Rob Ridgway's "Rat Pack"

[bingitz]

Been away for a bit but just caught up with everything. Ever the fantastic read! McGuire and Martin conspring? Juicy stuff!

[tenthreeleader]

Bingitz, thank you for catching up and for staying with the story! Things are moving right along now ...

___

Thursday, February 26

I’m angry enough to tear people limb from limb today. Thank goodness for my squad and my job, which kept me from flying to California to do just that. More on that in a bit.

We’re basking in a bit of a glow today after the impressive way in which we dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup. I myself am being praised in national media, which makes me wonder what I could possibly have done wrong.

I’m not used to that. No less a source than veteran Telegraph football writer Norman Strong has come out with words of admiration for the way my team played yesterday.

“The performance of Reading’s eleven yesterday should put paid to the notion that manager Rob Ridgway is tactically naïve,” he wrote. “What I saw at the Madejski Stadium was a strong, committed performance by a team that is being utilized as well as it can be by its manager. The Royals are far from a perfect side, with deficiencies in its back line that must be addressed sooner rather than later in order for their success to be termed anything more than temporary. But it cannot be denied that Reading are a capable, well-managed side.”

That made me feel good. I also didn’t mind basking in a little of the media’s glow for a change. I won’t deny that.

# # #

I didn’t need to make any excuses for our performance. Not so Benitez, who is now dealing with a spate of “Rafa Knows” headlines in the papers.

Of course, his inference was that we had somehow gotten to referee Lee Mason yesterday and as a result he had missed a couple of crucial “fouls” against his team. However, he had another, built-in, excuse and this morning he availed himself of it. Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t do it yesterday.

“We did not have Steven Gerrard,” he said, and that much was beyond dispute. He certainly hadn’t, and it is certainly fair to say that it might have been a bit of a different match had he been present.

“It is difficult to judge if we would have won if he had played,” Benitez said. “I do not believe Reading would have been the same team yesterday without Kalou, for example, but we have had key injuries and they have not.”

Surely Magallón would disagree with that, as would Pogatetz and Rosenior. But then, I suppose for an injury to be ‘key’, the opposing manager has to rate the player. That should motivate all three of my players right to the bitter end.

Despite my rants to the contrary, I’m really not a huge fan of making excuses when we lose. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened nearly as often as some people suspected it might at the start of the season, so I haven’t had a lot of practice. However, football is a game of streaks and momentum and lately I’ve had a bit more explaining to do than at other points in the season.

The Chelsea match was probably the low point in that regard. We got hammered but good and that has had an effect on the team that has taken weeks to shake. Personally, I won’t mind seeing this stretch of fixtures come to an end – after we face Arsenal we don’t play a Big Four opponent until the last match of the season with Liverpool and we could use a different set of opponents.

That isn’t to say the Big Four frightens us. They do not. I want to play those teams on a regular basis because it means we’ve arrived. Yet with our comparative slide in the table of late, I wouldn’t mind recharging a bit – which we’ll get to do over the coming weeks.

Now, though, the immediate challenge is Everton. We’ll make trips to Merseyside in successive weeks, starting with this weekend’s league fixture.

They’re getting close to us as well, which is not unusual among teams in the middle tier. While we have been drawing a bit too much for my liking of late, they’ve been winning. Currently they trail us by eight points and have a match in hand, so a result up there this weekend is pretty important.

Just as important for Madejski is the £120,000 we took out of the Cup match with Liverpool, now safely deposited in the bank. For a Premiership team that should still be chump change, but it’s better than nothing.

And most importantly, it’s the Fifth Round, which was the board’s goal. Nothing like satisfying people in positions of nominal authority like Sidney Richmond.

So with that particular wolf removed from my door, I went over Everton video with the squad as today’s first order of business. As was the case the last time we played, I want us to concentrate on Joleon Lescott, who hurt us from a set piece at our place and can certainly do the same at theirs.

We didn’t do such a good job of that the first time, so the annoyed manager in me would like to rectify that this time around. Our attention spans and intensity were good this morning – especially for the day after a match – so I think we’ll head off to Goodison Park in a good frame of mind.

We’ll fly out tomorrow afternoon so our preparation time at our home base will be minimal. At this point in the season, we’re pretty well into our routine, and having seen Everton before the players won’t need as much preparation time, but the manager’s work is never done.

After training today I sat in my office watching more video and silently stewing. The coaches arrived 30 minutes after training to break down another match and figure out what we’re still missing in our evaluations of the Toffees.

It’s the side of the game that no one sees, of course – and with Patty still gone I can throw myself into that task. My mood started to show through, though, and it didn’t take long for the staff to see that the boss wasn’t about to be crossed.

Finally, at about six o’clock, I dismissed the meeting. We headed our separate ways, but since it was still mid-morning on the American West Coast, my work was only beginning.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

“I’d like to speak with Adrian Levant, please.”

Fortified for the conversation I needed to have, I sat back in my office chair at home. In the background my DVR was taking the Blackburn / Arsenal match for my eventual viewing, while I waited for the attorney to pick up his private line.

“Mr. Levant, Rob Ridgway here,” I said. “Sorry to trouble you…”

“…not at all, Rob,” he replied. “I’ve been expecting your call. Your wife is here in my office, as a matter of fact. We’re discussing a few things this morning, including how to speed up her arrangement here with IMG so she can come home.”

That was the best news I’ve had in a long time and I told him so. “She said it was time to play hardball,” Levant added. ‘We are talking about how to best do that and we were about to call you in any event.”

“For me, it’s simple,” I said. “I am sick and tired of Peter McGuire and I want him removed from the picture in a way that isn’t going to get me thrown in prison.”

“There are a few ways to do that.”

“You’re the attorney, Mr. Levant,” I said. “And if you’re Patty’s attorney, you may as well be mine as well if you will take on my case. I’ve talked with my club’s general counsel and he’s not able to help me on a personal basis.”

“Well, in the United Kingdom, neither am I,” Levant replied, and my heart sank. “But the beauty of all this is that I know a few people. Here and in London, people who can represent you. But if you want my help in strategizing, I’m happy to provide it.”

“So, if you don’t mind my asking, how did you get involved in all this?” I asked.

“I do a lot of work with IMG,” he explained. “When I met your wife, she figured it would be a good idea not to avoid the public eye due to all the speculation that’s gone on about her, and about you. So she asked me to tag along with her one night when she went out to dinner. Frankly, I’m surprised at all the attention she’s getting – the speculation about her private life with an attorney so close by is really shocking to me.”

“Try living here,” I moaned. “It gets worse.”

“You have public relations representation, I understand,” he said.

“We do. Good man. Name of Freddie Eaton. He should have spoken to you by now.”

“He has,” Levant said. “You’ll need him now, but in a bit of a different way. After we get done with our strategizing, you’ll be on the offensive and you’ll need his services to keep you that way without overtly commenting on an existing case.”

“I like this already,” I admitted.

“When we’re done,” Levant said, “he won’t bother you any more.”

# # #

[JamboJen]

Fight, fight, fight!

[tenthreeleader]

Ah, Jen, you might want to bring some popcorn

___

Friday, February 27

We’re in Liverpool this evening, preparing for tomorrow’s clash with Everton.

I’ve got some decisions to make, not surprisingly, but the most important one is how much of our hand we tip to David Moyes with our FA Cup tie coming up in one week’s time.

I may well play an unchanged eleven in both of these matches, since we have a week between them. However, if I do that, we’ll need a wrinkle of some kind to make our look for the FA Cup tie different from the league event we’ll play tomorrow.

In choosing, though, the league must take priority – even as much as I’d like to win the FA Cup for the fans here. Somehow, I think they’d appreciate the Champions League a little bit more.

We’ll go into the match as the fourth place team. That’s because Emanuel Adebayor’s penalty gave Arsenal a 1-1 draw with Blackburn at Ewood Park last night. Steven Reid opened the scoring for Rovers three minutes after the interval but the home team couldn’t hold the lead. So Arsenal goes back above us on goal difference.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’re going to have to be good to hold our league position. The only member of the Big Four playing away tomorrow is Liverpool and they are at Charlton so they will be fancied to win.

Chelsea is home to Spurs in a London derby and even though Martin Jol’s men are playing better, they are still not going to be favored at the Bridge. Arsenal hosts Middlesbrough with Gareth Southgate’s team not able to beat anyone at the moment. And United will host West Ham, where they will also be favored to win.

We have the toughest assignment among the leaders by a considerable margin, and away from home to boot. We can’t change the schedule, of course, so we’ll have to make do. Eventually the fixture list will swing our way and we might have a bit of an advantage, but we can’t put ourselves in the position of playing must-win games at the end unless there’s no other option. The time for quality is right now - and every week until the end.

That’s asking a lot, but it’s what managers do.

# # #

I like what’s in store for McGuire. At least, what Levant has planned.

From the moment I got his first correspondence, last year in Padua, I’ve had a hard time understanding how so much arrogance could be crammed into so small a package.

Patty hasn’t forgiven herself for falling for his act and while I haven’t said a whole lot to her about it, part of me wonders how it could have happened. Of course, Patty also fell for me in time, so I really can’t completely fault her taste in men. I just like to think that one out of two isn’t bad.

He’s putting me in touch with a London solicitor and it’s possible Patty and I can get representation that will solve our problem. Also, I asked today if it was possible to file in the United States since that’s where Martin lives and it seems very likely that the contact they had was in America. Or else over the phone.

I’m also wondering why Paula either didn’t sniff this out or if she knew, inform either Patty or me. The supposedly strong relationship I have with my mother in law is about to be tested in a completely new way.

The thought of opposition to my marriage being endorsed by one of the families is really enough to make me take the pledge. There’s no excuse for that sort of interference. So as much as it pains me to say it, it may be time to cut ties.

I don’t like that, but if I’ve got no choice, I’ve got no choice. If Patty is really with me, she’ll understand.

# # #

[Polar Bear]

Not been on this forum for a while, but now I've caught up here at least

It's great to see this story go from strength to strength, long may Rob run

[Twellman24]

Just spent the past five days reading everything. I read at work, in between classes at the university, at home...I even printed a whole forum's page (48 printed pages) to take it to a weekend retreat with my wife. I think that'd give you an idea of how I was into this great story

And now I have nothing else to read. I guess I can only say, I'm here with the rest, and I'm waiting for updates! Keep it up, a Spaniard living in Oklahoma read you!

[tenthreeleader]

Polar Bear, thanks for staying caught up. I appreciate your dedication to reading this work. And Twellman, I really appreciate your kind words. Starting this story from the beginning is an effort and I thank you for doing so!

___

Saturday, February 28

Everton (11-11-4, 7th place) v Reading (14-10-3, 4th place) – EPL Match Day #28

I got good news in my morning e-mail. She’s ready to come home.

