-hand man much longer. Though the American may have led the club to the Premier League, clearly he is out of his depth.

Someone else is required to lead them to success.

It was, of course, Rupert Wormwood at his wormy best, putting the worst possible spin on everything.

I called a press conference the next afternoon, and issued a quiet rebuttal, pointing out that we were 4-5-4 over the span in question, so hardly hemorrhaging points. Further, if you multiply our halfway points total, we'll be improved on last season.

Then, I opened it up to questions.

"As you know, Portsmouth suffered their third straight 0-2 defeat yesterday, and this morning Chairman Milan Mandaric announced that long-serving manager Harry Redknapp has been sacked. Mr. Mandaric is apparently looking to save them from relegation: they're in 18th, but a single point could see them to 15th. You are leading the voting in an online supporters' poll as to who should replace Redknapp. Do you care to comment?"

"Frankly, I'm not interested - I'm enjoying the success we've built here, and I'm looking forward to challenging for a European spot next season."

"What do you think of the Manchester media calling for new blood because Taylor doesn't have them challenging for the title?"

"I think Peter Taylor is doing a very good job at United, and Red Devils' fans are lucky to have him. It would be a shame if such a fine manager were fired due to unreasonable expectations on the part of all involved."

"Would you consider replacing him, if he gets the axe?"

"I won't comment to that. He's a good man, and I don't think he's been given a fair chance yet."

"Is there any truth to the rumour that Florent Sinama-Pongolle is joining Leicester?"

"That's news to me!" This drew a laugh.

"Seriously, I don't think Florent would be interested in leaving us to go to a team on the short track to relegation right now."

[Jart]

I've spent the past few days reading Parts I, II and III and I must say that it is a tremendous example for a newbie like myself who has just joined the forum. Great work, Amaroq.

[leftback in the changing room]

Originally posted by Jart:

I've spent the past few days reading Parts I, II and III and I must say that it is a tremendous example for a newbie like myself who has just joined the forum. Great work, Amaroq.

Us old stagers are still enjoying it too Amaroq! KUTGW!

[Jammer86]

Echoed.. always reading.

[soupaman]

This story is the main reason I regularly come to this forum.

[Amaroq]

Thank you lads - as always, your unflagging support is what's kept me motivated to keep this up.

Jart, thanks for the devoted several days - its two thick novels' length now, and working on number three, so I'm excited to learn that it can still captivate interest in condensed form!

Leftback, Jammer, your support back in Book I is why there's a Book III at all.!

And soupaman, I'm flattered beyond saying.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 19th December, 2009. Premier League - Game 20, at Aston Villa.

The turbulent week as followed with a tough trip to Villa Park. Fifteenth place last year, with only 34 points scored, had seen Javier Clemente fired mid-season. New manager David Platt was doing much better, with the side in 9th, but nowhere near the heady 3rd of the 2007/08 season. Villa hadn't lost since November 21st, and we hadn't won since November 22nd - but somehow I was hopeful that a visit to Birmingham would help turn things around. Perhaps it was the memory of last season, when we'd won 3-0 on our visit to Villa Park, though admittedly the scoreless draw at Bramall Lane later that year, and the 1-2 defeat at home this year put a less positive spin on it.

Though his morale was very poor, with the defeat to Man U. and the impending arrival of Roy Carrol, Allan McGregor remained my starting goalkeeper. In front of him was a group one player shy of my first choice defense, with Sean Dillon, David Rozehnal and Keith McCormack. Ben Hammond replaced captain Hayden Foxe, giving the Australian a rare day off, while 20-year-old Steve Newton would range as the defensive midfielder. On the wings, Jonathan Forte and Graham Allen were partnered again, as they had been against Liverpool. The attacking midfield consisted of 20-year-old Joe Newell, in the 'experienced veteran' role as he was alongside 18-year-old Gary Thomas, who made his first start of the season. Florent Sinama-Pongolle, still stuck on 14 goals, was the striker.

I'd returned to the conservative counter-attack which had served us so well over the preceding two seasons, while Platt utilized the same 3-5-2 which Villa had used in their 1-2 win in the season opener, and I was confident, as we'd noticeably outplayed them in that match. Less than four minutes into the match, Florent Sinama-Pongolle dropped deep to take possession near the center line, with both of the attacking midfielders ahead of him. He drew defenders towards him, then hit a fine low pass through the steady drizzle and into space for Gary Thomas. The youngster played a superb ball past Jean-Alain Boumsong, a short pass covering barely eight metres, but killer in its effect. It put Joe Newell past the French defender, and youngster Magnus Troest was the only man with a shot at him. Newell skipped past the young Dane at the 18, and slotted home to put us ahead, 1-0.

Playing with a lead is precisely what that conservative 4-5-1 is best at. For the next ten minutes, Villa had the better of possession, but their shooting was abysmal, as our hard-working defense never game them space within twenty-five yards of goal. Their rushed long-range shots never once came close to threatening Allan McGregor's net. Our lads were content to pick and choose their chances, and Newell nearly got his second on the quarter hour, whistling a 22-yarder just wide.

Another ten minutes of play saw little action, until Keith McCormack launched a wonderful long ball up the right sideline. Newell chased it down, and dribbled into the area. Everybody in the stadium, myself included, expected him to shoot, but he showed a veteran's vision instead, and laid a beautiful ball across the box for Sinama-Pongolle. The unmarked Frenchman had a clear shot to the far corner, and is not one to miss that sort of opportunity. His 15th goal of the season gave us a 2-0 lead!

Villa was now utterly in disarray, bedraggled with the rain and miserable in the cold. Their attack ceased to look threatening even in the least, and we comfortably assumed control. On the 36 minute mark, David Rozehnal won a header in the center circle. Sinama-Pongolle again dropped deep to claim it, and was double-teamed some forty yards from goal. He was still able to get the pass off into the space Boumsong had vacated, where Joe Newell lurked. The long-shot specialist drilled it home from the arc just before Adam Drury could close him down, a spectacular shot! Get in! That made it 3-0 with a second half yet to play!

There were boos for the home side at halftime, and I made a single change, sending Robert Cousins on for Thomas, who had picked up a yellow card. With a solid lead, I didn't want to take a chance on him earning a second: Villa needed a miracle to get back into the match, and I didn't want the 18-year-old to hand them a lifeline. The home side came closest to scoring in the 52nd minute, when Dagoberto's 25-yarder struck McGregor's left post, but when the rebound skipped away, the crowd of 33,010 began to disperse.

By the 62nd minute, it was clear the match was over as a contest, and I decided there was no point risking injury to Sinama-Pongolle. He came off, and 18-year-old Michael Field proudly took to the field for his professional debut! At the same time, Victor Sikora replaced the tiring Graham Allen on the right wing - it was becoming concerning that the 22-year-old didn't have the stamina to last ninety minutes. In the 67th minute, Cousins's chip from the edge of the box nearly scored, but Morgan De Sanctis just managed to tip it over the bar.

In a match which is over, often the only players who impress are those on the fringe, trying to make an impression on the manager. So it was here: with less than twelve minutes left, it was one of the substitutes who made our dominance complete. Sean Dillon won the ball on the left sideline, and it was quickly advanced up the wing through Jonathan Forte to Cousins. His shot from the edge of the area was blocked by 18-year-old Villa midfielder Jamie Hooper. It glanced off the top of Hooper's thigh into the air, becoming a cross, and the opportunistic Field headed home from 10 yards out. He caught the luckless De Sanctis moving the wrong way, and it was 4-0!!

He'd scored his first goal on his professional debut and the lad celebrated like he'd just scored the World Cup winner! The traveling support, at 6,000 strong outnumbering the few Villa fans remaining, gave him a resounding cheer.

In injury time, the desperate Villains had three good chances. The first was a beautiful breakaway for Darius Vassell, set up by Steed Malbranque, but McGregor made a fine one-on-one save to preserve the shutout. He made another fine save to deny Dagoberto from the edge of the eighteen a minute later, and completed the hat trick of saves by stopping Ian Wills's spectacular half volley. That was more shots on target in 90 seconds than Villa had made in the previous ninety minutes, but the Scottish keeper had proved up to the task, and the match ended with his clean sheet intact.

Aston Villa 0, Sheffield United 4

----; Newell 4, 36, Sinama-Pongolle 26, Field 79

MoM: Newell

The four-goal explosion had included the first professional assist for Gary Thomas, and the first career goal for Michael Field. Derek Dooley was there in person to congratulate each of them, addressing them by first name.

He couldn't hide his delight from the rest of the squad, either, especially Man of the Match Joe Newell. Seeing Mr. Dooley's unmitigated joy was the perfect antidote for the uncertainty which had been swirling around the squad in the wake of the turbulent week.

[owl83]

Just when you think things are taking a turn for the worse.........

KUTGW!!

[Anvar]

Yay, back to winning ways

Still a great read Roqs. KUTGW!

[davo!]

Started reading book 1 quite a while back before I was registered here. Now I registered and noticed this here and thought i recognize that, picked the story up again well, Thanks for a great read Amaroq.

[Amaroq]

We haven't been exactly a form-based side, have we, owl? Anvar, davo!, thank you both.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 20th December, 2009.

Our dominant victory was also the perfect antidote for spiteful newspaper columnists. The Sunday edition of The Star didn't give Rupert Wormwood a single column inch, instead devoting itself to pieces lauding our glorious victory, pointing out how I'd "turned the team around," and how we'd "proven ourselves true contenders for that European slot."

Frankly, it was as over-the-top as Wormwood's articles are, just in the opposite direction, and I tossed it aside to look at Martin Baverstock's injury report. No, none of the senior players were hurt, but young speedster Jake Giles had suffered an injury in the U-18 match at Saltergate yesterday.

Our Under-18s had played host to Nottingham Forest, and Giles scored an early goal before leaving injured around the half-hour mark. Forest equalized in the second, and despite massive pressure in the final twenty minutes, our lads were unable to find a winner. They had to settle for a 1-1 final, but still held a solid five-point lead at the halfway point of the U-18 season.

The bad news was Giles's injury: the 18-year-old had fractured two ribs, and would be in too much pain to practice for at least three weeks.

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 23rd December, 2009.

His cleats stuck in the turf for just a moment, but a moment is all it took: our leading scorer Florent Sinama-Pongolle crumpled under Steve Foster's tackle in training, and I was sick to my stomach watching him clutch at his right knee as Martin Baverstock rushed onto the pitch to treat him.

