sherm Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 “Chris! Tim! Pass the ball. Always look for the open spaces down the flanks. We need to use the wingers speed and exploit the wings” He looked left, saw his assistant doing his drills with the younger lads, before turning his attention back to the first team players he was working with. There was plenty of work to be done, but in the four years he had been there, there was certainly some been made “Lads, gather round” They all filed round their manager. It was only when the final players were heading towards him that he noticed a smart, suited figure stood on the outskirts of the training ground. He thought nothing of it, and turned back to his players “OK lads. We are six weeks away from the start of the season. We’ve made major progress and done brilliantly to get this far, but there is still work to be done. The squad we have is capable, but with a couple more additions, we can really push on. Yes Dave?” David Livermore was a talented lad, versatile and capable of playing in several positions. Not the brightest kid though “We sticking with the youth policy this year?” “Age means nothing to me. I don’t care how old a player is – all that matters to me is how you play and if you’re good enough…” Another ten minutes was spent talking to his players, before he sent them off to the showers to cool down. It was then he turned round, and was face to face with the man in the suit he had seen earlier -- I had started at Millwall as a coach, a member of Billy Bonds backroom staff in 1997. It was after Billy’s sacking that I took over the reigns in a joint capacity, with Keith ‘Rhino’ Stevens. During that time we had appeared at Wembley on more than one occasion, suffered Play-Off heartbreak in 1999 and reached the First Division the previous summer. Now, I wanted the lads to establish themselves in the division before pushing on and moving up I was 38 years of age, and in my 32nd year of a footballing education that had started back in North London, aged just six years of age. My first game at White Hart Lane was a home game against Burnley – a game which enhanced my love for the game. Some of the football was beautiful, and a 7-0 win just made me see what a game this was. Spurs were my team and though things didn’t always go to plan, I was over the moon when I signed terms, aged sixteen. I made my debut that year, coming on as sub in a 2-0 win over Bolton. Dreams come true… I went on to play 225 games for Tottenham. I was a midfielder who liked a tackle, but also bombed forward when I could, a tactic which got me 34 goals in those games. From there, aged 24, I moved to Liverpool. That was a great side, and playing with those players made me better. In seven years, I played 306 games. Won every possible honour I could, and I still have all those medals in my office in my house. It was an amazing time, and I count myself lucky enough to have played over 500 professional games From there, it was time to get my coaching badges. It didn’t take me too long, and I ended up joining Millwall. I made a career and forged a reputation of my own making and my own right, and this reputation was about to land me back in the promised land Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 This is a game I've had for a while. The story is one that's been written, amended, re-written and now I wanted to post it. It may be slow(ish) progress but I want to post it in a first person (mainly) style. Game is played on CM 01/02, still my favorite version of any of these games... --- “Mr Warren? Good to meet you” He shook my hand warmly, and I had a vague recollection of seeing him somewhere before “You too Mr…? “Levy. Daniel Levy. As you may know, I’m chairman of Tottenham Hotspur” “Pleasure to meet you. So what can I do or you Mr Levy?” A smile crept onto his face, and he tilted his head to one side “I’ll get straight to the point. I need a manager. I want that to be you. You know the club, you’re a cult hero within the club, and you’ve done a hell of a job here at Millwall” I was flabbergasted. No way had I imagined that when Glenn Hoddle quit the club just a week earlier, that I would be approached for the job. I didn’t know what to say, so I just told him I’d mull it over for a few days, took his card and shot off back to my office! -- Was I ever going to turn it down? Not really. I was always going to take the job. Five days later, I was sat in the boardroom alongside Daniel Levy and the rest of the board, discussing the ambitions for the season. I won’t bore you with every little detail but the finances were fine, the ambitions were mediocre and I felt we could certainly do the business. That view of mine was even more so enhanced when I stepped into my office, picked up the team report and looked at the squad members Neil Sullivan looked like the number one choice between the sticks. A man of great Premier League experience, with well over 300 career games, and a physical and dominant presence between the goa. However, his backup worried me. Kasey Keller, though an American international, wasn’t up to the standard I liked. I had it in my mind early to grab a new replacement keeper, maybe one of the ones I had in my Millwall squad. Defence looked good. I played without full backs, which I had always done, and with a back three of central defenders, so this meant that German Christian Ziege, versatile Mauricio Taricco and the reliable Stephen Carr would all be sold, hopefully bringing in considerable funds to strengthen the squad. Dean Richards and Chris Perry were two top class defenders, and easily first team quality, while the likes of Ben Thatcher, Goran Bunjevcevic and Ledley King could all step in and do a job, but they would need work to be done. And a back up or two would certainly be needed Midfield was also talented, and with the formation I intended to play, it looked like Steffen Freund and Tim Sherwood would fight out the holding midfielder slot. In front of them, we had a little bit of a lack of options, with Stephen Clemence and Simon Davies the only real possibilities to play there, so central midfield was a huge priority. In the attacking roles, there were other options. Uruguayan Gus Poyet was an experienced campaigner, and he would be fighting it out with England international Darren Anderton. Despite the fact he preferred to play as a centre forward, I had also earmarked big money signing Sergei Rebrov to play in the role behind the striker That striker looked like being one of three. Teddy Sheringham looked the favourite, but he didn’t have age on his side. Neither did Les Ferdinand, and though they had over 200 Premiership goals between them, I would be looking for other options. There was also Norwegian Steffen Iversen, who again, looked OK, but not necessarily up to the standard that I needed in the team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 Pre Season 2001 Work began straight away, and while I had John Gorman working on the fitness with the players for the first week or so, I