Patty will be flying home in a week, and frankly I’m thrilled. We’re actually going to meet at Heathrow after our second trip to Merseyside for the FA Cup Sixth Round tie against the Toffees. So as much as I was looking forward to today’s match and getting back into the league, I’m looking forward to next week’s even more.

And I’ve about had my fill of these trips to Los Angeles. I never thought marriage was supposed to be like that, and even though she needs her career and I understand that, I just don’t like what has been happening to us when we’re so far apart.

She’s a celebrity now, and when her pictures hit the publications it’s only going to get better for her. At the same time, it may well make things more uncomfortable for our marriage.

So now it’s time to stay together and stay close. I’ve got problems of my own – getting Reading into Europe by holding on to our league position is key to all that, of course – and I just don’t need the added distractions.

So far Madejski has been magnificent about everything but if we collapse down the stretch I could certainly see him becoming a little less settled with my situation. I can’t afford that and I can’t allow it to happen. So now is the time for my dear wife to be with me for awhile. She knows it, I know it, and it’s just time for it to happen.

I lay in my hotel bed thinking about how nice it would be to not be alone at home anymore. I’ve missed her, obviously, but the abortive attempts to get Patty to ply her trade in the States smack of something more than simple stardom to me.

There’s really no reason for me to think she couldn’t have done this in Europe. So there had to be another reason. Paranoia on my part?

I thought about it as I sank back down into the oversized pillows atop the king-sized bed. Thinking isn’t always good for me.

# # #

Munching on a piece of toast at breakfast, Dillon approached cautiously.

“You in a better frame of mind today, Rob?” he asked, sitting next to me.

“I was never in a bad frame of mind,” I answered.

“You couldn’t tell by looking at you. I think you need Patty back, if you don’t mind my saying.”

“I don’t mind at all, Kevin, not a bit. In fact, we’re working on that today.”

“Good,” he replied. “There’s been something different about you on the bench over the last couple of weeks and we need to have you at full speed if we’re to stay with the top four.”

That was the first admission by my deputy that my value to the team was both noticeable and needed. He has been good to work with all season, but the fact of the matter is that I was preferred over him for the position and it didn’t surprise me that Madejski’s preference rankled with him at times.

This was different. This was Kevin, in essence, telling me to pull my head out of wherever he thought I had placed it, and buckle down. I didn’t think it had gone anywhere, but the keenest observer of Rob Ridgway among the game staff evidently thought otherwise.

So I nodded. “Fair ball, Kevin,” I answered, using the baseball euphemism. “Anyway, I’m quite pleased, yes. So let’s get three points that we need today. We’re going to have to have our heads screwed on straight to win.”

Players began to arrive and took light breakfast items from a buffet table placed in the center of the room before retiring to tables placed in various places around the makeshift dining hall. A television was replaying the Sky Sports preview show and the players paid virtually no attention to it.

Instead, they were engaged in quiet conversations. I watched as the players devolved into their familiar groups – Faé with Kalou as fellow Ivorians, Magallón with Dagoberto, the defenders all as a group because they always are, the keepers as a group because they always are – and nodded with a sense of satisfaction.

That’s because the groups didn’t stay groups for the entire meal. There was crosstalk, there were gentle barbs being thrown about the room from one group to another – and it was all perfectly natural.

I didn’t say a word. We looked like a team. There’s just no substitute for that.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

I’ve mentioned earlier in this narrative that Everton played its home matches at Anfield for seven years. While nowadays supporters of both halves of the Merseyside derby would find that appalling, the Toffees moved to Goodison Park in 1891 because they wouldn’t pay £250 per season in rent.

Nowdays players seem to make that much money in a minute or so of play. Yeah, times have changed, but Goodison Park itself really hasn’t. At least not much.

It was the first stadium built for the purpose of playing football in England, and though every now and again someone talks about moving Everton out of its ancestral home, the resulting outcry from the support is usually enough to stop that kind of talk before it really starts.

There’s a sense of community in this place that is unique even among the tightly quartered stadia at some of the places we play. Like, for example, Portsmouth’s Fratton Park, Goodison is right up close to the homes of the paying customers. But Goodison takes it to the extreme.

Looking around the pitch and smiling at the sight of St. Luke the Evangelist Church, which sits snugly at one corner of the ground between the Gwladys Street End and the Main Stand against Goodison Road, my sense of history had again been fulfilled. Now I could get down to business with a personal superstition resolved.

I had had my look around. That was that. Striding back into the visitors changing room, I was fully focused on the task at hand.

# # #

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, so were the players. Despite their midweek exertions, we did start pretty well against an Everton side playing in front of just short of a capacity crowd.

We held possession for decent stretches of the first half, but due to having played at midweek in the replay, the eleven I selected – close to those who had beaten Liverpool – were not as fresh as Moyes’ players. After a time, those fresh Everton legs started to tell.

James Vaughan carved out the first full chance of the match on 19 minutes, but contrived to shoot wide from just ten yards from Mikel Arteta’s cross, after being left unmarked by our too-generous defense.

I got the feeling that many managers get after such miscues – the feeling you get when you almost smash up your car but manage to avoid the accident at the last possible moment.

Taking a cleansing breath, I returned to my pacing of the touchline. Around me, the players returned to their efforts but, like men sinking in quicksand, the harder they worked the worse off they became.

Since that was the opposite of what I intended, I suddenly found myself rooting for the halftime whistle so we could make some badly needed tactical adjustments. The midfield was getting overrun and it wasn’t entirely the result of tired legs.

It was the result of some very fluid passing by Everton’s engine room. They were finding seams in the 4-1-3-2 and when we would shift to cover them, they would switch play with some very nice work right through the center of the park. We couldn’t get the ball back from them and it seemed to me that this was one side that had my tactic pretty well figured out.

Some teams play us better than others in that regard, but my own evaluation of our play was tempered by the fact that most of the players had played on Wednesday. It didn’t change the fact that we were comparatively poor.

Thankfully, their chances were still comparatively few and far between, which made the necessary shift to 4-4-2 a little more palatable. They were on the attack throughout, though, with Arteta posing a particular threat.

Yet it was their new player – Gareth Barry – who was in control of things in a real and profound way. We just couldn’t account for him, which I felt was odd since they get the same number of players as we do at the start. It’s in the laws of the game.

Finally, we figured out a way to slow them down. Unfortunately, it was illegal, as Bikey caught Raúl right in the mush with his elbow, winding up in Steve Bennett’s book as a result. I really couldn’t argue.

While Raúl was flexing his jaw after the restart, Vaughan ran right over Kalou and somehow came out the worse for wear, needing repairs on the touchline. The sudden physicality of the contest started to worry me a bit.

Then Derek Boateng took a shot that looked like it would beat Lobont cleanly – but we caught a huge break when the ball took a deflection off Sonko and wound up deflecting right to Lobont, who gratefully clutched the ball to his chest. There are indeed some times when I would rather be lucky than good and this was definitely one of them.

Our first decent chance came on 34 minutes after Joleon Lescott held back Faé down the right. Maloney’s free kick into the six was quite useful indeed, looking for the noggin of Sonko. However, the defender couldn’t control his header and it flew harmlessly over the bar.

Pazienza then charged down Tim Cahill’s shot two minutes later, and the teams sort of staggered off to halftime without a clear dominating force. We had managed exactly one shot on target in the first half, which annoyed me given the offensive fluency with which we’ve recently played.

The players sat, looking a bit bewildered. I couldn’t blame them. But it wasn’t time to shout.

“Guys, we’re not hitting on all cylinders because they’ve got the tactic pretty well figured out,” I said. “Second half, we’re going to go to the counter. I want to see us use our energy constructively and see if we can’t hold these guys off for 45 minutes. I think you can. Show me I’m right. We’re due for a match like this.”

The looks of comparative surprise I received told me that I might have hit the mark with my words. I felt that encouraging performance from my players wasn’t going to be done with shouting – at least, not today.

We were in a goalless draw on the road. Sometimes that has to be a positive, even if you aren’t doing anything to encourage a winning goal in terms of your play.

We took the pitch for the second half to see a change from Everton: Derek Boateng off and the veteran Phil Neville on. We started a little more brightly in the second half, which was good since we had been so stinted in the first half.

Lescott had no choice but to grab an armful of Dagoberto’s shirt as he tried to sail by six minutes after the restart, winding up with a booking for his trouble. We looked like we had some verve.

Then Kitson put a useful ball forward, and found – Bikey, which I in turn found fascinating. He was so far out of position that I couldn’t help but wonder how he got there, and it wasn’t the least bit surprising that the central defender’s shot wound up rather closer to Pepe Reina’s goal at Anfield than Tim Howard’s at Goodison.

Watching him sprint back up the pitch to cover for himself would have been amusing had it not been so out of place. I turned to Dillon.

“I have no idea, Rob,” he answered.

“Everybody wants to be a hero,” I mused. Play went on.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

“You’re kidding. Someone tell me this is a joke.”

Lescott was bounding off to the corner flag after having headed his team into the lead on 54 minutes. Once again, we didn’t get him marked on a set piece and though he scored with his feet when the teams played at our place, this time no one bothered to pick him up as the late arrival on Arteta’s corner. Lobont was helpless and we were behind.

The Toffees bench was obviously energized and once again we were behind the eight ball. The goal meant a switch back into the more offensively-oriented 4-1-3-2 with all the attendant risks it carried with Everton’s midfield. Yet, it was still too early for 4-3-3 in my mind and I wanted to see if the players would be able to play their way through the difficulties our opponent was creating for us.

We have fallen a couple of goals behind Arsenal in the team scoring race, but we’ve been a pretty good team all seasons long in terms of creating chances and playing with offensive fluency. Now was an opportunity to see if we could create when the going was rough.

Yet today, it just wasn’t happening. Lita started running up and down the touchline right after Lescott’s goal – he knows as well as I do when he’s going into the match nowadays and I can’t imagine that it doesn’t put extra pressure on him since the whole freaking league knows it too.

That is frustrating in itself. We simply can’t be in a position where we have to rely on late miracle goals to save our hides, but as I waved Leroy into the match on 70 minutes, everyone in the park was wondering what he’d do to get us level.

There is something to be said for reputation. That’s good, because offensively, reputation was about all we had. It certainly wasn’t any especial brilliance on our part. The Toffees had us figured out.

Ten minutes from time, we had still managed only one shot on target in the match. Maloney was cheating even further forward than he usually does from the raider position to try to get us an extra spark and his presence in the box was enough to draw added attention. Even though he hasn’t been scoring goals lately, his threat was enough to change the defensive shape of the home team.