That was yesterday, and I hardly slept, still nauseous with worry - the MRI couldn't occur until this evening, when the swelling had time to go down. Foster apologized several times over, to everyone who would listen, well aware that he might have cost the club its chance at Europe.

Morose, the I tried to distract myself in the afternoon with a visit to Saltergate, where our Reserves fought a scoreless draw with Middlesbrough Reserves. The match was notable only for a fine performance by Middlesbrough keeper John Gibson, and for 18-year-old defensive midfielder Steven White accumulating his fifth yellow card, and thus, a one-match ban.

There was still no news from the hospital, and I tuned in for a distracted hour to watch Manchester United - Liverpool, a match of more interest, perhaps, to the league as a whole. United smashed the Reds, 3-0, at Old Trafford, giving them their seventh straight win, and closing them to within a point of the co-equal leaders, Arsenal and Chelsea. For the first time in years, the Premiership was looking like a three-horse race!

Finally, in the late evening, the phone rang, and Martin Baverstock gave me the verdict: he'd twisted his knee, but managed to avoid any long-term damage to either ligaments or tendons. The cultured French striker would be out two weeks, missing the next five matches, but should be able to return to action by mid-January.

The rush of joy I felt compared favorably with seeing the lads score a goal, and in a fit of joy I gave the lads Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, with a reminder to show up fit and ready to play on Saturday.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 26th December, 2009. Premier League - Game 21, vs Southampton.

Southampton were lingering in 13th, the same place they'd finished last season - in fact, they might be the very definition of 'perennial mid-table team', as they'd placed between eighth and fifteenth each of the past ten seasons. This year, with former Bolton man Sam Allardyce as the skipper, they had just 5 wins to 11 losses, and no individual had more than 4 goals. Still, Allardyce had architected the 0-5 pounding they'd given us in December of last year, so even though we'd beaten them 2-0 in their stadium back in August, I warned the lads to treat them with respect.

As you'd expect on Boxing Day, we had an almost sold-out crowd on hand. Coming off a 4-0 victory, everybody, from the chairman to the ballboy, was in a holiday mood. Allan McGregor was back in form in goal, and his defense would consist of Joe Keenan, Hayden Foxe, David Rozehnal, and Keith McCormack. Mathieu Berson took the defensive midfield role, while Joe Hamill and Graham Allen manned the wings, despite the stamina concerns around the latter. Partnered in the attacking midfield for the first time were Robert Cousins and Joe Newell, my two 20-year-old future stars. With Sinama-Pongolle injured, the starting striker role fell to Peter Weatherson, only the fifth time he'd been named in the starting lineup all year.

We were, as you might expect, in complete control from the off, and the crowd, enjoying a cold but dry afternoon, were in full voice. The referee made friends with the crowd early, handing out three yellow cards in the opening thirty minutes, all to the yellow-jerseyed visitors. We, meanwhile, seemed to get away without even a foul even from the most dubious of tackles. In the 7th minute, Joe Newell had a wonderful opportunity, breaking into the Southampton box only to lose out to Paul Lee's block tackle. The crowd appealed for a penalty, but as Newell was still standing, it was hard to find sympathy for them.

We were having trouble translating posession into real opportunities, as the five-man-midfield and solid back four kept shutting us out. Lee in particular was playing a wonderful game, and could easily have been considered the Man of the Match had he lasted all ninety minutes. Solid defense and a counter-attack is our modus operandi, and it looked all too familiar when Jonathan Greening and former Manchester United player Eric Djemba-Djemba began a quick break back the other way just before the half hour. Djemba-Djemba played a wonderful ball down the right wing for his countryman Geremi - the Southampton captain plays for Cameroon internationally, as does Djemba-Djemba - who had snuck past Joe Keenan. He whipped the cross in, where Greening tried a diving header, but the ball went flying over the bar.

We had our best chance just before the half, when a throw-in on the right side came to Mathieu Berson. He played a low pass to the edge of the 18 for Graham Allen, who looked like taking a shot before knocking a low pass to Joe Hamill unmarked fifteen yards from goal. He was a bit wide of the post, and tried to shoot back across to the opposite corner, but put it several feet wide.

The second half degenerated into a midfield battle - with ten men in midfield, and only one striker apiece, both sides were struggling to do much with it. We were clearly missing the incisive pace of our leading scorer, and the creative juice that my injured playmakers usually inject, while Southampton looked content to escape with a draw.

With nothing doing, I made a few substitutions between the hour mark and 70 minutes, sending out the youngsters. 17-year-old James Bradley made his first league appearance, replacing the ineffectual Peter Weatherson at striker. Phil Davidson replaced Joe Newell - though Davidson is older, Newell is much more experienced - partly to keep the youngster from receiving a second yellow card. Graham Allen yet again failed to last ninety minutes, and was spelled by Simon Blake. It was still scoreless, and with 20 minutes remaining the crowd were growing restless.

Southampton's best chance of the match came in the 82nd minute, when Berson pushed the giant Peter Crouch just on the edge of the 18. It wasn't a penalty, but it was a dangerous free kick - or so I thought until I saw defender Danny Higginbotham step forward to take it. Higginbotham, a veteran, had only eight goals in his career, and with the deadly Geremi available I was shocked to see him take it. It went well wide, truly a wasted effort.

In the 85th minute, French midfielder Sebastian Wallis-Taylor played defender, blocking Robert Cousins's wicked shot from the edge of the eighteen. It went out for a corner, which was dutifully cleared by Higginbotham. Despite 4 minutes of extra time, when the final whistle blew 32,946 very bored fans had seen just 8 shots by the two teams combined - and only one of those had been on target.

Sheffield United 0, Southampton 0

----; ----

MoM: Hamill

Joe Hamill was a surprising choice as Man of the Match on a day when neither offense sparkled, and his miss stood out as the biggest missed opportunity for the side. I was disappointed with the outcome, but it did certainly show that we're not the same team without Sinama-Pongolle, Bridge-Wilkinson, and Cheyrou.

[Wardy11]

Hi Amaroq, I've spent the last 6 weeks slowly reading through your stories. I started with Blade II, continued into III and have just begun reading I. You're a great writer and you've succeeded in making the little round dots on my computer screen into real people. I've learnt a lot about playing the game from reading your stories.

Well done, and don't stop. I need the daily updates!

[Strankan]

Great read as always, been doing some catching up this week, and was saddening to see Spurs slip down a division... KUTGW though, and please take over spurs and make them a force in the Premier League!

[Amaroq]

Wardy, thank you, thats one of the best compliments ever!

I did, in part, write Blade with that hope in mind: both to make the players into real people, and to share what I've learned about the game. As you'll imagine, paying attention to it in such detail really taught me a lot about the game, too!

@ Strankan. If you want a Spurs story, there's a brilliant one on the boards already...

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 27th December, 2009.

To those chasing the Big Three, it was a belated Christmas present. Incredibly, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United had all lost on the day yesterday. That wasn't even bad news for us, as two of the teams that took three points weren't really in contention with us! West Brom's 1-0 home win over United couldn't really affect us, while Ipswich's 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge gave me joy - I was happy to see the Championship class of 2008 stay up. We were much more likely to be dueling with Middlesbrough, who had put an end to a 2-month skid - eleven games without a win - with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal.

There was also some mid-season housecleaning, as there were a number of changes amongst the managers of lower-league clubs. AFC Bournemouth, Port Vale, and Rushden & Diamonds all fired managers in League Two, and there were a few open posts down in the Conference as well.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 29th December, 2009. Premier League - Game 22, at Newcastle United.

The trip back North put me only a few miles from the tiny stadium in Blyth, Croft Park, where I had gotten my managerial career started. I wasn't sure whether to be intimidated by Newcastle's dangerous offense, or aggressive due to their many injuries. Kevin Keegan was doing a phenomenal job turning the team around: he took over in April of last year, with the team destined to finish 10th that season, and had returned them almost immediately to prominence: they were currently in fourth.

Led by the incredible Fernando Cavenaghi, who had 20 goals already in 21 league games, their powerful offense was second best in the league, with as many goals scored as they had over 38 games last year. They were suffering numerous injuries, however, with forward Craig Bellamy, fullback Niels Oude Kamphuis, and central defender Andy O'Brien all missing from the starting lineup. With four rotational players also missing, some of the St. James's Park crowd would be checking their programmes to learn the names of a few of the starters. Still, with Cavengahi leading the offense, and £13.5M signing Koç Okan the final piece of the puzzle, they were always going to threaten.

It wasn't exactly my first choice lineup, but I worked with what I had. Allan McGregor might be turning in his last performance as the first-choice keeper for Sheffield United, with Roy Carrol due to arrive on Friday. Sean Dillon and Danny Payne manned the fullback positions. In the center, Hayden Foxe, David Rozehnal, and defensive midfielder Mathieu Berson were all starting their second match in four days, something I rarely do. Jonathan Forte and Victor Sikora provided a blend of youth and experience on the wings. In attack, 34-year-old Spaniard Juan Carlos Valerón was called upon for only his second start of season, partnering Canadian international Iain Hume. The striker was tall Irishman Noel Hunt, who got his first nod of the season - despite being transfer listed since July, I hadn't had any serious offers for him.

From the opening kickoff, the Magpies were in complete control, looking every inch the title challenger. Despite the assignment of my top defender, David Marek Rozehnal, to cover him man-to-man, Fernando Cavenaghi got free in the box on the 4th minute. He blazed a savage right-footer over the bar, to Allan McGregor's relief.

Just before the quarter hour, Juan Carlos Valerón showed that he still has the creativity that attracted me to him in the first place, splitting the defense to put Noel Hunt into the box, one-on-one. The Irishman made it clear how important 'form' is, as he struck it straight at the 'keeper.

Newcastle took it straight back up the pitch, with Koç Okan sending a nice ball up the right side for Stuart Carter. The 21-year-old's cross was headed clear by Danny Payne, but Francesc Fabergas collected it in the arc. The talented Spaniard, amazingly a free transfer from Arsenal that summer, sent a low pass in to Carter, who had drifted in from the wing. He blasted it into the far side netting, and the 50,608 in attendance roared in approval as their heroes took an 0-1 lead.