was looking at bringing in new additions. Don Howe had been drafted in just on a 12 month deal, and he would be my chief scout, looking for youngsters, and he had been immediately sent out to finalise this task Within the opening week, we had four new players. Jamie Victory had joined from Cheltenham, as a squad player, aswell as Bohemians forward Glen Crowe. The pair of them had a combined fee of £300,000, a measly figure when you look at the talent available from both players. Even less money was spent on our next addition, as former Barcelona midfielder Josep Guardiola joined the ranks on a free transfer. This was a tremendous addition for the team, and this highly talented player would also be a great leader on the field, and off the field for the younger players. The final man to come in that week was Falkirk midfielder Mark Kerr. While the fee of £1.5 million seemed over the top for a 19 year old with just 29 games under his belt, I was confident that he would be a fantastic addition the midfield, and his pace and passing ability would be vital to how we played. I had also had a contract accepted from Nigerian Taribo West, but due to the rules and quirks of football, I had to wait for his work permit to come through -- Don Howe had done a fabulous job up to now, signing four youth players to the U-21’s for us to build up and nurture. John Rankin was a former Manchester United trainee, while striker Joao Paiva had been snapped up after his release by Benfica. Garforth had been offered £40,000 for their promising winger Jon Coppinger, and he had quickly agreed terms, while Dutch striker Marnix Kolder had joined for £180,000. The squad was starting to take shape, and with three pre-season games arranged already, it was a good opportunity to get the squad up to fitness The first of these was a game against Rotherham United. It was a 3-1 victory, comfortable and easy, with goals from Sheringham, Freund and a bullet header from Dean Richards. We had a spell where the hosts were the better side but a goal from Chris Swailes didn’t make a difference and we won the game easily. There was more to celebrate after the match too, as Taribo West completed his move. This was another fantastic acquisition, and one that I was delighted with, considering there were 15 clubs in for him. To top that off, we strengthened the goalkeeper department, with Greek stopper Dionisis Chiotis joining for a £2 million fee. Kasey Keller was not pleased, and I was not pleased with how he voiced his displeasure, and he was immediately transfer listed -- Over the next fortnight, we not only completed our transfer dealings (at least for now), but we sold nine players, earning over £25 million from the fees. Ziege, Taricco, Carr, Bunjevcevic and Darren Anderton commanded the highest fees, but even the likes of Leonhardsen, Ferdinand, Thatcher and Iversen all brought in some money, aswell as their wages going off the bill and giving us more room to manoeuvre. It also allowed us to bring in Ibrahim Said, from Al-Ahly, aswell as Blackpool midfielder Richie Wellens and Danish striker Mogens Laursen. All three of these lads would go into the first team squad, and for the squad for the second pre season game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Its good to have you back writing again Sherm, CM01/02 is one of my favourite games of the series. Richard Wellens was also one of my first players I used to buy and was a great midfielder in the game if not in real life. I wander if my Peter Prospar is still around in that game, was an immense striker however always struggled to get him to sign for an English club because of Work Permits. Anyway enough rambling on looking forward to more sherm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanuszZajac16 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Championship Manager 2001/02! You have a plenty of players from legendary Wimbledon like Sullivan, Perry, Thatcher or Leonhardsen. Old style football. What I see, you just buy Marnix Kolder - one of my favourite player, really goal-machine. Good luck! 6 hours ago, mark wilson27 said: Its good to have you back writing again Sherm, CM01/02 is one of my favourite games of the series. Richard Wellens was also one of my first players I used to buy and was a great midfielder in the game if not in real life. I wander if my Peter Prospar is still around in that game, was an immense striker however always struggled to get him to sign for an English club because of Work Permits. Anyway enough rambling on looking forward to more sherm I have Peter Prospar on my actual save with Q.P.R in CM 01/02. He's 31 and play in Ansar. I can't tell you how good is he cause I have atribute masking "on". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westy8chimp Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Taribo West, Onesimo, Mark Kerr ... god I miss Cm 01/02. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherm Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Cheers lads - Mark, glad to have you on board again, and Janusz and Westy, welcome. Hope you enjoy! --- This game was against Italian side Cittadella. It was an easier test than the opener, with a 4-0 win the order of the day, but the most pleasing thing was the performance. Goals came from Said, Kerr and a brace from Laursen, but we dominated and controlled the game with a composed and self aware performance. The team were starting to turn in some good performances and the fitness levels were moving forward so things had looked good, and with one more pre-season game left, the competitive games were fast approaching .. “Boss, got a sec?” Don Howe had popped his head around the door “Sure. Come on in” He sat in the chair opposite my desk, papers in his hand “What can I do for you Don?” “You know this is probably my last season don’t you? I’ll be retiring come summer” “I know. Daniel told me that but I wanted you on board for the season” “Well, I think I’ve found the perfect replacement. He’s out of work but got plenty of experience and could be the perfect guy to work with the youngsters. I’ve already spoken with him and he’d be keen to get on board” “OK. Well I trust your judgment. Get it done and we’ll get him on board and ready for the role” -- The final pre season opposition was another Italian side, as Parma were the visitors. It wasn’t the greatest game in the world, finishing in a 1-1 draw, but the lads looked like they were gelling and that the fitness levels were at the level they were meant to be. The season was fast approaching, and it was imperative to get a good start The pundits and the press didn’t fancy us to do much, a mid table finish being tipped as the best we could hope for, but after looking at the squad I fancied us to cause a few upsets and maybe surprise a few people. We had strength in depth, we had strengthened the youth side of things and we looked primed and ready for a decent league season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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