I’ve got five players either past or right at the ten-goal mark; Dagoberto, Lita, Kitson, Kalou and Maloney. This is why it’s a bit incongruous to have Faé playing the right side of midfield with exactly zero goals to his name this season, and why we have a weakness in our attacking formation. Some sides believe they can cede the right side of midfield to us because they figure Emerse won’t hurt them.

That’s cruel, but then this is a cruel game. Faé has to show through his play that he deserves the attention. And when he doesn’t deliver, the fellow who pays the price is often Maloney, who needs the service.

Yet now Maloney was trying to make something happen and made the Everton defense adjust to him. We lurked outside their box, unable to find the kind of possession that would make us a viable threat in the waning moments.

We would thrust, they would parry. We’d win the ball back, get it into a supporting position, and then fluff the cross. Our ineptitude was bordering on the breathtaking.

Then Kalou picked up a 50-50 ball on the left flank in the Everton half. Not normally known as a ball-winner, this time Kalou did a great job of sticking his nose into the play and he started a quick break.

He crossed early, against his custom, looking for an opening in the defense. He found it in the form of – Lita.

Yep. You guessed it.

Everton 1 (Joleon Lescott 5th, 54)

Reading 1 (Lita 12th, 84)

A - 39, 282, Goodison Park, Liverpool

Man of the Match – Gareth Barry, Everton

# # #

[weeeman27bob]

You are frankly ridiculous.

[Twellman24]

Now you're just getting lucky

Lucky relatively; we have to wake up if we don't want to end up going down as the second leg goes by.

Whatever you do:

1 - Don't play Lita before the 60th minute.

2 - Don't sell Lita

Repeat until something happens

[Tubey84]

Few things ^^

A) Nearly every Evertonian knows their history, and we know Anfield was our "home" many moons ago.

B) We're in all probability moving to a new stadium within the next two to three years. "Destination Kirkby", which is being funded by Tesco and it's Evertonian owner Sir Terry Leahy, is awaiting permission from the government and our new 50'000 seater stadium will happen - endangered water voles permitting! In fact, compulsory purchase orders on land in Kirkby have already been issued.

Top story btw ^^

[SCIAG]

Just caught up, 10-3. Read the whole "restraining order" arc, well done on that- and the victories!

I think I'm going to start annoying Zars when I update my Reading tale

[weeeman27bob]

B) . "Destination Kirkby",

Sounds like a soft film for kids

[hertzvanrental]

I have been following this story and I have now caught up. It has inspired me to write something myself. However, writer's block isn't a good thing!

This story is amazing and I will continue to read it. KUTGW!

[salkster2102]

He must have a stat of scoring late goals at 20! Or you have the lucky stat at 20

[Offspring8]

Jees....If only we all had a Lita in our team, keeps grabbing your draws when you look like you're on your way to a loss - If I were you, I'd just claim that it's due to perfect Man Management and how you can consitently keep him motivated to keep scoring from the bench;)

Well, 9 games left and things are still looking good - great story and great management

[tenthreeleader]

Well, plenty of comment on this entry. Lita has frankly saved my season, as any astute reader of the commentary can tell. He does seem to be one of those players who comes in off the bench and does well. When used in the XI, he has been frankly poor. Can't understand it but he's saved my bacon half a dozen times this season and is the reason we continue to contend. Pure and simple. Thanks to all for your thoughts.

___

Sunday, March 1

There’s a controversy now that I’ll have to address when I get back to training on Monday. David Moyes had some uncomplimentary words for my side after the match and I’m not pleased.

“I think they’re being held back a bit,” he said. “They have so much more potential than what they’re showing of late. That’s fortunate for us because we’re chasing them in the table but with a match in hand I think we can make it uncomfortable for them. We are far from out of the European places and I have every reason to believe we’ll be in the hunt at the end.”

Everton has played better than we have over the last few weeks. Yet the dip in form that saw us drop out of the Champions League places may be correcting itself after the Cup win over Liverpool and now this away result.

We’ll see how things go when we come back to Goodison in a week’s time. We’ve got Arsenal in the league coming up right after that match as we finish a very difficult stretch of schedule, and I’ve got my usual prioritization decisions to make. I’m pretty sure Moyes is playing a mind game with me prior to the cup tie, but that’s okay. I’ll meet him on that ground in the best interests of my players.

So today I spent the afternoon formulating what I will say to the press tomorrow. I thought we were pretty poor yesterday, so Moyes is right in what he says to a point, but you can’t always play well – even Liverpool learned that at the start of the season – and Chelsea is due to start finding out. The Big Four are going to start playing each other soon and it’ll be a chance for us to make up some ground if we can get going again.

However, for now Chelsea are just plain good. They demolished Spurs 4-0 at the Bridge behind a brace from Michael Ballack and single goals from Andrei Shevchenko and Michael Essien. Arsenal hammered Boro 4-1 at the Emirates behind goals from Cesc Fabregas, Carlos Vela, Robin van Persie and Kolo Touré.

United beat West Ham 3-1 at Old Trafford, with Carlos Teves, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo doing the honors. The only member of the top four to play away was Liverpool and the champions were quite efficient in defeating Charlton 2-0 with Mohammed Sissoko and Emiliano Insua doing the damage. However, Sissoko was lost to a broken wrist – and that may sideline him for the rest of the season depending on whether surgery is needed.

So, little Reading went on the road and lost two more points in the table to all four members of the Big Four, who are starting to disappear out of sight. Yet, it’s not completely hopeless.

All four of them are playing in the Champions League at midweek. Chelsea travels to Milan, Arsenal is home to Porto and United is at Roma on Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday, Liverpool hosts PSG.

Liverpool still has to play Chelsea this month, and United has a Manchester Derby on the 11th to contend with as well. We’ll play teams lower on the table for a change, and if everything bounces right we may be able to stay with the pack as the season heads into the final month.

We’ve already lasted near the top for longer than Coppell’s Royals did last season. Now the challenge is to stay there, David Moyes or no.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Monday, March 2

“The man’s entitled to his opinion. No one says I have to agree with it.”

So, as Sherlock Holmes might have said, ‘the game is afoot’. My media gaggle at the training ground was soon scribbling furiously onto assorted notepads, cameras were rolling, and recorders taking down my response to Moyes from Saturday.

“I wonder why it is that the team that is ahead in the table is the one that isn’t producing,” I said, assuming as close to a quizzical pose as I ever reach. “They have a match in hand on us, yes, but the fact of the matter is that we’ve made ourselves difficult to beat this season. We’ve lost only three matches in the league and that has us in a good position. You have to be able to get some sort of result each weekend and the fact that we’ve done so speaks well of us.”

I thought it through as I spoke. “We go back there this weekend for a match that is important to both teams but I will tell you this,” I said. “Our priority is the league. We want Europe. We want, if we can hammer out enough results, to earn a Champions League place. I believe the squad is in this dressing room to get it done. The players we have brought in have made impacts, we’ve got some very good young talent waiting to help carry us forward, and I’m optimistic. Now, if David wants to say we aren’t reaching our potential, that’s up to him, but I suppose he could say that as well if we were second.”

“Right now we are fifth and Everton is sixth,” I said. “Aston Villa is closer to David than he is to me in the table at the moment so my suggestion is that he pay some attention to what’s beneath him as well as what’s above.”

Okay. The ball’s in his court.

# # #

I also want Lehmann to play.

He’s been champing at the bit in training and he’s ready for a run out. With Lobont comfortably in position as the first choice keeper, Lehmann needs games. I’m seriously thinking of letting him have the FA Cup tie as a starting point.

I watched the keepers closely in today’s session. Since we are facing Everton again and we just saw them on Saturday, our video session was short. That gave the players more time to horse around on the training pitch and simply enjoy themselves.

As the season progresses, I find myself preferring more loose training. The season is getting long – far too long for the teams that are mid-table and either not a threat for Europe or candidates for relegation – and keeping minds fresh is as important as keeping bodies in shape.

The players that are out there now are at good levels of fitness, but the first-choice eleven is also nicked up and tired. Taking care of them is more important now than ever.

Even though we weren’t training hard in a physical sense, I did want us to accomplish some goals today. One involved looking for space in the midfield, which we had an unusually difficult time finding against Everton.

We have been fluid enough for most of the season to make teams really worry about us, but the Toffees didn’t. In fact, they just about shut us completely down, which makes me wonder how the weakened eleven I will probably field for the FA Cup will fare, especially if they come at us with a strong side.

However, they might well be weakened too. Everton is in Europe on Thursday, hosting AZ Alkmaar in a knockout round matchup in the UEFA Cup, so progression may well be a priority item there with a domestic cup tie coming up just 72 hours later. They do have the advantage of playing both matches at home, though, which I wish I did from time to time.

We do seem to be on the road when we need rest, which is sort of backwards from the way it’s supposed to be. So while I watched the players doing their passing drills today and working to reestablish the kind of flow they know I expect from them, I thought ahead to the weekend and wondered when we’ll start finding our full offensive flow in matches again.

As a result, it was raining inside my head. I wasn’t in a very good mood.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Tuesday, March 3

“I’ll be home on Friday, Rob!”

That was the nicest news I’ve heard in weeks. Patty has made her arrangements and will be released from her California contract with IMG in order to come home for a rest. I would like her to work in London as much as she can, and now that the results of her first photo shoots have been seen by the people who run the studios, it’s likely that she can get what she wants.

They were tremendous. Naturally, Patty is thrilled and I share her excitement due to the fact that the pictures she took will help bring her home. If that sounds cold, it’s cold – I support her career but wouldn’t mind her pursuit of that career close to home.

The feedback has been great for her self-esteem as well. My impression has been that sometimes she has a hard time believing her good fortune, but her striking good looks have hurt her (with McGuire) as much as they’ve helped her in her own situation.

If she really wants the career she’s negotiated for herself, the success of her beach photo shoot indicates that she can probably have it. As long as she doesn’t do anything like, say, have a baby.

So that’s the next thing we want to talk about. We want children, and we want to try to have a family fairly quickly – the clock is ticking, as the phrase goes. We want lots of things as a couple, but the timing may not be right for some of them to come to fruition.

That’s unfortunate. But it’s life.

# # #

I’ve told Lobont that I want Lehmann to get a game and he’s fine with that. Bogdan has played the overwhelming majority of our games and I’d like him to get a bit of a breather to keep him sharp. As good as he’s been, burning him out at this point of the season would be very unfortunate.

So Lehmann gets to play, for as long as we last in the tournament, in all likelihood. Without the FA Cup, there’s only league matches remaining and Bogdan will most certainly get those.

So in that respect, my keeper is no different than the outfield players. I have to keep them all sharp somehow – that’s the challenge of man-management. Every player wants to play, but knowing when to sit someone down is an art form for the manager.