Our hosts showed no signs of letting their foot off the gas, and Cavenaghi looked certain to add to his league-leading total in the 20th minute when Damien Duff's low pass put him into the six. A fantastic save from close range by McGregor sent the Argentinian packing. When Carter was forced off the field injured, after a hard challenge with Sean Dillon, Newcastle turned to veteran Dutchman Patrick Kluivert.

They were still adjusting in the 33rd minute, when Valerón drifted out wide left in posession. With the Spaniard almost taking the winger's role, Jonathan Forte raced for the box. Valerón danced along the sideline, eluding fullback Daniel Van Buyten before sending the cross in. Forte's late arrival in the box caused havoc, and he connected with a diving header from just outside the six, netting his first of the season and leveling the scores at one apiece!!

For a minute, or perhaps five, I thought that maybe, just maybe, we had a chance - but Newcastle quickly clamped down, reasserting control with a series of corner kicks. Fabergas' half-volley from the 18 went just wide, and it was hard-pressed defending after that. In the 40th minute, Duff's cross-field ball found Okan wide open on the right side of the 18. Forte was just loitering, not paying attention defensively, and his man was in acres of space. Rozehnal left his man to challenge the winger, and the Turk played a perfect low ball to Cavenaghi in the area. From 12 yards, with time and space, the Premier League's leading scorer was never going to miss, and we went to the break with a one-goal deficit, 1-2.

When we failed to threaten in the early part of the second half, I switched to the patient buildup, and took the tiring Valerón off, replacing him with 18-year-old Gary Thomas. Michael Field replaced the ineffectual Noel Hunt, and when Danny Payne started limping, 20-year-old fullback Brian Holmes came on. Without the creative influence of Valerón, we looked even more inept, and Mathieu Berson's drive from the arc, though saved easily, looked like the best chance we were going to get.

In the 83rd minute, with my lads pushing forward, Newcastle hit us on the classic counter-attack. Jesper Grønkjær raced up the left wing, beating Holmes to reach the byline and float the cross over. It curled through the six, and looked to be drifting harmlessly out for a goal kick on the other side, but Okan made an incredible diving header to redirect it back into the six. It was an amazing endeavour: I never thought he had a chance to get to it, and not only did he, but it came back shoulder-high. Cavenaghi met it with his head, and McGregor was helpless. Sheer magic for Newcastle!

It was the 25th goal in all competitions for the Argentinian, and 1-3 must surely clinch it.

Just four minutes later, Koç Okan took a dive on the far sideline, trying to earn a foul. When it earned a foul - not even a yellow! - Brian Holmes lost his composure. Furious with the ref, the 20-year-old gave him an earful, and got himself sent off. Though the outcome was already beyond doubt, it was not the way for the young fullback to convince me to give him a second chance.

The taunts of the crowd continued to echo through Saint James's Park through the final whistle, and echoed down the tunnel after us as we departed.

Newcastle United 3, Sheffield United 1

Carter 15, Cavenaghi 40, 83; Forte 33

MoM: Okan

I shook Kevin Keegan's hand afterwards with genuine respect: he's done an incredible job, and thoroughly deserved the success they're having.

Koç Okan's spectacular effort to keep Duff's cross in clinched his Man of the Match award - you really had to see this one to believe it. The ball was clearly traveling out, about chest high, and he stretched into a full-length dive. While fully extended, he twisted his entire torso, shoulders, and head to connect with the ball, and not only kept it in bounds, but put it to the head of his teammate. He landed on his back, and his angular momentum rolled him away from the goal: only the roar of the tremendous crowd must have let him know that Cavenaghi had scored!

I'd had Okan on my short-list for a while, but it had been clear that the 27-year-old Turk was beyond our means. With 15 goals and 21 assists in 64 matches, he'd thoroughly justified the £13.5M Newcastle had spent to tempt him away from Real Betis.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 31st December, 2009.

With what I'd consider my 'first choice' youth squad being rested for the F.A. Cup match against Swindon Town, having matches for both our Reserves and our Under-18s on Wednesday meant we'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel, especially for the youth squad.

In the Reserve encounter, that meant a few Reserve debuts for young players. Consequently, the team looked very disjointed, having trouble stringing together any semblance of continuous play. Luckily, Newcastle Reserves were similarly struggling, and the match went to the final minutes still scoreless. The late introduction of Bruno Cheyrou, making his return to the pitch after completing a course of physiotherapy for his strained knee ligaments, brought the side to life, but there simply wasn't enough time to find a winner, and the match finished nil-nil.

Scott Lee, an all-but-forgotten 17-year-old, making only his second start all season, scored the only goal as the Sheffield Under-18s beat Derby County, 1-0. The strike was a real beauty from the eighteen, worthy of a higher stage; the lad will certainly be getting some more action in the second half of the season! Right winger Andy Lee, in his last season with the U-18s, was Man of the Match after providing the assist.

With those matches over, it was time to celebrate the New Year - Stacy wanted to find a club somewhere, which probably meant a trip to London - and I gave the lads a joking reminder not to show up hung-over, (or worse, still drunk!), on Saturday for the F.A. Cup tie.

[Amaroq]

Friday, 1st January, 2010.

I started the New Year without even the slightest of hangovers - I certainly hadn't felt like celebrating after what Newcastle had done to us.

In fact, after a month in which we'd had only one victory, with two draws and three defeats, I was somewhat dreading my meeting with Derek Dooley and Terry Robinson.

I needn't have worried: they remained delighted, as we had more wins than losses, and had held on to seventh in the Premier League, albeit by the narrowest of margins. What safety net we had had was thoroughly eroded, with four teams within two points of us. In fact, if we hadn't beaten Aston Villa, they'd have taken over seventh from us.

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

1 Chelsea 49 14 7 1 48 11 +37 (22)

2 Arsenal 47 14 5 2 57 17 +40 (21)

3 Newcastle United 45 13 6 3 53 25 +28 (22)

4 Manchester United 45 13 6 3 35 11 +24 (22)

5 Liverpool 41 12 5 4 24 14 +10 (21)

6 Charlton Athletic 39 11 6 5 40 27 +13 (22)

7 Sheffield United 31 8 7 7 36 24 +12 (22)

8 Aston Villa 31 8 7 7 27 27 0 (22)

9 Middlesbrough 30 8 6 8 31 29 + 2 (22)

10 Blackburn 30 8 6 8 37 44 - 7 (22)

11 West Ham United 29 9 2 11 37 42 - 5 (22)

12 Fulham 27 6 9 7 26 29 - 3 (22)

13 Southampton 23 6 5 11 33 37 - 4 (22)

14 Everton 22 6 4 12 24 41 -17 (22)

15 Ipswich Town 22 5 7 10 16 37 -21 (22)

16 Portsmouth 21 5 6 11 22 41 -19 (22)

17 Crystal Palace 19 5 4 13 21 42 -21 (22)

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

18 Manchester City 19 5 4 13 25 47 -22 (22)

19 West Brom Albion 17 4 5 13 15 34 -19 (22)

20 Leicester 13 2 7 13 18 46 -28 (22)</pre>

Chairman Dooley, in particular, took the time to mention how delighted he is that I reaffirmed my commitment to Bramall Lane by refuting interest in the managerial vacancies at Manchester City and Portsmouth.

The first of January is the opening day of the winter transfer window, so a discussion of the team's finances naturally started with the morning's player moves. The biggest news for Sheffield United fans was the acquisition of Roy Carroll from Charlton Athletic, a move which had cost us £1.2M, but which I hoped would resolve the goalkeeping situation for the next three to four years.

GK Roy Carroll, 32, Northern Ireland, 53 caps:

5 games, 6 conceded, 2 clean sheets, 2 MoM, 7.00 while on loan to West Bromwich Albion:

A veteran with over 300 professional matches under his belt, Northern Ireland's regular keeper had spent most of the past five seasons on loan to Championship clubs and lesser Premiership lights. We might fit into that boat, but he seemed to excel beyond Allan McGregor in almost every aspect, from anticipation to aerial ability. He's especially better physically, with jumping and balance that the Scot just doesn't match. It will be a very dramatic change, however, as he doesn't rush out to punch anywhere near as frequently as McGregor does, and I expect that there will be a few howlers as the squad get used to his style.

Perhaps equally important for our fortunes on the pitch this season, we'd signed right wing Jermaine Pennant from Fulham for £1.5M. Victor Sikora had had a season and a half - 45 games - and hadn't managed either a goal or an assist, so I'd decided it was time to try someone else on the right.

AM R Jermaine Pennant, 26, England, 23 U-21 caps:

12 games, 3 goals, 2 assists, 4 MoM, 7.00 while on loan to Brighton (League One):

A pacey winger with acceleration, agility, and balance is just what the doctor ordered. His crossing is pinpoint accurate, and he has the flair that separates a great player from a good one. His skill at free kicks and corner taking is just an added bonus. If he has any real weaknesses, I'd say its in anticipation - he seems better at picking his move than reading his teammates or the opposition. In fact, all of his mental game is a little weak when compared with Sikora's. Still, he looks like a fine addition.

Of lesser impact in the short term was the acquisition of German U-21 right back Benjamin Herzog, whom I hoped to groom as a backup to Keith McCormack. He cost us £250,000 to pry away from Werder Bremen.

DR Benjamin Herzog, 17, German, 10 Under-21 caps:

5 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, 5.60 with Werder Bremen (Bundesliga):

His pace and stamina are the things that stand out when you watch this youngster for the first time, but it takes more to earn six career assists in only 15 games, and to make 10 U-21 starts for Germany before the age of 18. His concentration is phenomenal, he's brave, and he has the makings of a future leader. His positioning is incredibly good, especially for one so young, and his technique is already better than many of our fringe first-teamers. He'll need to work on his composure, and I'm a bit worried that his real lack of aggression and determination may hinder him in the long-term, but for now, he's the brightest prospect at right back since, well, McCormack!

Herzog can't wait to break into the first-team setup: doesn't expect to play straight away, but hopes if he gets his head down and works hard, that I'll reward him with a first-team place soon enough.

We'd also bid adieu to young Italian goalkeeper Gabriele Mattiussi, whose relaxed attitude towards training hadn't fit in well with the more determined, professional mentalities that I tend to favor. He'd been a free transfer from A.C. Milan, and six months of work with him had netted two games and a profit of £725,000.