# # #

We got some bad news tonight. Two of our top competitors came to grief in Europe.

Chelsea and Arsenal are both out of the Champions League after bobbling second-leg ties tonight. Chelsea was unable to break through against Milan, playing to a goalless draw at the San Siro to follow up the 2-2 draw the sides played at Stamford Bridge. So Chelsea is out on away goals.

Arsenal also played a goalless draw against Porto at the Emirates this evening and after falling 2–0 in Portugal are out on aggregate. So they get to concentrate on things other than Europe now.

The news was better for United, who beat Roma 1-0 away and after demolishing them at Old Trafford are through 5-0 on aggregate. Liverpool plays PSG tomorrow with a 1-0 lead from the away leg so they are in fine shape to advance.

I don’t mind that, as I’d love some fixture congestion on the part of our rivals. Chelsea and Arsenal, though, are now free to more fully concentrate on other things, such as how to stay ahead of me in the league. And they’ll have fresher players with which to do it.

The challenge is getting more and more daunting, but that’s why big clubs are big clubs. They are deep enough to handle challenges like these, while the rest of us have to soldier on and try to break through. It’s hard, but we’re optimistic.

# # #

[copperhorse21]

The hill seems to be growing towards "mountain" status. Still keeping a keen eye on things! Up Rob Ridgway!

[tenthreeleader]

Copper, my friend, thank you as always. It's going to be a fun end to the season! Note to all: I'll be out of town with family for much of the week and will have only intermittent internet access.

___

I talked with Levant at length today after our afternoon session. He had to hustle to get to his office in Los Angeles, eight hours behind us.

It seems he’s an early riser. Our session ended at 3:00 so he was at his desk at 7:00 in the blessed a of m. I have a hard time thinking in English at that hour, and here he was thinking in legalese.

“Rob, I’ve got a lead on a very good attorney for you,” he said. “You do want to bring suit in England, don’t you?”

“I’d prefer it,” I said. “McGuire is the one I want. Patty’s father is Patty’s father and if something else happens to screw up my family in the States, it might just push everyone over the edge.”

He laughed, in a way that I suppose only lawyers can. They deal with those sorts of emotions every day. “Look, Rob, were you wronged or not?” he asked.

“I’m thinking I was,” I answered, my hackles rising.

“Well, I agree,” he answered. “So I wouldn’t worry about who you hurt in this case. They hurt you first. This p**s-ant McGuire got in your way, he tried to run your business, and he worked with your father-in-law to mess up your marriage. Someone needs to pay for that. Right?”

I nodded, unseen to him. “Right,” I answered.

“Rob, just one question out of curiosity,” he asked, and I granted his request.

“So if this McGuire guy was playing around on the side with Patty before she knew you, and her parents knew that, why on earth do you think her father would even talk to this guy, much less work with him?”

I smiled thinly. “Adrian, that gives you an idea of how popular I am with my in-laws,” I said. “So frankly, I really don’t give a hang what happens to Peter McGuire. As far as I’m concerned, Kate took him to the cleaners and I’m glad for that. I want to finish all this – I want my life back, I want McGuire out of my way and I want my father-in-law out of my hair. You can help me with the first two of those things. The third, I have to do myself.”

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Wednesday, March 4

I’m heading to Merseyside ahead of the team. Dillon is going to take training on Thursday before the travel day on Friday morning.

I want to see Everton in action against Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup prior to our FA Cup tie against them, and I want to get a look at players who might get to play two matches in three days. Some of Everton’s key players – Lescott, Victor Anichebe and Mikael Arteta included – are likely to be on that list. So I’m going to keep a sharp eye pealed from the stands.

I flew out alone this afternoon and had a whole flight to the Northwest to think about the coming match and what will happen in the coming days. My thoughts are already turning to Arsenal at next midweek – it’s a crunch league match and I have to be thinking of them too – so it was the Gunners I was watching on my portable DVD player as the flight winged its way to the Mersey.

The Gunners are a handful, as much as they have ever been. Adebayor is having another fine season and when he gets the ball with any space at all in the box, lately it’s been going into the net. He’s now on eighteen goals for the season so we have to respect that. Hell, we have to respect all their talent. We’ve done so twice this season and we’ve got two wins to show for it.

Some teams have “trouble” teams which make their collective hair stand on end. This season, we appear to be Arsenal’s. I would like nothing more than to do the treble over them, and we do have our only home match of the season against them, but we have a lot of work to do before we can claim three points in the standings that we really need.

Our goal is simple; do the things well that we did against them the first two times. That means that we’ll have to be able to counter.

There are few teams in our league – or in Europe, for that matter – who can control the possession like Arsenal. They have taken the old “Total Football” mantra and made it a way of life. Their skill level is so high all around the pitch that they genuinely believe they can control the ball whenever and wherever they want.

That’s a function of their manager. Arsene Wenger has been called a lot of things in this game by his detractors – a snob, an elitist, a man in pursuit of the perfect play rather than the play that might win a match – but you can’t say he doesn’t love the idea of beautiful football.

When you play at their skill level, it’s exacting and it’s occasionally frustrating as hell to play them. You have to be patient, you have to hit them when they show weakness and you absolutely must take your chances when they arise. We’ve been fortunate enough to do that twice already this season and now we have to find a way to do it a third time before the Big Four pull away from us.

It isn’t going to be easy, but then matches like these never are. I sat alone in the office late this afternoon, waiting for Levant to call, and watching yet another Gunners match on DVD. They do things the same way all the time – that is to say, very well – and that makes them a bit boring to watch even as they scare the bejabbers out of most managers.

They’re good. All over the pitch. And now we know it.

# # #

We did get a bit of a break tonight. From my hotel room in Liverpool I watched the Reds run roughshod over Paris St. Germain in the second leg of their Champions League tie tonight. The 3-0 scoreline gave Liverpool a very comfortable 4-0 aggregate win and moved them on to the quarterfinals alongside archrivals Manchester United. Also, Celtic is out of Europe, falling 1-0 to Real Madrid away to go with their 2-0 defeat at Parkhead.

We’re done with Liverpool until the last match of the season now, thankfully, so I have the ability to concentrate on other things. Such as the Toffees, in addition to my near-fixation with Wenger’s Gunners.

The work is never done. And for now, with Patty still not home to me, that’s for the best. I want to be absorbed in other things to keep my mind away from the fact that I miss her desperately. It’s time for things to change in the Ridgway household. We’re both in agreement on that, and it can’t come a moment too soon for me.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Thursday, March 5

It seems like I can’t get away from this place.

Sitting in the visitors’ VIP area at Goodison Park tonight I got yet another look at Everton as they squared off against AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their UEFA Cup knockout round tie.

I saw few surprises. Moyes wasn’t giving anything away in his approach – his team played a conventional flat 4-4-2 – and the visitors from the Eredivisie took to their work of cracking it with great energy. Their fixture list is worse than ours – of course they play us on Saturday and then they have to go to Holland for the second leg of their UEFA Cup tie at midweek, so they play three matches in seven days. They’ll have matches in hand against the rest of the league, though, so we still must be mindful of them.

It was no wonder that Moyes was cautious and conservative in his approach. His squad isn’t a whole lot bigger than mine and as a result, economy of effort and motion was important to him. His 4-4-2 was economical, all right – it accounted for no meaningful attempts at goal in a first half it didn’t take me long to realize was a mistake to watch in person.

The eleven he fielded surprised me a bit. Tony Hibbert, Joseph Yobo, Lescott, Arteta, Raúl, Tim Cahill, they were all there – and they may well all play against us on Saturday too. Yet, the first half they put on display wasn’t much to watch – and it revealed nothing.

That was annoying to have to admit, frankly. Moyes’ men had other things on their minds. The play was scattered and generally aimless, which meant that the Everton players were either going to get a roasting from their manager or else they were conserving energy for great things in the second half.

Goodison wasn’t full for this match and the fans were pretty sullen as the teams headed to the dressing room. At that point I was collared by a field producer from my friends at Setanta Sports, wanting to know if I’d give a quick interview about Moyes and his comments about my team from earlier in the week.

I consented, knowing that I wasn’t going to say anything inflammatory, and it was at that point I found out that the interview would be live.

“Better straighten my tie, then,” I smiled, as the red light came on.

“With Reading manager Rob Ridgway, watching the match from the stand before your FA Cup tie on Saturday with this Everton eleven,” the reporter said. “David Moyes said some pretty sharp things about your side after the league match here last weekend. Do you think his side played up to its potential in this first half?”

It was an open invitation to swipe. I didn’t take it. “AZ is a solid, organized side,” I said. “I don’t think it’s fair to David or his team to say they aren’t reaching potential when the opponent was fixed on a defensive game. It does take time to break a side down and Everton needs to do that if they want to progress.”

“What do you make of all the talk?”

“Well, managers say things. We’re paid for that,” I smiled. “I’ve made it a policy never to criticize an opposing team or manager unless they take the first shot. Everton has had a nice season and they have European aspirations. We were able to come up here last weekend and make sure they didn’t get any closer to us, but we’re in a stretch of schedule now where teams can gain on us or in the case of the Big Four, pull away. The schedule is going to balance itself out in the future and we’ll get some of those same opportunities. Talk is talk, though, to answer your question.”

“You’re not going to be drawn,” he said, with a grin in return.

“No, I’m not.”

“Now that we are heading into the last few weeks of the season, evaluate your first season as manager at Reading. You’ve had some hard knocks, both personally and in the press. Was it what you expected?”

“It’s not over yet,” I grinned. “I would say that the pressures here aren’t different from what I have experienced elsewhere, or as a player. Everywhere you go, the expectation is that you’ll win and if you don’t, there is trouble. We have had a good season at Reading, we’re in fifth place in the table and if we play our cards right we will be in with a shout for a place in Europe at the end of the season. No Reading team has ever done that and I would love to be the manager of the Royals team that first makes it there.”

With that, the interview ended. I headed back to my seat and hoped the second half would be better.

# # #

[copperhorse21]

Wow! Rob Ridgway sure is smooth in front of the camera. Well-written!

[tenthreeleader]

Thanks, Copper ... it seems RR is a smoothie in all the wrong places...

___

It was. AZ set their stall out to attack in the second half, and they cashed in quickly.

On 58 minutes, Julian Jenner beat Tim Howard from just outside the area. Four minutes later, it was Moussa Dembélé scoring from just about the same spot. The two away goals were obviously huge, and Moyes had no choice but to have his men press forward.

Raúl pulled one of the goals back on 68 minutes, but even though they huffed and puffed, the Toffees went down to a 2-1 defeat that has their European hopes in real trouble. They are going to have to improve in a hurry when they go to the Aalkmarderhout in a week’s time. From the point of view of my squad, I can be optimistic in that Everton was pretty poor this evening.