Gabriele Mattiussi, GK, 20: July 2009-December 2009: 1 season, 2 games, 3 conceded, 7.00

Possibly lost in the shuffle of big names was a move I was perhaps equally happy with: we'd re-signed Bruno Cheyrou for another season, guaranteeing him a 25% raise in exchange for another year of the cultured midfielder's creative talents.

Another player who had re-upped was 20-year-old attacking midfielder Gareth Davies. Deep down the depth chart, he'd gone on a full-season loan to Boston United, in League Two, where he was doing quite well. His new contract included a substantial raise, and should keep him at the club through 2013.

17-year-old Tim Mason signed his first professional contract, one which could keep him at the club through his 19th birthday.

With all of the transfer fees and revenue recognized against December, we'd lost a net of £3.7M for the month, with revenue of £1.3M and transfer income of £0.7M, balanced against expenses of £2.5M and transfers totaling £3.1M. Even if we factored out the transfers, we were still hemorrhaging money every month, and most of it was going to taxes. Last season, we'd paid a total of £380,000 in tax; this season we'd paid almost ten times that, £3.7M in total.

It was a consequence of realizing the television revenue to the 2008-09 season, a move which also meant that our net for this season appeared to be a £2.0M loss, when we had in fact turned a profit of over £10M. At least I still had £9.8M left in the transfer kitty, from a total bank balance of £20.8M.

On the global stage, though Arsenal had slipped from the top spot thanks to a draw with Portsmouth, they did capture two of the biggest international awards. The World Footballer of the Year was Thierry Henry, while the World Player of the Year was his teammate, José Antonio Reyes.

For those of you following the hunt for the Premier League goalscoring title, it looked well and truly over, standing as follows:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> 1 Fernando Cavenaghi Argentina Newcastle United 22

2 Florent Sinama-Pongolle France Sheffield United 15

3 = Andrzej Niedzielan Poland West Ham United 13

3 = Ivica Olic Croatia Arsenal 13

3 = Claudio Pizarro Peru Arsenal 13</pre>

Losing ground that dramatically on Cavenaghi hadn't cost Florent Sinama-Pongolle any respect, however, and we were regularly seeing scouts from Chelsea, Arsenal, and others watching with interest when he was on the pitch. It finally came to a head Friday night, with Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan faxing over a jaw-dropping offer of £11.5M for him.

[mikegoodman25]

Interesting offer but pongolle seems to be key for you. REJECT!! great to see the progress being made by you. Brilliant read, KUTGW!

[Damien77]

Would the board override you in this bid???

[Amaroq]

....

And thanks, mike.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 2nd January, 2010. F.A. Cup - Third Round, at Swindon Town.

I agonized over how to respond to Newcastle United overnight, but the decision wasn't any easier come morning. Florent Sinama-Pongolle remained the best player on the squad by a wide margin, and I knew he'd be irreplaceable even with the large sum Kevin Keegan was offering. However, the money was stunning, almost triple what we'd paid for him, and a club record if I agreed to it. I settled on my reply, returning an extravagant demand worth £30M all told, expecting that should scare off the northern club without angering my player.

Then, I turned my attention to Swindon Town. The southerners were one club I'd never faced, having skipped past League One by virtue of my move from York to Sheffield United. The town is located along the M4, between Bristol and London, and much closer to the former. Though the club had made a brief appearance in the Premier League, they'd been relegated back down to League One pretty quickly, and in fact had suffered relegation again two years ago, earning their way back up through the League Two playoffs last season. They were currently 13th out of 24 teams in League One, with a positive goal difference but more defeats than victories.

To face them, I ran out the youngest lineup of the season, with five players making their first start of the year. Welsh keeper Chris Brown, just a week after his 16th birthday, got his Sheffield United debut in goal. His defense would start with fringe players Joe Keenan and Steve Foster providing the voice of experience. Ben Hammond joined Foster in central defense. Slipping straight into the starting lineup at fullback was 17-year-old acquisition Benjamin Herzog. I hadn't intended to throw him straight into the fire like that, but he was the only truly fit right back I had at the moment. 18-year-old Steven White had been tearing up the Reserves, and deserved to make his first start of the year at defensive midfielder. For Simon Blake, who I named on the left wing, it was his first start in a Blades jersey, though he'd had one at Chelsea two years ago. Graham Allen manned the right wing. The attacking midfielders were Phil Davidson and Joe Newell, a fairly lethal pairing. At striker, £2.4M summer signing James Bradley made his first career start at the age of 17.

I asked the lads to start off conservatively, but they took off straight up the park from the opening kickoff, and within 20 seconds Joe Newell had sprung the pacey James Bradley into the box. Only a wonderful save from close range by long-time MK Dons keeper Scott Bevan denied him. The first quarter hour were, as expected, completely in the hands of the Premiership club, and a goal looked inevitable. It did come - but entirely against the run of play.

Irish midfielder Sean Thornton took a throw-in deep on the right side, and played it to Stuart Lewis almost at the end line. The 22-year-old played it back to Thornton, who showed off his tremendous crossing ability with a perfect ball to the near post. Captain Dave Kitson rose above new man Benjamin Herzog, and when Chris Brown mis-read it, moving to catch it, Kitson had an easy header at an open goal. The County Ground crowd of 15,672 had surely not believed in a giant-killing when they bought their tickets, but they let loose a tremendous roar for their lads. It was a disastrous start for my two talented youngsters, and would be a real test of their composure.

With the crowd behind them and an early lead, it was as though Swindon Town were lulled into thinking they could play even with us. They had players forward in the 21st minute, just four minutes after their goal, when Ben Hammond won control with a perfectly timed sliding tackle. Joe Keenan took it over, and started a lightning-quick counter attack, playing it through Bradley to Graham Allen. From the center circle, he knocked a long aerial ball to Simon Blake, who nodded it down for Keenan trailing. The defense was thoroughly out of shape by that point, and Phil Davidson had slipped free of any mark. Keenan launched a great ball forward for the 21-year-old, who raced into the area and ripped a low shot past Bevan. It was his first-ever goal for Sheffield United. The instant reply knotted things at 1-1. Better, it silenced the crowd and seemed to take the stomach out of our hosts.

For the rest of the half, we appeared by far the most dangerous side, but could do nothing in the final third. Our pace was far too much for Swindon to handle, and Graham Allen's brilliant dribble up the right side should have resulted in a goal - he had men open, but chose to linger with it too long, letting the defense recover before trying a cross.

Simon Blake was utterly disappointed to be forced off by injury on the half-hour mark, but I wasn't going to let anyone get hurt in what amounted to a glorified friendly in my eyes, and Jonathan Forte replaced him. Allen might well have gotten his assist shortly before the half, sending a fine pass into the run of James Bradley. The youngster showed wonderful pace with a long dribble up the center, but blazed it well over the bar when it came time to finish.

At halftime, it remained 1-1, and though we'd controlled the play, I was beginning to wonder if I shouldn't have seasoned the side with a few more veterans - though it might seem to Rupert Wormwood that I'd treated the team selection cavalierly, I did want to progress to the next round.

I shouldn't have worried: in the 51st minute, Forte proved the spark we needed. We were running the perimeter passing game, working it back and forth around the outside of the Swindon area. When Forte took control on the left, two men closed down on him, and he cut a low ball through two defenders for the perfectly timed run of Davidson. The nearest defender was marking Bradley, and with time and space 12 yards from goal, Davidson doubled his tally to put us up, 2-1.

That was the decisive moment, as it turned out - though Swindon tried their best to get back into it, they never did find a way to beat young Chris Brown, who looked fine in goal. Michael Field replaced Bradley in the 69th minute, and with the game seemingly in hand in the 77th, I decided to bring Bruno Cheyrou on. It was only his second match after injury, following that Reserve appearance, but I wanted him to get some match practice.

He hadn't been on the pitch two minutes when he made a difference. Debutant right back Benjamin Herzog won a header on the right wing, which Allen chased into the corner and sent in a low cross. Swindon defender Mark Bentley headed it clear, but crumpled behind him was the French midfielder. The ref ruled that Bentley had pushed Cheyrou, pretty much right on the penalty spot, and that gave us a chance from 12 yards.

With the game in relatively good shape, it was defender Ben Hammond who stepped to the spot with the chance to score, and he didn't try anything tricky, putting it square in the center of the right half of the net. It was the first goal of his career, and made it a solid 3-1 lead.

Cheyrou nearly had a second assist in the waning minutes, when his fantastic through ball put Field into the box, but the youngster squandered the chance by hitting it straight to Bevan. Still, the hosts weren't really threatening, and a short two minutes of injury time were given before full time was blown and we were through to the fourth round.

Swindon 1, Sheffield United 3

Kitson 17; Davidson 21, 52, Hammond pen 81

MoM: Newell

With his first two goals in a Sheffield United kit, I'd expected Phil Davidson to earn Man of the Match honours, or perhaps Graham Allen, who had defied the odds to last ninety minutes for only the second time all season.

No, instead, it was Joe Newell, who hadn't been involved in any of the goals, but had done a remarkable job filling in as the 'creative force' in the attack, connecting 82% of his passes, and showing real grit and hustle in defense as well.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 4th January, 2010.

In the other matches of interest, the big news from the day was Harrogate Town 2, Wigan Athletic 1! The little Conference side had beaten their Championship opposition, which had all but affirmed the already clear indicators that Wigan would be suffering the drop at season's end. Arsenal and Liverpool had battled to a scoreless draw, which would mean a replay.

I was disappointed to note the final from Leicester, where City had handed York a 4-0 drubbing. Halfway through the season, the boys of Bootham Crescent were looking like real candidates for the drop as well. Non-conference side Slough Town had been seen off by Newcastle United by the same score line, while Conference side Southend and the University of Bath had drawn 1-1.

Our victory hadn't come without a price, as I learned when I saw Martin Baverstock's report: Simon Blake and Phil Davidson had both suffered chest injuries, and would each miss the better part of a week.

The Fourth Round draw followed today. We were one of the last balls out, and drew a home tie against Burnley on the 16th. Burnley were 17th in the Championship, and with a home tie I figured it was a good opportunity to get some fringe players work. The non-League teams looked like their seasons would come to a close: Harrogate Town had drawn an away game to Preston North End, while the winner of the Southend/Team Bath replay drew away to Leicester.

The big speculation locally swirled around Florent Sinama-Pongolle: both Blackburn and Chelsea had come in with bids which exceeded Keegan's original offer for him. Clearly, they were both concerned about the prospect of the league's two top scorers lining up side by side!

I didn't want to let on that he had a £20M release clause, as the bids were inching that direction. I was getting worried that somebody might meet it, but I gave them each the same line I'd given Newcastle: £30M spread over twenty-four months was sufficient to pry him away; anything lower was just wasting my time.

I also started a hurried negotiation with his agent to see if he would sign a new contract without the minimum-fee release clause.

[briancloughisthebest]

wow this is a good story have you ever considered posting it on another forum

[BobBev]

Originally posted by briancloughisthebest:

wow this is a good story have you ever considered posting it on another forum

What are these other forums of which you speak? Surely FMS is the pinnacle, the very top of the pyramid in the rarefied atmosphere of footy story writing? Take this sacrilege elsewhere for it has no place here

[briancloughisthebest]

i mean the neoseeker football manager story forums.You should check some of the storys outnone of them are as good as this story though so it would boost the site to put it on but it's up to amaroq isn't it

[Amaroq]

Thanks for the compliment, brian, but no, I haven't considered posting it on any other site.

In fact, that brings up something I'd like to point out: No other site has my express written permission to host this story.

If you are reading this at any URL other than http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/97319217/m/1832017673/p/7, please be aware that you are reading an unauthorized and illegitimate copy. I strongly recommend you leave the unscrupulous site that you are on, and support the official SI Games website by reading the story there.

Thank you.

[Amaroq]

Re-set: at the bottom of Pg 6, we'd fielded transfer offers from three teams for Florent Sinama-Pongolle:

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 5th January, 2010.

"I've signed a new contract... with Real Madrid."

No, thank God. It wasn't Florent who was in my office. It was 17-year-old attacking midfielder David Parker.

His contract was expiring at the end of the season, and on the advice of coach John Richards - who thinks that, despite 6 goals and 4 assists from 19 games, Parker may never improve beyond his current level - I'd declined to offer him an extension despite his blazing pace. When he told me he'd signed with Madrid, I thought at first that it was a joke, but no, the requisite paperwork arrived in the afternoon.

A quick discussion with Stuart McCall cleared up my confusion. It wasn't technically a Bosman transfer, but since I hadn't made any contract offer to the youngster, he was technically free to sign with any club after the first of January, and we wouldn't even receive compensation for discovering him!

Disappointing! The transfer would go through on the 1st of July, 2010.

I was much more relaxed an hour later, after having my morning coffee and reviewing the morning's faxes: all three teams had withdrawn their bids for my leading striker. Now - or so I thought - it was just a matter of agreeing a new contract, preferably through 2014 or 2015.

The Oceania Nations Cup got underway in Australia. Its quite inconveniently timed, I must say, as with five games over the next nine days, we'll be sorely missing Hayden Foxe while he gets overworked. Since Steve Foster had suffered a strained wrist in the weight room, that meant Ben Hammond would be getting the action until Foxe returned.

Foxe was in excellent form as Australia kicked off the tournament with a convincing 7-0 win over Samoa. The match was hardly close, with Australia out to a 2-0 lead after fifteen minutes, and 4-0 at the half. Hapless Samoa didn't even get a shot off, which is a testament to how thoroughly Foxe and his defensive mates had controlled the match.

I turned off the T.V. - no, I hadn't been up at three in the morning to watch it, but I have a TiVo set up to record just about any broadcast match of interest in my office - and as I left Bramall Lane, I was accosted by a female reporter from The Star.

It was about ten at night, and she was the only one hanging around waiting for me, so in respect for her dedication to the job, I told her I'd answer one question.

"One question, eh? Okay. You lost to the Gunners 5-0 in August despite having what was clearly your strongest lineup - with Bruno Cheyrou and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson both in the starting eleven. Without them, there are many who aren't giving the Blades even a whisper of a chance. How do you think your team will get on against Arsenal?"

It was a tough question - I didn't want to offend any of my players by appearing overconfident or underwhelmed, so I answered,

"We're just going to go out and play. We showed last year that we could beat them, and I think the lads are hoping for a measure of revenge tomorrow."

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 6th January, 2010. Premier League - Game 23, vs Arsenal.

England's best hope of deposing Chelsea came to Bramall Lane as our next opponent. As much as I wanted to see the dominant Blues deposed, I wasn't about to give the Gunners a break. They'd been in first for much of the season, but a lucky recent bobble had seen them drop points in their last three games, a 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough followed by draws against Portsmouth and Liverpool, a streak which had allowed Chelsea to take over the league lead. Our series with them had been split last year, with the home side winning each game, 0-4 in London and 3-1 on our turf. They'd utterly embarassed us earlier this season, and the lads were alternately looking forward to some revenge, and worried about a repeat. Their incredible offense starred three players with more than 10 goals already - Olic, Pizarro, and Henry - and was leading the league in goals scored, but luckily two of the three were out injured.

Facing them was the top lineup I could field. Allan McGregor remained in goal, despite the acquisition of Carrol, who wasn't yet match fit. Sean Dillon, David Rozehnal, and Keith McCormack were joined in the back line by Ben Hammond, the 20-year-old filling in for absent captain Foxe. Mathieu Berson was having a stalwart year as the defensive midfielder. Joe Hamill on the left wing was averaging a rating of 7.55. New signing Jermaine Pennant made his debut on the right side, to a warm welcome from the sell-out crowd of 32,982 when his name was announced. The attacking midfield still had some holes, but partnering talented 20-year-old Robert Cousins with Canadian international Iain Hume gave me a duo I was condifent with. Peter Weatherson continued to sub in for Sinama-Pongolle, but the French striker was available off the bench at need.

To some it might have seemed madness, but I utilized the exact same tactic which had produced the 0-5 defeat: the conservative counter. I seemed justified when we made a good start to the match, and Jermaine Pennant seemed to be fitting well into the squad. We dodged an early bullet when Edu sent a 25-yard free kick whistling over, but surprisingly we seemed to be in control, constantly pressuring down in the Arsenal end. Sure, they were missing Thierry Henry and Ivica Olic with injury, but I'd expected better from a title contender!

In the 11th minute, Joe Hamill worked over both Fredrik Ljungberg and Andreas Görlitz on the left side, and sent a low pass into the area for Robert Cousins. Peter Weatherson, utterly unmarked, stepped in front to intercept it, and drilled a wonderful shot to the top-left corner from 12 yards. The sold out crowd erupted in noise as the scoreboard operator showed us up early, 1-0!!

Pennant, on his debut, continued to impress, and I especially appreciated his ability and willingness to contribute on defense. After a failed corner kick, it was he who hustled back, taking up a position in central defense and heading clear a dangerous cross - a definite attitude of 'if it needs to be done, do it', which would endear him to any manager.

We were still looking the dangerous side when Arsenal's Imre Szabics was pinched against the right sideline by two defenders. He hastily knocked a ball backwards, which Görlitz trapped nicely 40 yards from goal. The German right back launched an aerial ball into the six, a real 'hit and hope' effort. Keith McCormack looked to have position, but Claudio Pizarro muscled him off the ball and won the header, which he planted to the top corner of the near post for an unlucky equalizer. Young McCormack looked around in disbelief, obviously expecting a foul, but the referee was ruling 'goal' and the linesman was no help. It would be 1-1.

After an exciting start, the match settled down into a defensive affair, with both sides clearly respecting the other's offensive prowess. The last three matches between the teams had all had four goals or more, so perhaps a bit of wariness was to be expected after the quick start. The next big break in the game was Pennant's: unfortunately, it was that he took an elbow to the jaw from fullback Paul Konchesky, and he would need to be taken off for x-ray. Victor Sikora replaced him, though the halftime whistle followed before he could really make a mark on the game.

I don't think much was said at halftime - I simply told the lads they could win this - but both sides came out looking for a goal to start the second period. Peter Weatherson's header, virtually right off the opening kickoff, put Iain Hume through on goal from thirty yards out. It was a golden opportunity, but Shay Given showed just why he's earned 108 caps for Ireland with a stunning one-on-one save, and Samuel Kuffour put it out for a throw just before Weatherson reached the rebound.

Seconds later, it was Arsenal's turn on a lovely counter. I may never know how they failed to score: they had a 4-on-3 breakaway, and Nicolae Mitea's superb pass had Pizarro in stride from 12 yards out. He rifled in a half volley, and though I've watched the replay a dozen times, it still seems impossible that Allan McGregor got a hand to it to tip it wide.

It was real end-to-end stuff for a while there, with Edu trying his luck from range a few times, and Hamill sending in several crosses from the left. The hour mark came and went, still level, and in the 64th minute, David O'Leary made a triple change for Arsenal. One of the players who came on was Kolo Abib Touré, and when Arsenal earned a free kick from 30 yards a minute later, the Ivory Coast defender - who has played every one of his 295 professional games for Arsenal - stepped up to take it. He isn't famous for his kick-taking ability, but he got a lucky deflection off of Sikora which redirected his shot into the back of the net, past the wrong-footed McGregor. It was the 28-year-old's only goal of the season, and the 12th of his career, but it gave us a 1-2 deficit with time suddenly in scarce supply.

I had on the bench Bruno Cheyrou and Florent Sinama-Pongolle, both recovering from injuries of different severity, and I responded by bringing them both on, for Cousins and Weatherson, respectively. Progressively moving through different tactics brought no joy, however, as Arsenal switched to that deep defensive shell which we've always found so difficult to crack. The patient 4-5-1, the patient 3-5-2, and eventually, a desperation 3-5-2 with everybody trying to contribute to the attack all amounted to very little, and a short two minutes of stoppage time was all we got.

Sheffield United 1, Arsenal 2

Weatherson 11; Pizarro 20, Touré 65

MoM: Hamill

The lads looked spirited afterwards: Joe Hamill could rightly be happy with his Man of the Match award. None of his teammates seemed too unhappy with the result, save perhaps Allan McGregor, who had to know his job security was entirely gone.

Even the crowd gave us a warm round of applause after the match, more than I thought we deserved.

[Amaroq]

Thursday, 7th January, 2010.

"Its dislocated, not broken." That was the good news from Martin Baverstock. £1.5M signing Jermaine Pennant wouldn't be missing several months, but he was still going to be out for the rest of January, and possibly into February. It would be back to Victor Sikora and Graham Allen splitting time on the right, in the meantime.