From a negative standpoint, if some of these eleven get a runout against my guys this weekend, they’re going to be itching to prove themselves. My choice is simple: put out a strong eleven and try to run a tired Everton team into the ground, or play it safe and rest some of my big guns for Arsenal at midweek, in a match that is key to any hopes we might still entertain of the Champions League.

Tough choice. But I get paid to make those choices. As I left Goodison Park to head back to the hotel where my players will join me in the morning, I was lost in thought. There were no camera crews. There was no group of autograph-seekers or even some smart-aleck who would yell out how I liked the idea of my wife being so far away. There was just me, alone with my job.

Sometimes that’s fun for me. But tonight, it wasn’t.

# # #

Friday, March 6

One of the other Premiership teams in Europe had a good night last night. A third wasn’t as fortunate.

Spurs humiliated Zaragoza 4-0 at White Hart Lane last night in a performance that had Martin Jol crowing. After their quick start, the Spurs faithful haven’t had much to cheer about in recent weeks, so progress in Europe is just the ticket for them.

Bolton wasn’t so lucky. Sammy Lee’s team crashed 3-1 to CSKA, but if there’s comfort to be found in that win it was that the Trotters scored an away goal. A huge effort in a week’s time at the Reebok might yet see them through. But it will take something special.

Dillon got the team to our hotel right on time. Along the way from the airport to the hotel, we had a phone conversation at which some final decisions were made.

We’re going to weaken the squad a bit and take a calculated risk. We expect Everton to come out with many of the same players who played Thursday. We want to catch them with tired legs, yes, but we also want to be fresh for Arsenal at midweek. The league has to be the priority now, with clinching a European place –and the money qualification for the Champions League and to a lesser extent the UEFA Cup – will provide.

It’s a goal. We need to be profitable and with the new stadium expansion set to come online soon, the money we can spin from a successful finish might be enough to get me the players who can help us take the next step.

That’s expensive. We have to account for that. I’ve got the areas we need to improve well fleshed out in my mind and I’m going to pursue players that I think will fill the bill. Yet they cost money and Madejski wants to win on a budget. I have no problem with that – so I need to increase my budget. This is how.

It may mean we go down to a defeat with a weakened squad tomorrow. But if it gets us three points against an Arsenal team we’re chasing, then I have no problem with it. And neither should any thinking fan.

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

After a brief kickabout, we met at the hotel as a team to go over my report on the Toffees from last night.

“The opportunity is there for you,” I said. “I don’t know how Mr. Moyes will set out his stall, of course, but if he plays his regular eleven we have a chance to use our pace against some tired legs. The opportunity is there for you to take a scalp and to send a message at the same time. How you handle that opportunity is up to you.”

I then took Lehmann aside and told him he’s playing tomorrow. “Get it done,” I smiled. “I know you can do this.”

“I know I can too,” he said, still managing to sound a bit modest. And yes, he certainly can. He’s going to have to do it with some players who aren’t regularly in the first eleven, but I have no doubt that if push comes to shove, Jens Lehmann can indeed get the job done.

# # #

Patty’s home. Unfortunately, I’m in Liverpool, but at least she’s home.

The need for me to scout Everton precluded me from meeting her at the airport, which was unfortunate. In fact, it was a bit galling, but then I’ve already learned that there are things in this business you can’t control and which you mustn’t try to control.

Freddie Eaton met Patty at the airport, which was certainly nice of him. He also had an attorney in tow, on Levant’s recommendation. Just for note-taking purposes, of course.

He’s trying to handle our legal organization from half a world away – but if there’s one thing I already know about Adrian Levant it’s that he can get things done no matter where in the world he is.

The celebrity website TMZ is sniffing around what’s going on – partly because someone has leaked information to them that Patty’s pictures are remarkable. From a career standpoint that’s great for her, and it’s one reason why she’s back in Berkshire as opposed to staying in California. If she’s marketed properly and if her first campaign goes well, she might just be able to write her own ticket.

That couldn’t stop the empty feeling I had this evening, though. Except this time when Patty called, she was at least in the same country.

“I’ll meet you at the airport,” she teased. “I’m home!”

“You are, I’m not,” I mused. “Still, though, it’ll be great to finally see you.”

“I’ll make sure of it,” she promised. “We need to have a long talk, Rob. Nothing bad, nothing evil – but I’d like to make sure nothing like this ever happens to us again. What do you say to that?”

“I’d say that I almost wish I didn’t have a match to manage tomorrow.”

“Almost?” Her voice had a touch of the playful in it.

“I do need my job,” I laughed. “But I can’t wait to get home. We need time for just ourselves.”

“Now how do you propose we do that?” she asked. “Really?”

“I’ll figure something out,” I promised. “This means far too much to me not to.”

She e-mailed me a picture. My mobile phone was soon graced with a picture of my wife sitting on our couch, her legs tucked under her in her favorite pose, wearing her usual fabulous smile.

“We’ve hurt for too long, Rob,” she said. “I can’t wait until you get home. We’re going to start fixing that.”

When Patty wants to lead, she really can be both persuasive and intensely charming. She was both of those things now.

“Hold that thought, honey,” I said. “I can’t wait.”

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Saturday, March 7

Everton v Reading, FA Cup Sixth Round

The eleven had quite a different look to it.

As the coach chugged off to the ground today the voices in my head were in full cry. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” I said to myself as we stopped outside Goodison. The voice kept repeating those words. Over and over again.

The eleven looked like this: Lehmann, Halls, Gaspari, Magallón, Pogatetz, Pazienza, Oster, Kalou, Maloney, Lita, Dagoberto. Bikey, Ferreira, Harper and Kitson made the five-player bench with Lobont, though, so there was steel ready for me to use if needed.

Dave didn’t train well this week despite his good match form, so I was presented with a tough choice while sitting in the visiting manager’s office. Everyone knows how good Lita has been off the bench but he needs playing time for match sharpness as well. I spoke with Dillon about it before turning in the final team sheet.

“I want Kitson to be rested for Arsenal,” I said. “We can always bring Lita off the bench against them so I want him to get a start today.”

“You know he isn’t nearly as effective from the start of the match,” Dillon reminded me.

“Maybe because we haven’t given him enough chances from the start of a match,” I mused. “I don’t feel good about Dave out there today. Besides the need to keep him fresh, he lost his focus this week and we need him sharp.”

“Can’t argue that,” my deputy admitted. “But still, he and Dagoberto are our best strike partnership.” He was stating the obvious.

“Won’t argue that,” I said, in my own turn to concede a point.

The room fell into silence, and finally I filled in the last open space on the team sheet. I handed it to Dillon.

“I’ll tell Leroy,” he said, on his way out the door.

# # #

Looking at Moyes, you could almost think he hadn’t slated me and my team just a week previously.

He approached with his hand outstretched as we met in the tunnel prior to the match. I looked at him, and shook his offered hand.

“Good luck, Rob,” he said, as if nothing had happened. I have a hard time getting used to that aspect of management. Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s friend, depending on who you’re playing and how the fixture list falls.

“Thanks, David. You too,” I replied, as the lines of players began to move. Our team sheet had already drawn some raised eyebrows – one radio reporter in the tunnel had already remarked on the weakened Reading lineup and wondered how we’d last – even though Lita’s presence showed we’d have our best natural goalscorer on the pitch for ninety minutes for a change.

The teams completed their final warm-ups and we started the match. Immediately, we started to run at their midfield – unlike last time when we let them take the play to us – and the results were promising.

Lita got the first chance of the match instead of the last, barely missing with a swerving shot nine minutes into the match that Howard watched sail past his left post. Tim’s an exceptional keeper and perhaps the next great keeper from my nation, but he didn’t have his angle covered fully this time. He watched the shot go by the post while flat on his stomach, arm outstretched.

Our bench reacted with disappointment – the chance was there and Leroy had simply missed the mark. He does that from time to time, mainly because as a human being he is allowed to make mistakes. Yet his late-game excellence leads people to expect that he will score when he gets a fraction of an inch, and the frustration on his face was palpable as he ran back up the field.

“Next time, Leroy,” I called out. “Take it easy.”

He nodded as he ran past, but the miss had affected him. This is an emotional game and part of succeeding in this game is not letting a momentary setback get stuck into your head. Bad things can happen when you do that and having something bad stuck into Lita’s head is bad for my whole club.

Play resumed and I could tell that Lita was letting it get to him. In a way that was understandable – he wants to play ninety minutes just like every player does, but the role he’s filling for me right now is one that not many players are able to manage. It takes a special mindset to do what he has done and I can’t replace it with any player in my current squad. Yet given his chance to start, Leroy was pressing. That wasn’t good.

His teammates, on the other hand, were doing just fine all things considered. Everton’s domination of our midfield was much less pronounced than it had been in the league match the week before and I was certain that was due to their players having just a bit of tiredness still in their legs. They scampered here and there but without the energy or purpose they had had the first time we met. So far, so good.

The first half was a comparatively even affair, with Lehmann called upon twice to come up with decent saves. He bailed out Magallón just before the half hour, saving from Victor Anicihebe after the striker had dispossessed my central defender about thirty yards from goal. With Gaspari closing him, Anichebe had to hurry his shot and Lehmann collected comfortably from about twenty yards as the striker fired right into his chest.

He also tipped a rising shot by Arteta over the bar eight minutes from the break, stopping the best opportunity the home team had. Meanwhile, we responded through Dagoberto. The Brazilian took a nice little ball from Oster and, while being forced to his right by Lescott, forced Howard to save at feet with a very well-placed shot while on the dead run about fifteen yards from goal.

Howard sprawled to his right and got his toe on the ball, sending it spinning behind for a corner. That time he did have his angle covered and if he hadn’t, we would surely have gone ahead.

When the halftime whistle blew two evenly matched teams headed toward the changing room. I had nothing to complain about and that certainly wasn’t the case the last time we were here.

I was the last one into the room, closing the door behind me. “That wasn’t half bad, gentlemen,” I said. “Now is the time for you to go out in the second half and steal a match from these guys. What I saw this time was a lot more industry, a lot better passing of the ball and much better possession than you had last week. That was a lot closer to Reading football than I saw last weekend and I’m pleased at that. Now I need to you go out and finish the deal. You can do this.”

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

There was much more energy in the second half, on the parts of both teams.

Again, we had the first opportunity of the half, with the shot coming from an unlikely source. Oster went close, taking a rare shot at goal from nearly thirty yards. I think he meant to cross the ball but he wound up putting it on goal instead.