The bad news was that the loss had dropped us beneath Aston Villa and Middlesbrough: we were now 9th, and outside the European places for the first time in several months. We deserved it - it hadn't been a scintillating run of good form lately.

In Australia, the home side beat Tahiti 5-0 in their second Oceania Nations Cup game. It took until the second half for the match to get out of hand: it had been 1-0 at the break, and 2-0 after 70 minutes, before a late flurry of goals put it out of reach. Hayden Foxe played 90 minutes for the second time in three days - I was really coming to hate this tournament - but he played well, as did the entire defense. Tahiti didn't have a single shot.

Oddly, the Australians were the only team with six points from the two games, and seemed odds-on-favorites to qualify for the finals (the top two teams of six would advance) - second placed New Zealand had suffered a 2-2 draw with Samoa, whom the Australians had defeated by seven goals.

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

1 Australia 6 2 0 0 +12

2 New Zealand 4 1 1 0 + 3

3 Solomon Islands 3 1 0 1 0

4 New Caledonia 3 1 0 1 - 2

5 Samoa 1 0 1 1 - 7

6 Tahiti 0 0 0 2 - 6</pre>

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 9th January, 2010.

The ashen taste of irony filled my mouth. Just days after he had signed with Real Madrid, young David Parker had exploded for a hat trick in our 4-2 Under-18 win over Stoke City U-18s. Obviously he was the Man of the Match, and the fact that he'd worn the captain's armband for the match only made it worse. Steven Howard added the fourth goal, a piece of insurance in the 84th minute. 17-year-old striker Scott Lee twisted his knee in the first half; he would miss about a week.

Worse, though, was the press interest: suddenly Parker had become a household name in England (at least for a day or two), if only from the human interest story

"Why is a kid who his own team wouldn't offer a contract to suddenly drawing interest from the Spanish giants?"

I actually had to host a press conference after the Reserve match to address it. Rupert Wormwood took a particular glee in asking me pointed questions about it, and for my part, perhaps its petty, but I gave him "No comment" to questions I'd have answered from a stranger.

In other news, Micky Adams, the former manager of Fulham - who had been sacked this November, despite having taken them to 11th, 12th, 9th, and 11th in the four seasons after taking over a 17th-place relegation battler - was named as the Manchester City manager. His first task would be getting the 'other' Manchester club out of the relegation battle: in 16th, they were only 2 points clear of West Bromwich Albion.

In Australia, the Aussies had won what was widely expected to be their most difficult challenge of the Oceania Nations Cup, beating New Zealand 4-0. Hayden Foxe again lasted ninety minutes, playing well as, for the third straight match, his defense limited the opposition to without a single shot. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was joking about not getting match fit thanks to the quality of his defenders.

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 10th January, 2010. Premier League - Game 24, at Blackburn.

We had slipped to 9th place, and Blackburn, in 11th, were poised to leap past us with a win - in fact, they had two games in hand over most of their nearest competitors, and one over us. Champions in 1995/96, they'd suffered a long fifteen years since, having fallen from top of the table to the Championship in just five seasons. Since coming back up, they'd had five straight mid-table finishes, between 12th and 15th, before improving to 6th last season. Our last three matches with them painted an odd picture: a 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane in the F.A. Cup was followed with an 0-5 defeat at Ewood Park. Our lads had extracted their revenge with a 6-0 pounding this season, and it was impossible to tell which of the three matchups would result from our first trip to the small city north of Manchester this season.

Facing them, Allan McGregor remained the fit goalkeeper. His defense consisted of Joe Keenan, captain David Rozehnal, Ben Hammond, and Keith McCormack, all but one of whom had faced Arsenal on Wednesday. Steve Newton spelled Berson at defensive midfielder. Jonathan Forte made his tenth start on the left wing, with Victor Sikora on the right. Juan Carlos Valerón got what I hoped was his final start of the season in the attacking midfield, with young sharpshooter Joe Newell partnering him. Florent Sinama-Pongolle wasn't entirely match fit, but I wasn't about to play with babying my leading scorer: he returned to the starting lineup as soon as he had the fitness to last.

We nearly got a golden start, as Ben Hammond found Juan Carlos Valerón up the left wing in the second minute. He may not have much pace, but the Spaniard still has a brilliant touch, and he played it at pace for Florent Sinama-Pongolle. The defense was converging on the French striker, but Jonathan Forte stepped in front of the pass, and raced into the box, thoroughly surprising everyone. If he hadn't fired wide, it would have been a brilliant move - but when he missed, I found myself yelling at him to let the striker take that.

Blackburn seemed leery of us, perhaps remembering their 6-0 pounding earlier, and really didn't venture forward much at all. Most of the first half felt like a sparring match: Hammond was playing an excellent game in defense, but neither side was committing players forward, instead choosing to keep a tight defense. Victor Sikora nearly got his first assist, playing a low pass to Joe Newell in the box on 37 minutes, but the 20-year-old's first time shot was denied on a fine save by Blackburn netminder Craig Gallagher. That left it scoreless at the break, and in all honesty it didn't look like either side was going to score.

Sinama-Pongolle has scored at least a half dozen goals on the fast break this season, but when he broke clear of the Blackburn defense on the hour mark, he didn't have the stamina to finish it off. His shot went weakly down the middle, an easy save for Gallagher and probably his worst effort of the season. It was a clear sign of his missing match fitness, but he was still moving well, so I left him on.

Instead, I brought on Bruno Cheyrou, hoping that he would inspire the creativity needed to break down the Blackburn defense - and I got almost that result immediately. In the 71st minute, the cultured French midfielder slipped around a defender and into the box, but struck it high and wide with his left foot. A few more matches to recover his accuracy, and that will be a goal, I suspect.

Two minutes later, his through ball set up Sinama-Pongolle, who drilled a shot high, hard, and just over the bar. Still, it looked much more dangerous than any move since the second minute.

Peter Weatherson and Danny Payne came on in the final twelve minutes, giving Sinama-Pongolle and Steve Newton a rest, as both had been working hard. Unfortunately, that seemed to end the creative burst - though Forte's long low pass in the 88th found Joe Newell in the box. The youngster is much better with his right foot, but tried a left-footed shot from 16 yards out, which Gallagher tipped over, preserving the shutout, the draw, and his Man of the Match honours.

Blackburn 0, Sheffield United 0

----; ----

MoM: Gallagher (Blackburn GK)

It had been a dull, dreary match, and I suspect the fans had been expecting some goals - after all, with 0-5 and 6-0 games on the books between the two sides, why not a 4-4 shootout for the fans?

Personally, I was happy with the point on the road - but I wasn't about to say so to the media!

The draw, incidentally, had left us with the odd record of 8-8-8 from 24 games.

[Amaroq]

Tuesday, 12th January, 2010.

The headline news for Tuesday morning, at least in the local papers, was the return of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson to the training pitch. The attacking midfielder had suffered a broken collarbone back in late November, after a collision with two of our central defenders in training. Despite the original prognosis of two months, he'd been working hard in rehabilitation and his doctors cleared him to get back to action two weeks early. Of course, he'd lose those two weeks coming back up to match fitness, I was sure, but it still gladdened my heart to have the two-time Supporter's Player of the Year back on the pitch.

His return was marred by another training injury, as David Marek Rozehnal took a cut which would wind up requiring stitches while battling for a ball. I don't expect it to really affect the Czech defender, however, as we have two weeks until our next league game.

In the Oceania Nations Cup, yet again, dominant Australia didn't concede a single shot - that's four straight matches in which the opposition hasn't even tried a howler from forty hards which threatens the corner flag, not just 'no shots on target'. Hayden Foxe had played all ninety minutes of every game, which certainly had me rethinking whether any squad rotation is necessary for my center backs.

The result? A hat trick for Danny Allsopp and a 4-0 win over New Caldeonia that clinched their berth in the Finals with a match yet to play.

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

Q 1 Australia 12 4 0 0 20 0 +20

2 Solomon Islands 7 2 1 1 6 5 + 1

3 New Zealand 7 2 1 1 7 7 0

4 New Caldeonia 6 2 0 2 4 9 - 5

- 5 Samoa 2 0 2 2 4 12 - 8

- 6 Tahiti 0 0 0 4 3 11 - 8</pre>

Closer to home, Micky Adams got a 3-0 win over Everton in his debut game as Manchester City manager. It almost makes one wonder where that team had been all season!

[Amaroq]

Friday, 15th January, 2010.

Our Reserve match in Manchester on Wednesday was full of first-teamers trying to gain or recover match fitness. Roy Carroll made his first start in goal, and earned a clean sheet. Sean Dillon wore the captain's armband, just trying to retain his edge, while Steve Foster got a workout in central defense. Bruno Cheyrou lasted 67 minutes in attack, earning Man of the Match though he left with the game still scoreless. Peter Weatherson was unimpressive as the striker. The big news, the best news for us, was the return of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson: he played the final 23 minutes, and decided the game. It was the 91st minute when we earned a free kick within the arc, and he struck a beautiful 20-yarder over the wall and into the top corner to give us a 1-0 win over Manchester City Reserves.

Australia completed their defensive tour de force the same day, completing the entire Oceania Nations Cup group stage without conceding even a single shot on goal. Hayden Foxe again played ninety minutes, earning his 47th cap for country in a 3-0 win over the Solomon Islands. Coupled with New Zealand's 3-1 win over New Caldeonia, it meant that the two favorites would be facing each other in the finals.

Tahiti, who had reached the Final in 2008, salvaged some pride with a 1-1 draw against Samoa, at least avoiding the complete shutout.

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

Q 1 Australia 15 5 0 0 23 0 +23

Q 3 New Zealand 10 3 1 1 10 8 + 2

3 Solomon Islands 7 2 1 1 6 8 - 2

4 New Caldeonia 6 2 0 3 5 12 - 7

5 Samoa 3 0 3 2 5 13 - 8

6 Tahiti 1 0 1 4 4 12 - 8 </pre>

In the F.A. Cup 3rd Round replays, Arsenal beat Liverpool, 2-1, and it was the semi-pro side from the University of Bath who knocked off Southend United, earning a place in the Fourth Round.

On Thursday, Portsmouth, 18th-placed in the Premier League, hired Jürgen Klinsmann to be their new manager. The one-time Germany manager had been sacked from both Tottenham and Manchester City despite winning more games than he'd lost. His 4-1-3-2 is a bit too defensive for some English clubs, but if it gets Portsmouth out of relegation danger, it'll be more than acceptable to Pompey supporters.