Howard, who initially thought the ball was heading to the middle, took a giant step forward to punch clear in anticipation of the cross. He had to backpedal furiously when he saw that his initial guess was wrong, tipping the ball acrobatically over the bar to the ‘ooh’ of the crowd.

It was a nice save, but it was made harder than it had to be by Howard’s initial misjudgment of the ball. And in the end, I’m sure that was Oster’s intention. Oster gave a shrug of his shoulders as he headed to provide the short option on our corner – handling his misfortune much better than Lita had handled his.

We couldn’t find a way through. And neither could they. Most of the chances each team generated early in the half were spurned, spoiled by closing defenders, mishit or simply too clever by half.

The advantage we had gained playing against tired legs was starting to subside a bit. Some of the players I fielded, lacking just a touch of match sharpness due to my playing a more or less settled eleven to this point, were starting to show signs of fatigue.

This allowed me to consider my bench, which was now populated with relatively rested first-team players. The plan, such as it was, seemed to be working as well as I could have hoped.

We got to seventy minutes and I could sense that the time was right to break through. Lita was still moping around on the pitch and he wasn’t doing anyone any good that way. Plus, I wanted my supersub to be fresh for Arsenal so I nodded to Kitson to get warmed up.

No sooner had my target striker started his first run down the touchline than they had the ball in our net through Victor Anichebe. It had happened very suddenly – Arteta’s ball had found the striker with his back to goal and he turned quickly around Magallón to make himself some space.

Just like that, Lehmann was beaten despite his best efforts, and we had to find a way back. Goodison Park showed its appreciation for the home team’s breakthrough while I tried to figure out how to get back into the match while keeping my calm. As good a man-marker as Magallón is, he certainly had been exposed in that instance. I wasn’t pleased.

Yet there are times in this game when the other guy simply makes a good play. This was one of those times.

Now Kitson’s introduction was necessary. Unfortunately, the issue with Kitson and Lita is that I can’t play 4-3-3 with both of them on the pitch since they are both true center forwards. Our basic alignment calls for two attacking wings in our 4-3-3 though a priority for me next season is to generate a narrower 4-3-3 with three center forwards. I’d like to be able to play Kitson, Lita and Dagoberto all at the same time with, say, Kalou and Maloney in support.

Yet we don’t do that now, and now we paid the price. Lita came off for Kitson, who worked as the targetman flanked by Kalou and Maloney, with Oster now playing Maloney’s “raider” position.

Kitson, who knew why he hadn’t started the match, came out determined to redeem himself. Four minutes after his introduction, he and Kalou worked a two-man game down the left, with the two trading passes just outside the Everton area.

Kitson cut sharply to the middle with the ball, drawing two defenders toward him. Timing his run beautifully, Kalou zipped into the open space and screamed for the ball. Kitson rolled a perfect pass to his left, leaving the Ivorian alone against Howard ten yards from goal.

# # #

The “ping” I heard was unexpected.

Kalou had shot high and bounced a shot underneath Howard’s crossbar and straight down. The ball landed squarely on the goal line and was cleared into touch by Lescott – but Kalou was celebrating.

He waved his arms and the traveling support cheered wildly. Nearby, Kitson was also running for the flag alongside his teammate – but Everton was having none of it.

Lescott grabbed Kitson to pull him back to the six-yard box. Kitson didn’t care for that, so he turned sharply toward the Everton defender while everyone looked at referee Howard Webb.

Webb pointed to the corner. And Kalou went nuts.

He approached the referee at a dead sprint and before I could say anything, he was right under Webb’s chin. Obviously he had a different opinion and all I could do was hope Salomon didn’t get himself booked – or worse – for dissent.

Now Kitson arrived to help his teammate, stepping between Kalou and the official, which was a good thing. Webb was now remonstrating with both my strikers and I found myself wishing that the FA’s “respect” campaign allowed monitors to be placed near the benches. I hadn’t seen the ball come down and was frankly too far away to make a judgment on it anyhow.

The crowd was comparatively quiet, while Kalou and Kitson soldiered on with the referee. Webb simply pointed to the corner again, and motioned to Kalou that he might be better served by getting on with the game.

We did. Unfortunately, we were a spent force – and minutes later, we were out of the FA Cup. Again.

Everton 1 (Victor Anichebe 6th, 70)

Reading 0

A – 37,116, Goodison Park, Liverpool

Man of the Match – Tim Howard, Everton

# # #

[copperhorse21]

A gut wrenching loss... Totally might have been reversed had the FA allowed instant replay. This is the perfect setting to support it's use. Arrgghhh....I'll stop before this feed becomes like the community thread...Hope Rob can get the squad back on track after this morale shattering defeat.

[Marchie]

Unfortunate loss... but at least Patty is BACK!

[tenthreeleader]

Thanks, Copper ... Reading has some tired legs at the moment. Marchie, I think Rob would say that one out of two isn't bad!

___

“Let me at that monitor,” I said, shouldering my way past the players in our changing room, waiting for a replay of the shot in question.

I wasn’t long in waiting, as the match broadcasters were talking about it at length. That indicated to me that they had an opinion, which I couldn’t hear as the sound was shut off in the changing room. They showed the replay and the ball came down hard off the underside of the bar, meeting the ground behind the line as Lescott’s boot impacted the ball.

Lescott’s intervention was immaculately timed. Even a split second later and it would have been established beyond doubt that the ball was over the line. He wasn’t trying to pull a fast one – he was just trying to clear his lines and made a marvelous athletic play in doing so.

But the ball was over the line. We watched the replay with a growing sense of injustice and I finally turned to my players for a little talk.

“Fellows, this is over,” I said. “We can’t do anything about it. We should clearly be going to a replay here but we didn’t get a call. That’s my job to worry about – not yours. Right now, our job is to get ready for Arsenal and to show them that we can bounce back. We need to bounce back – the wrong reaction to this loss will sink us in the league and no one wants that.”

That said, I had something to say to the press and I headed off to go say it.

# # #

“I don’t blame Howard Webb,” I said. “Lescott made a terrific play to get to the ball right as it hit the ground. But the replay is pretty conclusive. It was a goal and we didn’t get credit for it. Still, I’m not prepared to blame officiating for the loss we suffered.”

“Then why are you upset?” Seemed like a perfectly rational question to me.

“There were other ways we could have won the game,” I said. “Anichebe made a good play to score their goal but I am nearly always of the opinion that there’s something we could do to avoid conceding a goal.”

“Then you must have those thoughts often, Rob.” It was the last question of the news conference and the media started to find other interview targets while I faced my questioner.

“Hello, Stefano. Here to write my obituary for the twentieth time?”

It was almost like a game between us now. “No, your players keep bailing you out,” he said. “Right now, I am of the opinion that you’re getting career seasons from a number of players so you’ll have to come up with something different next season.”

“Seen much Serie B?” I said, straying afield as I began another verbal pas de deux with my old adversary.

“Not recently,” he admitted. “I’m seeing a slightly better standard of football instead.”

“My old boys are having a rough time,” I said.

“I figured they would.”

“But I’m not there, Stefano,” I said. “Not to criticize anyone, but I’m not there. How do you like that?”

“I don’t like it at all,” he said. “Are you telling me my job?”

“Oh, no,” I answered, a touch of sarcasm now infiltrating my voice. “Everyone knows that only the media gets to do that.”

“Clever,” he replied, in the sort of tone he takes when he knows he’s losing the argument. “So what went wrong today?”

“We conceded a goal and we can learn from that. We scored a goal and we didn’t get credit for it. We can’t learn from that, but we can modify our play to make sure that we don’t lose another match because of the same mistakes.”

“What mistakes?” he asked. “Are you telling me that Kalou hitting the bar was a mistake?”

Now I smiled. “Salomon would be the first to tell you that the ball he struck should have hit the back of the net. Because, Stefano, that is what professionals do. If you were one, you’d know that.”

# # #

[copperhorse21]

OH SNAP! Again this storyline blurs the line between fact and fiction. IRL it sounds like Mark Hughes has taken a page from Rob Ridgway with his recent comments in the media that many of the other premiership managers are playing mind-games with him this summer because he was a top level player and is now becoming a top level manager as well.

[tenthreeleader]

Well, Copper, I'd put that down to good luck more than anything else.

___

Sunday, March 8

At least the homecoming was nice.

The game hadn’t been any great shakes, but our flight arrived at Heathrow at about seven o’clock. And, she was there to greet me.

There’s something about a long-awaited reunion that excites the blood, and not necessarily in that way. I’m not usually the best of fliers, but the thought of winging my way closer to Patty with each passing moment was fantastic.

It had been too long. Too long, perhaps, to bear thinking about. So I didn’t. The most positive reinforcement I could have hoped for was waiting for me at home and I wasn’t going to waste a moment.

The worst part of wanting to get in touch with someone on the ground while you’re flying in an airplane is that you can’t. So while I got more and more anxious, I also got more and more frustrated.

Thank goodness I had Dillon to take my mind off things. Not aware that I had other things on my mind, his spoken thoughts about every thirty seconds or so served to make driving me crazy an even shorter trip than usual.

Yet it was good for me to talk about something else. The fact that we had to talk about a match just lost didn’t make it any more fun, but at least it passed the time.

“Lehmann wasn’t bad,” he opined.

“I thought he was good,” I agreed. “Couldn’t do anything about Anichebe but then Mags hung him out to dry.”

“Did you see the look on his face?” Dillon laughed. “If Lehmann’s eyes were laser beams Jonny would have extra holes in his head.”

Lehmann’s legendary stare, and equally legendary attitude, were two of the things that had scared off some clubs who were interested in his services. Not so with me. “I want accountability in that defense,” I said. “We concede too many soft goals as it is. When a defender messes up I want the keeper in their faces. Constructively, but we have to start somewhere.”

“Well, then why not play him with Sonko and Bikey?” Dillon asked. It seemed an entirely reasonable question.

“Because that’s the league and Lobont plays in the league,” I said. “But then I think you know that.”

We flew toward home. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure what to make of Dillon’s comments.

# # #

After we landed, I thought that I could forget about Dillon for a Sunday. That was first and foremost on my list of things to do.

It was hard not to be openly impatient as we waited for the baggage to be loaded onto the coach for the return trip to Berkshire. It seemed that the more I waited, the longer the wait became.

It was a quiet wait. No one was happy about the outcome of the match and there wasn’t a lot of noise on the coach. Those players who had their iPods on had them on quietly and in short the atmosphere on the team was what I would have expected following a tough loss.

We haven’t won anything. In fact, we’ve retreated from the heights we had reached earlier in the season. The time to start winning is right now and the time for these players to decide how hard they want to work for the Champions League is also right now.

They were thinking about it, as the bags were loaded onto the coach for the return trip. The bus pulled out of the ground transportation area at Heathrow and we rolled to the west in stone silence.