Friday, Graham Allen strained his groin in training. I'd hoped to start him tomorrow against Burnley, but instead he'll be off to see a specialist in London to try and prevent any recurrence. I expect the right winger to miss almost a month, and with both Allen and Pennant on the injured list, it leaves Victor Sikora my only quality right wing, though of course loanee Darren White and young Simon Blake can both fill in if needed.

In other news, midfielder Phil Davidson, high off the two goals he'd scored in the F.A. Cup tie, went out on another three-month loan to League One. This time, he joined Welsh side Wrexham, 10th in the division. Gary Thomas joined former defender Chris Morgan at Bristol Rovers, 18th in League One, for a three-month tour. The 18-year-old said he was delighted to get some first-team experience - ironically, he was replacing Davidson, who had completed a three-month stint there in the first part of the season.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 16th January, 2010. F.A. Cup - Fourth Round, vs Burnley.

Burnley fans had been on a real roller-coaster ride the past five seasons. In 2004/05 and 2005/06, they had been a solid mid-table Championship side, with aspersions of reaching the playoffs, though they missed out both years. The following year saw an abysmal relegation season, as they fell two points short on the last day. Winning the League One title the following year helped, and new manager Graham Rix led them to fourth place in the Championship last year, losing out in the playoff semi-finals. Everything had seemed poised for another promotion run this year, but it just hadn't come off. They were lingering in 15th place, well out of any discussion of either playoffs or relegation. The squad is led by strikers Adam Boyd and Simeon Jackson - nobody else is a real threat, but those two have combined for 20 goals. The last meeting between the clubs had been before my time, a 2-0 win for United in May 2006, with both in the Championship.

Roy Carroll made his first official start for Sheffield United in goal. The defense must have felt like a bunch of children to the 32-year-old: Brian Holmes, Jamie Cooper, Ben Hammond, and Benjamin Herzog between them had never had a 21st birthday. Steve Newton, the defensive midfielder, was also 20 years of age. The front half of the squad, however, was just about our regular lineup. Jonathan Forte was on the left wing, as I wanted to keep him happy with playing time, and Victor Sikora was on the right to help assuage the blow that bringing in Pennant had been. In the attacking midfield, I didn't expect Marc Bridge-Wilkinson to last sixty minutes, but I knew that a competitive match would be the quickest way to return him to match fitness. His partner was young Robert Cousins, making his tenth start of the season, while up front, Florent Sinama-Pongolle was still searching for the goalscoring form he's had before his injury. A match against lower-division opposition seemed the perfect way to prime the pump.

We had a sizable crowd on hand to cheer our endeavors, and the attacking front five I'd assembled clearly outclassed their lower-league brethren right from the start. Three forays into the Burnley area resulted in corner kicks, and it was on the third of these, in the 8th minute, that we found the net. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson drove a low, hard ball over traffic, and Jonathan Forte rose above Danny Smith just outside the six to drill a powerful header into the net. It was 1-0, and judging from the noise, there wasn't a visiting supporter in the house!

Over the rest of the first half, Burnley goalkeeper Danny Coyne single-handedly kept them in the game, with saves from Bridge-Wilkinson, Robert Cousins, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Victor Sikora, Cousins again, Sinama-Pongolle again, Sikora again, then Bridge-Wilkinson. Even fullback Brian Holmes got in the action, with a far-post header from a corner kick tipped over the board. Sinama-Pongolle's shooting looked as weak as a kitten, and he had three more shots easily saved before the halftime whistle.

At the intermission, we'd had an incredible 18 shots, with 15 of them on target, anywhere from the edge of the six to 40 yards out. Burnley hadn't yet managed a single effort, and it was only 1-0. I decided to encourage the lads to be a bit more patient, controlling play by passing around the perimeter until they found the 'perfect' shot, rather than letting Coyne rack up any more saves.

Burnley got their first shot off in the 46th minute, and it was saved easily enough by Roy Carroll, who has faced far more intimidating efforts in his 53 games for Northern Ireland. Holmes started limping shortly after the restart, and, not wanting the young fullback to injure himself, I brought him off for Joe Keenan. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson was visibly fatiguing as well, and on 57 minutes he gave way for Iain Hume. Sinama-Pongolle's shooting was getting better: his last shot of the first half had actually looked dangerous, threatening the lower-left corner though it still didn't have the power I was used to from him. In the 62nd minute, he showed off the power, putting his whole body behind a shot which forced the first truly phenomenal save from Danny Coyne.

It was clear who the better side was, and in the 66th minute, our constant pressure finally bore fruit. The tiring Burnley defense couldn't help giving us too much space to pass around in, and Sinama-Pongolle started the move by racing into the right-side corner. He passed back to Sikora outside the 18, and the Dutchman laid a thirty-yard lateral pass left for Forte. The goalscorer knocked a first-time pass back across the eighteen to Hume, on the right side and about sixteen yards from goal. With plenty of space, the Canadian drove a powerful shot back across to the far post, and Coyne was moving utterly the wrong way, unable to recover. The goal made it 2-0, and finally put the crowd of 30,765 at ease - they, like me, had been getting a bit nervous.

In the final minutes, both sides showed class, treating each other with a gentleman's respect. Ryan Smith, a 23-year-old striker, came closest to finding a late goal for Burnley, driving a right-footed shot from about waist high twelve yards out, but Carroll proved up to the task, and finished with a clean sheet.

Afterwards, it was sort of funny to see the celebrity-like nature of the post-match hand-shake. The Burnley players seemed really keen on getting the kits of Sinama-Pongolle, Carroll, and a few of our other players, and even those that didn't were still pleased to get a word.

Sheffield United 2, Burnely 0

Forte 8, Hume 66; ----

MoM: Forte

The young defense hadn't really been tested, and winger Jonathan Forte won Man of the Match with a goal and an assist.

If I was a little disappointed in the offense, that they hadn't been able to explode for more than two goals, well, that was why this group of individuals had been chosen for a Cup match against lower-league opposition. I could only hope the match had helped knock some of the rust off!

[Amaroq]

Sunday, 17th January, 2010.

Ta-Ta, Taylor!

In one of the cruelest sackings in recent memory, Manchester United skipper Peter Taylor has been given his marching orders today.

Widely considered one of the rising stars of English management, Taylor was sacked despite having the club within two points of the lead. The Red Devils are within one of Chelsea, who were thought to be uncatchable just as recently as this summer!

The club is, admittedly, fourth in the Premier League, but in with a realistic chance of winning the title in one of the closest title races in history. How can Mr. Gill fire him?

Under his guidance, the club won the F.A. Cup and UEFA Cup last season. If he was fighting in the lesser European competition, that's the fault of his predecessor, not the man himself. This season, he'd turned the club's leaky defense around, winning the Super Cup and the Asian/Euro Cup while amassing a record of 22 wins, 11 draws, and 4 defeats across all competitions.

Surely, when a manager has brought home the goods so impressively, for a club whose recent history includes both a 10th place and a 5th place since their last title, more time should be allowed. This isn't the club that won eight titles in an eleven year span!

Only once in the past five seasons has the club finished better than their current league position, and that was on a shockingly low point total, coming 2nd on less points than achieved fifth last year.

If there is any justice, Peter Taylor will find an appointment which befits his considerable talents, while the Red Devils will languish under whomever replaces him. What sane top-quality manager would want to take the job, when such obvious success meets such a poor reward?

Of course, I was mentioned as a possibility to replace him: I think my name comes up for any vacant job in England, at this point! I wasn't the favourite; that honour, oddly, went to former Manchester City manager Steve Bruce, who had been sacked last April, and hadn't found work since.

Though I thoroughly agreed with Rupert Wormwood's analysis, it was actually a tough decision for me!

I wouldn't really call myself a supporter, not the way the English mean it: I don't live and die by the club.

But, of all the top clubs in England, the legends of Old Trafford are the ones which speak to me: from Sir Bobby Charlton to the late George Best, from Eric Cantona to Ruud van Nistelrooy, from the hard working Roy Keane to the brilliant ball control of David Beckham... yeah, I confess, a United jersey, gift from Stacy's friend Ope, was the first replica kit I ever owned.

I was pretty sure I could do better than Bruce could, but did I want to put up with the pressure and expectations, for a shot at returning them to glory?

[Terk]

If you move to Old Trafford, I'll boycott the story

[Amaroq]

Monday, 18th January, 2010.

I needed time to think about it, and I started by perusing the scores from the other Fourth Round games. Leicester had drained the tepid Bath, 5-0, while Preston North End sent Harrogate Town home emptyhanded, 3-0. Both non-League teams had done phenomenally well to make it this far, and the money would help both programs for years to come. Still, it was a bit sad to see that the closest thing to a giant-killing was Fulham surprising Arsenal, 3-1, at Craven Cottage. Manchester United had drawn, 2-2, with Charlton Athletic, that being the result that apparently spurred Taylor's surprise departure.

I diverted myself a bit more by stopping by Saltergate Sunday afternoon to watch our U-18's thoroughly dismantle Stockport U-18's. Attacking midfielder Gary Phillips scored one goal, and defender Ross Crowe had another, but it was striker Jake Giles that really made the match. He scored a second-half hat trick with three goals after Stockport was reduced to ten men on a red card, netting the third deep into injury-time for a convincing 5-0 final.

Oddly, that cleared my mind: though I might once have been a 'fan', and I would surely wish them well if they weren't on the pitch, I really was committed to the Sheffield United experience. These kids were my kids, and I couldn't wait to find out if Keith McCormack was going to be as good as he looked; how Robert Cousins and Joe Newell would turn out; whether Ben Hammond was going to be an everyday player to rival Hayden Foxe; if Jake Giles or James Bradley were as phenomenal as I thought they'd be; and whether we could make it into Europe this season.

I'm sure the money would be there, at Old Trafford, and the glory, but I'd discovered.. its not about the money, or the glory.

[Amaroq]

I couldn't have that, Terk, I ask for your mod assistance too often. Glad to know you're still keeping up with the story!

[Amaroq]

Wednesday, 20th January, 2010.

"I can't believe you're really going to let my client go without a fight.

"All we want is £325,000 per-annum, and a promise of first team football."