# # #

“Be ready at nine o’clock Monday morning to go over Arsenal,” I told the players as the coach rolled to a stop. “You’re going to have to decide how badly this stings and if the answer is that it stings a lot, come here ready to work harder than you’ve worked to this point. If the answer is anything different, let me know and I’ll find someone to take your places.”

“You didn’t play badly up there – but this game is all about results and now’s the time for us to start getting some. You can do it – I have said that to you from the beginning – but now that things are a little difficult, you have to decide how hard you want to work for it. Don’t lose faith, don’t give up the ship as they say, but decide for yourselves where your game will go for the rest of this season. Okay, see you all on Monday.”

With that, we headed to our cars. And I headed home at as high a rate of speed as I thought I could get away with without a visit from the constabulary.

I entered to a darkened living room. Rounding the corner to the dining area, I saw two candles sending a flickering light to the edges of our dining room table. Two place settings were prepared – and there she was.

She wore a simple white dress with a scoop neck and a red belt to hold everything together at the waist. She wore white shoes and her red hair was perfectly coiffed, pulled back behind her head.

My breath caught. “Hi, honey,” I stammered, captivated by what I saw before me.

She rose slowly from the table, but then lost all pretense. She rushed to me and threw herself into my arms. I caught her and twirled her around slowly in the middle of our kitchen.

Neither of us said a word. Patty clung to me, her pretty face buried in my shoulder. She began to cry, her tears this time of joy.

“Honey, it’s so good to be home,” she whispered, as I finally set her down.

I could hardly speak. The pain of being separated by about half the planet’s circumference was now gone and she was back in my arms. It was just a wonderful feeling.

“I can’t even tell you how much I missed you,” I finally answered, reaching to her cheek to wipe away a stray tear.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” she said. “It was fun being out there and fun being pampered but I think I need some pampering from you for awhile. What do you say?”

I looked down at her, and my wife’s soft kiss sealed the deal. “I think I can do that,” I smiled. “I could use a little pampering myself. But, isn’t the phrase ‘ladies first’?”

# # #

[tenthreeleader]

Monday, March 9

We had a full day of training – the only full day we’ll have this week – to prepare for Arsenal. We did so buoyed by the knowledge that Liverpool lost at Bolton yesterday, giving us a little breathing space.

The match was at Anfield, which made it even more special from our point of view. Daniel Braaten’s goal just before the hour for the Trotters did a lot of damage – but most importantly to the Reds’ goal of repeating as champions.

Chelsea looks set to take charge now. They have the deepest squad and most importantly, they have the best rotation of players. Avram Grant can call on several different types of teams to do the job that needs doing. He can match his players against his opponents better than anyone in the league because he has the most resources.

So mistakes by their pursuers are more expensive than usual – especially at this point in the season. From my own point of view, of course, mistakes by Liverpool when we aren’t playing as well as we can are certainly welcome too.

However, we do have an opportunity at midweek. Liverpool faces Chelsea and United plays the Manchester Derby against City. If we do drop points, we’re not going to drop them against all our main rivals, and if City can pull a surprise we might well gain on a couple of them. After the Arsenal match, the fixture list starts to turn in our favor and all I can say is that it’s about time.

Meanwhile, the papers are showing their disdain for the officiating on Merseyside last weekend. The Evening Post ran an enlarged picture of the ball landing behind the Everton goal line as Lescott’s boot struck it under the headline “Goodison Gubbing”.

It didn’t change the facts of the matter, though. We lost and we’re out of the FA Cup. I would very much like to help this club get deeper into that competition, but faced with the realities that managers of clubs our size face, I really didn’t see much option other than to do what I did.

We have Premiership players throughout our squad – but we don’t have the kind of elite depth that will allow us to contend on more than one front for very long, and that’s been well chronicled. Everton chose to play many of its stars twice in one week, but may pay the price for that.

There’s a reason why they might have done so – they are still in Europe and may not be able to get back to Europe through their placement in the league. Therefore, winning a Cup or winning in Europe is the only way they can maintain their position – and the positive bank balances that result from European play.

We, on the other hand, are succeeding in the league. If we can find a way past Liverpool into fourth place and perhaps qualify for the Champions League, we’ll face the same difficulty Everton is now facing. We’ll just have to do it next season.

So today, the refreshed first team squad started to prepare for the Gunners. Arsene Wenger hasn’t said much about us – the last couple of times he has, the results haven’t been positive for him. That isn’t to say he’s scared to say anything – no one has ever accused him of that – but this is a match both teams need. Arsenal still harbors title aspirations and to keep them alive they need three points on our ground.

But the mood in Berkshire is changing, as was penned by Weatherby in her opinion piece that ran today:

This season’s challenge for honours by the Royals has been exhilarating even as it has proved frustrating for the supporters of the club.

The weekend’s FA Cup setback at Goodison Park is a classic example. Rob Ridgway’s second eleven nearly pulled off a remarkable feat – taking the measure of the Toffees on their home ground while resting most of their first-choice squad.

The fact that the Royals didn’t achieve their goal should be cause for frustration. Not due to the effort of the players – clearly those selected to play gave their all for the shirt – but due to the attitude Ridgway must adopt at this point in the season.

It is unfortunate that the financial status of this club precludes an effective challenge on more than none front. Ridgway must be in pole position for Manager of the Year honours but even his hard work and application cannot compensate for the fact that Reading Football Club is underfunded.

That is not necessarily an indictment – the financial model of the club, especially in these troubled economic times, dictates that survival must be the first objective. That is understandable, even if it is not necessarily palatable to football fans who expect their club to be a diversion from the everyday worries they face.

Ridgway simply does not have the resources to put into the playing squad that would have made it possible to field a stronger eleven at Goodison Park. Playing against a tired Everton team could have been child’s play for the Royals but it simply wasn’t due to lack of depth in the first-team squad.

The decision should soon be made – and if we’re honest we’ll admit now that this Reading team certainly has what it takes to qualify for Europe – as to what will happen in terms of squad building next season.

Ridgway’s purchases have, in the main, been good – Shaun Maloney and Paolo Ferreira were bargains and Salomon Kalou is proving to be a relative snip at £6.5 million even if Andrea Gaspari hasn’t worked out as well as hoped – and he deserves the opportunity to purchase at the next level.

Whether the finances will allow him to do so remain to be seen. The stadium expansion will be online during the coming season so additional streams of revenue should be open to the club.

There is only one man who has the authority to send this club to the next level. John Madejski, the time is now for you to make your voice heard and your wishes known. There is no one else who can.

# # #

[copperhorse21]

When you write news articles for Rat Pack, they are incredible. They are, in fact, my favorite part of this Rat Pack story.

[tenthreeleader]

Hi, Copper ... it's a living! Or, at least, it used to be ...

___

“Rob, it’s nice to meet you.”

I looked up from my desk to see a man in an Armani suit standing next to my desk.

“Attorney?” I asked, looking up at the sandy-haired man standing to my immediate right.

“No,” the man said. “Marketer. My name is William Winthrop. I’ve been brought in as things are a bit unkempt on the promotional side of things. The club have hired me as a free-lance specialist. I’d like a few minutes of your time.”

I looked up from my scouting notes on Arsenal. “Right now isn’t a good time, Mr. Winthrop,” I said.

“Willie, please,” he said. He looked a bit old to be called by a nickname, but I wasn’t about to argue.

“Okay, then, Willie, right now isn’t a good time. I’m hip deep in Arsenal reports and I need to make sure I get through them. Wednesday is important.”

“So is marketing,” he said, to my raised eyebrow.

“Willie, please check with Paula and see when I’m free,” I said. “Right now, the Arsenal report and match plan are the most important things in my day. I realize marketing and money are important, but this match is my job.”

“And raising revenue streams so you can buy the players you need is mine,” he said. He wasn’t giving up. “I will check with Miss Ryan but for everyone’s sake it would be best if we could meet today or tomorrow.”

I looked up at him. “Willie, I will do my best,” I said. “But I will tell you this; the way to get me to move to your schedule is a way different from the one you are presently trying. I am the boss of the football side of this operation, which drives everything else – including your job. When I am ready, I will meet with you. But in the meantime, I expect to be allowed to perform my primary task. Are we clear?”

“Clear,” he said, as I finally stood up from my chair.

“Good,” I said. “The relationship between these jobs is important. I understand that. But you have to let me do my job. Then we can work on our joint responsibilities.”

# # #

[Bennico]

I've only just finished reading page one, but felt I had to pass comment.

This is an immensely well written story. The deep detail encapsulates the imagination, which draws the reader into the 'virtual' world of rich imagery that your writing style creates.

This is a highly professional piece of work. Takes me back to the days of my youth, spent fervently devouring the works of Michael Hardcastle. To compare your work to his, in my eyes, is pretty much the highest praise I can offer.

[tenthreeleader]

Bennico, thank you for your very kind words and welcome to the Rat Pack! From what I know of Michael Hardcastle (and unfortunately, it's not nearly enough), he's not unlike my own favorite author as a boy, the American author Matt Christopher. I was able to spend a bit of time today searching on Hardcastle's work and I want you to know I really appreciate the high praise!

___

Tuesday, March 10

Reaction to Weatherby’s column has been swift. Madejski wasted no time in replying to the Post reporter and frankly I think he has to be pretty careful in what he says.

“I have always acted in what I believe are the best interests of Reading Football Club as its owner,” he said in a stiffly worded statement issued this morning. “I believe the management team we have in place, including manager Rob Ridgway and our board of directors, has the ability to move the club forward at a pace that is acceptable to supporters while not sacrificing the financial integrity of the club. We must not lose sight of the fact that for the club to move forward it must be in a healthy financial condition. The task of our board is to ensure the vitality of Reading Football Club now and into the future.”

The ball is in the reporter’s court. Madejski said little about the fans, unfortunately, other than to say he could meet their desire for progress. Part of his mindset as the owner is that he gets to call any shots he wants to call. Which, in his mind, would be all of them. That’s his right – he’s put up the money and he’s built the stadium.

Yet in today’s world, fan expectation is something that has to be dealt with. It’s not as bad here as it is, say, at Real Madrid, Barca or just about any place in Argentina, where a two-match losing streak to the wrong opponents can cost a manager his job.

Here it isn’t that bad – remember that no manager in last year’s Premiership was sacked, even those who were relegated with their teams – but there is still pressure.

The press provides most of it, so that’s why Madejski needs to be careful with Weatherby. Not for his sake, mind you, but for mine. I have to hope my boss says the right things.

For my part, though, my day was spent saying exactly the right things about Arsenal. The last thing I need heading into the big match tomorrow is to say the wrong thing and get a team like that riled up.

The best part of it all is that Wenger seems to feel the same way. His pre-match media gaggle in London showed a due amount of respect for my team that I found pleasing.

“They play the game the right way,” Wenger said. “They play with skill, they get the ball down and they play it. They play football, unlike some of the teams we face. I am not in a position to say that I feel we should win the match because they have beaten us twice this season. We must respect them because we have not defeated them. I hope the situation after the match tomorrow will be different and we will have won the match, but it is not for me to say we should simply go there and win. The players know they have a hard job ahead of them. We must do the job.”

I did nothing to dissuade Wenger of his high opinion for my side.

# # #

Willie Winthrop stuck his head into my office that afternoon. Without knocking.

That in itself was annoying to me, but I was in thought when the marketer entered and not really in the mood to be disturbed.

I was watching a VEGA analysis of Arsenal’s last match on my laptop computer. The acronym stands for Video Enhanced Game Analysis, it simplifies our scouting and it really takes a lot of the load off me.

Last year at Padova I had to scout matches myself or log video the old-fashioned way. VEGA allows me (or scouting staff that I trust) to place video tags at various points in a match to cover any of a number of occurrences. Blue tags are for set pieces, for example, which can be sorted by the player who takes them. Keeper distribution has a red tag in our system, so I can click a mouse button and watch every distribution – where it goes, who the target is, and what a team does with the ball when they win it without having to wade through the entire match.

Green tags are for offensive possession in the other team’s half. Black tags are for defenders’ possession in the defensive half. Shots at goal are white, goals are a bullseye-colored tag.

I was going through Arsenal’s set pieces when my train of thought was wrecked.

“Rob, can we talk now?” he asked.

I frowned. “Willie, I did say that this needed to wait, at least until after the Arsenal match,” I said. “This really isn’t a good time and frankly I don’t care for the interruption.”

“We have work to do,” he explained. “May I sit down?”

I frowned. “No, Willie, you can’t,” I finally said. “I am preparing for a match and I’m in the middle of my workday. What will it take for you to realize that the football side of this operation is paramount?”

“This club is a business,” he explained. “If we don’t make money, we don’t progress.”

“I don’t need your lecture,” I snapped. “I know this is a business. And if we don’t beat Arsenal tomorrow – with the players we have, I might add – I’ve got bigger problems than just the bottom line.”

“I’ve got a job to do,” he protested. “It requires your time.”

I finally snapped. “You know what? Get the hell out of my office, Mr. Winthrop. You will find, because you evidently still haven’t learned it, that when you want my time – and I understand that you need it – that you’ll get it in an appropriate fashion. This time isn’t going well for you and it’s because you simply do not listen!”

That brought Ryan out from behind her desk, and into my office as a third party. She heard my raised voice.

“Rob, what’s going on here?” she asked.

“Good question, Paula,” I said. “I would like you to find some time where Mr. Winthrop here can sit down with me – as I requested yesterday – and I would like it done as soon after the Arsenal match as it can be arranged. That is to say, after the Arsenal match. Are we all clear on that?”

“Yes,” my PA answered, realizing that an error had been made.

Winthrop said nothing in reply.

# # #

[copperhorse21]

I read your dialogue of Wenger. Damn near spot on if I do say so myself! And then, to follow it up with the VEGA research....(bows low in humble servitude)

[tenthreeleader]

Copper, thank you ... I am glad to have come close to Wenger's dialogue in your eyes. He does have a distinct manner of speaking and careful use of the language!

___

Wednesday, March 11

Reading (14-11-3, 5th place) v Arsenal (17-4-7, 4th place) – EPL Match Day #29

“Mr. Ridgway, I cannot and I will not allow you to abuse club staff!”

It was a perfect way to start my day, for all the wrong reasons. I had Sidney Richmond in my office, his face inches from mine, yelling at me at the top of his lungs.

I sat in my chair, hands folded and resting on the desk in front of me. Evidently Sidney had a soft spot in his heart for Willie Winthrop. Richmond was leaning over to get into my face and I wondered what he’d do if I moved back just a little bit. He’d have pitched forward and done a face plant right in the middle of my team sheet.

“Mr. Richmond, allow me to be direct,” I said, now looking up at the director.

He said nothing in reply.

“Mr. Richmond, my club is playing Arsenal in two hours. There are players and club staff on the other side of this door and they can hear every word we are saying. Now, I am an employee of this club as well, until the owner of this club tells me I’m not. I am also in direct charge of the football side of this operation, about to manage a match that is of vital importance to this club.”

“And?” He looked down at me, his long, pointed nose seemingly taking aim at my forehead like a loaded Lee-Enfield.

“And, Mr. Richmond, I threw one person out of my office yesterday who was not nearly as rude as you are being at the moment. If you like, I’ll make it two. Whether I do that or not is completely up to you.”

His face grew red. He knew full well I was pointing out that there witnesses to this conversation and I wasn’t afraid to call on them.

“You have belittled me, in front of the board members and in front of the chairman,” I said. “You stride into this office as though you own the place right before a match that may well decide whether we wind up in the Champions League next season, and you insult me in front of players and club staff. That’s up to you, of course, but I am telling you as sure as I’m sitting here that I will not stand for it. In fact, I’m putting you on notice right now that I will record any conversation we have in future, in case there’s any further trouble. Am I clear?”

“I am a director of this club,” he said. “I hardly need remind you of that.”

“And I am the manager of this club,” I answered. “Evidently, I do need to remind you of that.”

“You’d better win today,” he threatened, turning on his heel to leave my office. “Mark my words, Ridgway. You had better win.”

# # #

[viperk1]

My temptation would be to string Sidney Richmond up - or at least, to ask the players to do it for me.

Good luck against Arsenal, Mr. Ridgway

[tenthreeleader]

Viper, it may be coming to that ...!

___

There is nothing like managing a big match with steam coming out of your ears. I had it happen to me a couple of times at Padova last season, but I never imagined that I would see a red mist while managing in a Premiership match.

I find that sort of behavior, in the main, unprofessional. It’s not done in the top flight. But since Richmond had stalked his way into my office and threatened me before the match, I felt a little righteous indignation.

Of course, my first call after Richmond left was to the chairman and to say that Madejski didn’t take the news well would be an understatement.

“He what?” the chairman demanded after I told him the story.

“He threatened me,” I said. “Now, I’m certainly not scared of him from a man-to-man standpoint, but from a standpoint of media and the image of this club, he could hurt me, my reputation, and the reputation of this club quite a bit.”

“Rob, please let me worry about the image of Reading FC. That’s my job, not yours,” he reminded me. “But Sidney was out of line. I will take it up with him. You mustn’t worry about today’s result – we know full well that Arsenal are a good side but you can certainly beat them. We know that. But it is totally unacceptable to place you under that kind of pressure before a match when we both know perfectly well your job is in no danger.”

“I do appreciate that,” I said. “Admittedly you wouldn’t have thought that if you had heard Mr. Richmond. He did sound like the emissary from a darker power, shall we say.”

“You know this perfectly well,” he answered. “The only person in Berkshire you have to satisfy with regard to your job performance is me. And at the moment, I am pleased. Manage the match today, and bring us home three points. Speaking in a non-threatening manner, of course.”

I thanked him, and hung up the phone. I looked up to discover Emiliani and Weatherby standing outside my open office door, scribbling notes furiously into their pads. They were here for the pre-match briefing and they had heard it all.

# # #

[Offspring8]

Daaaamn, it's proving to be Rob's day so far ain't it?? Lets just hope that the match goes in Rob's favour

[copperhorse21]

Emiliani AND Weatherby? I'm very curious to read both of the perspectives offered by this most interesting wrinkle in the plot....

[SCIAG]

Come on Rob!

10-3, the work keeps getting better. Now just go and win the title!

[tenthreeleader]

Thanks, fellows ... going to be an interesting day, on and off the pitch!

__

As a result, I had a look of real intensity as I took to the touchline for the match. We hardly needed motivation to face the Gunners – in fact, some of the players looked ready to sprout wings and fly during the pre-match warm-ups. I had to dial a few of them down before the match started.

One of those players was Maloney, who was determined to start giving better performances. He hasn’t scored in some time and we need to get him going again if our attack is going to function as intended. We haven’t had good play from the raider position in awhile and I think it is one reason we have been struggling.

Maloney knows it. He has enjoyed the adulation of the fans when he was playing well and now he’s starting to hear it from some of the more strident members of the support because he isn’t. You know the types – the guys who play in the Sunday leagues, but who manage the club better than I do from the stand and can do it even better once they’ve tipped back a few pints before kickoff. They are the exception that proves the rule, but they are also the ones who make the most noise.

I generalize, of course. But some fans are fickle and some of ours are no exception. So Shaun is feeling the heat a bit, which may not be the worst thing in the world for him.

Still, though, you have to be in the proper mindset to play the game well. So I calmed him down a bit.

“Shaun, I know you want to be a box-to-box guy today but remember your role,” I said. “I need you to be able to get forward and use your skill. That’s what this club needs. Drop deep and support Pazienza, yes, but remember that your role is to put that round thing in their net. Take the pressure off yourself. It’ll be fine if you simply play the game we both know you can play.”

The Scotsman nodded grimly. “Gotta shut some people up,” he mused.

“Do it the right way,” I said. “You play the wrong way today and they’re going to get louder, because if you aren’t in position when and where we need you to be, Arsenal is going to overload us. So do what is required. You can do both.”

He nodded, now re-focused on his task. I felt better for that and a more relaxed player headed onto the pitch to do his job.

Meanwhile, I walked alongside Wenger, and we shook hands before departing for our respective dugouts. There was none of the glib look that some managers have given me in this league when I start to pace the touchline and there was none of the stick I sometimes get from visiting fans at the way I choose to manage my players.

In short, it was the start of respect. All I need now is to win over the media and I might just survive in this job.

The strains of the Judas Priest classic You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ played briefly over the Madejski’s family-friendly speakers, and I smiled to myself. The hymn of rock defiance blared out for those who cared to listen and considering the mood I was in, it was tonic for my angry soul.

# # #

[Kryston]

I was actually quite a fan of Steve Coppell's Royals a few season back when they were in the Premier League, giving the big boys some fight and getting a decent 9th (or was it 10th) position at the end despite the shoe string budget.

Sadly Reading would become a selling club these days with Dave Kitson gone and soon Stephan Hunt sold to Hull City, as they banked on youngsters these days.

If only they had Rob Ridgway as their manager, of course they would be ecstatic to have the likes of Kalou, Maloney, Lobont and Dagoberto as well.

[mark wilson27]

Good luck against the Gunners, as always enjoying the story Tenthree and will be following the Rat Pack till the end