Darren Gibson's agent was negotiating for an improved contract, as the 20-year-old striker's current deal was expiring in June. Unfortunately, their last bargaining point was becoming a show-stopper. He's a talented youngster, but he's not even in the starting lineup for Bolton down in the Championship, and he didn't seem to be interested in accepting anything less.

I'm actually willing to let him walk away - he doesn't really have the physique of a Van Nistelrooy or the pace of a Sinama-Pongolle, and I doubt he'll ever be a prolific Premier League player.

I was more interested in the draw for the F.A. Cup Fifth Round. The draw was down to sixteen teams, most of them Premier League and Championship opposition, so I was expecting more difficult opposition. Luckily, we dodged the biggest Premier League clubs, but we did draw away to Leicester City. With only two wins in the Premier League this season, it was clear that they were on their way back down, and I hoped we'd be able to add to their misery - we'd beaten them in our last three league meetings.

If it was good news from one Cup, there was bad, almost shocking news from the League Cup on Wednesday. Everton overcame a 2-1 loss in the first leg with a 3-1 win over Bristol City, and lowly Portsmouth dispatched Liverpool, 3-0. I was left to rue our second round exit to Bristol City, as one of the two survivors will be playing in Europe next season! That's made it one step tougher for us to qualify via League position.

European qualifying, if you're American or otherwise unfamiliar with England, works like this: the top four teams from the Premier League qualify for the Champions League - or at least for one of the Champions League qualifying rounds. Then, there are three spaces which qualify for the UEFA Cup. The first of these goes to the League Cup winner, while the second goes to the F.A. Cup winner, and the third to the fifth place team from the Premier League. If, however, you have a situation like last year's, where first-place Chelsea and fifth-placed Manchester United won the two Cups, the places 'default' out. The F.A. Cup place is awarded to the loser (if they haven't also qualified). Then, the places are awarded to the sixth and, if applicable, seventh-place finishers in the League. So, since the League Cup was guaranteed to be awarded to a team outside the top six, a seventh-place finish would no longer do it for us. There was still the 'back door' entry - the next two League finishers have the chance to come in through the Inter-Toto Cup, but we'd have to claw our way back up into the top eight just to earn that opportunity.

Thinking about that, I realized that it might actually be easier to qualify via the F.A. Cup at this rate: only two of the four title-chasing teams were still alive, with Chelsea through to the round of 16, and Manchester United facing a replay at Charlton Athletic. Liverpool had fallen to Arsenal, and the Gunners had been surprised by Fulham in the Fourth Round. With a lucky draw and some good play, we stood every chance of reaching the Final, where we would either face a beatable team with a European berth on the line, or have clinched a spot directly thanks to the 'loser qualifies' rule.

We'd be doing it without Jamie Cooper, as the 20-year-old central defender had suffered a strained groin. He would require a month of physiotherapy. I'd been holding out on sending him off on loan, but with the injury, I decided that when he came back I'd offer him out for a 3-month tour, February through May, with some League One club.

A more traditional Reserve match than our last was played on Wednesday, a 2-0 win over Leeds Reserves that featured primarily players who weren't seeing first team action. Noel Hunt and James Bradley scored the goals. Allan McGregor, in his first match away from the 'A' squad, earned Man of the Match for the shutout. Joe Newell suffered a bruised rib in the closing minutes, but I'd already decided to start Iain Hume against Palace on Saturday.

[Amaroq]

Saturday, 23rd January, 2010. Premier League - Game 25, vs Crystal Palace.

If we had any hope of qualifying for Europe from the league, a home match against 17th-placed Palace was a must-win. They were part of the Championship class of 2008 with us, and had placed 16th last year, the first time they'd avoided relegation since the early '90's. This year they were 17th, a single point clear of the relegation zone, and that only thanks to a 3-1 win over Portsmouth in their last match, which had broken a six-game losing streak. We'd pounded them, 4-0, in our first meeting this season, and hadn't lost to them since I'd taken control of the club: three wins and a draw.

Though we had Chelsea waiting mid-week, I couldn't take a chance on anything less than my full-strength lineup. Roy Carroll made his first league start in goal, with the first-choice defense this time: Sean Dillon, David Marek Rozehnal, captain Hayden Foxe, and young phenom Keith McCormack. Mathieu Berson was again the defensive midfielder. 25-year-old Joe Hamill was looking like a great acquisition on the left wing. Right wing Victor Sikora was still in the odd vortex of playing well, but not ever having contributed a goal or assist. In the attacking midfield, I paired Bruno Cheyrou with Iain Hume, and Florent Sinama-Pongolle was back as my starting striker. I told the lads I didn't want them to start slow, and asked them to go forward in attack, with the patient passing we'd employed in the second half against Burnley.

We had two great chances in the first 45 seconds, all started by Victor Sikora getting a touch to steal possession in midfield. Sean Dillon's lovely low pass put Sinama-Pongolle through past the last defender but wide left. Palace captain David Wright recovered to get a boot on the striker's shot from 12 yards. That nearly redirected it in at the near post, but a desperate Michael Quinn pushed at away. Sinama-Pongolle retained control, dropping it back to Dillon, whose cross was headed clear, but held in by Bruno Cheyrou at the arc. Rather than try the shot, he played a wonderful low pass to Iain Hume, with an easy chance from ten yards. Quinn made a diving stop, and the Canadian couldn't believe it, holding his head in his hands - he really should have scored from there.

Another Sikora steal in the fifth minute started our next move, playing Sinama-Pongolle through on a fast break. He hit Bruno Cheyrou in stride, and the cultured Frenchman knocked his first touch past the last defender for the run of Iain Hume. He came in from the diagonal, firing from the corner of the six, but clanged it off the crossbar! Two golden chances for the Canadian, two heartbreaking misses! At least Skiora was showing why, even if he isn't getting assists, he's a valuable member of the squad.

We looked in complete control, hardly threatened at all, but the half continued in much the same vein: every shot either curled wide or met Quinn's hands. In injury time, just before halftime, Cheyrou's wicked shot from the arc demonstrated that he was back to full match fitness. Quinn again proved up to the task, redirecting it around the post. Cheyrou had a second chance from the resulting corner, just inside the eighteen, but Quinn tipped that over as well, preserving the scoreless draw to the break.

Our players, well rested, seemed to have no fitness trouble, and the only change I made at halftime was reminding the lads to take their time. The crowd, in fine voice in the first half, was quieting, and may have been growing a tad restless, but I had confidence in the lads. It was repaid in the 57th minute. Victor Sikora again started possession, this time intercepting a pass and knocking it cross field to Joe Hamill. He played it back to Dillon, and it came across every member of the back line before Keith McCormack led Sikora up the right wing. He feinted towards the corner, then knocked a low pass central for Iain Hume. Some 35 yards out, the Canadian unleashed a venomous curler to the far post, which may have caught the 21-year-old Quinn napping. 30,349 came to their feet in wondrous adulation for the shot, a sure Goal of the Month candidate. Even better, Sikora had finally gotten his first assist!

There was no letup, either. With the crowd in full voice, Hamill's waist-high cross from the left side found Sinama-Pongolle pretty much on the penalty spot. He met it with a roundhouse left-footed shot, that caromed off of Nicky Hunt, only to strike the near post and bounce back into the six. The Frenchman nearly buried his own rebound, but Wright got in to clear just in the nick of time!

If the cultured striker felt hard-done by, he merely kept his head down and gave it another go. In the 70th minute, he took Sikora's short half-hop pass in the arc, chesting it down for himself before drilling a laser past Quinn to make it 2-0. I was delighted to see my leading scorer get back on the scoresheet, and could only hope it meant he was officially back in form!

With the match well in hand, I took the opportunity to rest three of our main contributers, giving 17-year-olds James Bradley and David Parker a fifteen minute run-out, along with 19-year-old winger Simon Blake. For Parker, the youngster on his way to Real Madrid, it was his professional debut - if he turns out to be a superstar, I don't want to be the manager who never gave him a chance!

The fans also got to say hello to my old friend Hugo Viana, who made a brief substitute appearance for Palace. They were merciless, and I gathered his loan spell hadn't made him any more popular with the Bramall Lane faithful than he was with me.

Sheffield United 2, Crystal Palace 0

Hume 57, Sinama-Pongolle 71; ----

MoM: Sikora

It had been more than a month since we'd won a League game, and Derek Dooley was all too happy to visit the locker room. Victor Sikora had finally broken his duck, earning the assist on both Sheffield United goals - it never rains but it pours, eh? - and he had thoroughly earned the Man of the Match honours.

[Amaroq]

Monday, 25th January, 2010.

"What do you think? Is it time?"

Stuart McCall had just finished a lengthy monologue: he'd pointed out that our top team had earned a draw against Chelsea earlier in the season, and reminded me about Hayden Foxe playing five games in nine days earlier this month. He'd made an impassioned argument that, with four days' rest from Saturday to Wednesday, I ought to let the first team run out at Stamford Bridge.

You know, you who have been following this account for six long years, how much I live and die by a squad rotation policy. It was almost heresy my right-hand-man was suggesting, but I had to consider it.

"I don't know," I answered, temporizing. "I'd rather take a sure three points from Everton, I'd say."

"Fortune favors the bold," he answered, and his trademark expression, so oft repeated, drew a genuine smile from me.

I promised I would sleep on it, at very least.

Victor Sikora's well-deserved accolades continued with his selection to the Premier League Team of the Week, the first time he'd earned that honor this season.

Winger Simon Blake, who had come on late against Palace, was out for about a week, having sprained his wrist after a particularly hard tackle in the closing minutes. It made me glad I'd let him replace Joe Hamill: I knew who I'd rather be missing!

20-year-old Nigerian defender Abubakar Shittu was called up to the senior side for the African Cup of Nations, which is infamous among Premiership managers for stealing away players during the heart of the season. In this case, it was little loss, as the youngster isn't playing much for us yet, seeing primarily Reserve action. He came on at the hour mark during Nigeria's 1-2 defeat by Tunisia, a match in which all three goals were scored before he joined the action. With Egypt, 3-1 winners over Benin, also in their group, Nigeria looked likely to be out after group play concluded.

In other news, I sent 17-year-old striker James Bradley out on a three-month loan to Bradford City, a team mid-table in League One. I hoped they'd give him some substantial playing time: I think the youngster has a lot of potential, but he isn't playing often enough here at Bramall Lane.

[Damien77]

Couldn't wait for the match with Chelsea.