Sheffield United dynasty with CM4

[3ric]

-------------------------------
July 2002:
-------------------------------
I arrive at Saltergate, Chesterfield, for my first day there as the new manager for the Blades. Upon arrival I discover that it's a mixed bag of opinions regarding the board's decision to hire me. The board tell me they hope for a long and successful era under my management, no surprise there. In addition, they provide me with a transfer fund of £85K to purchase new players.

But when investigating the financial situation I discover that the club's huge wage bill threaten to drag the club into a huge debt situation, which calls for immediate action to prevent this.

Furthermore, the supporters are very disappointed that an unknown manager has been put in charge of the club. They've indicated they would prefer to see an experienced manager in my place, something that the club apparently cannot afford.

Both the board and the supporters are expecting a safe mid-table position for this season.

[3ric]

Looking at the team, we have the first team as follows:
1-Simon Tracey, GK - 34 years old, have spent a total of 14 season with us over two separate stints. Strong, powerful keeper with very good aerial ability. Earns £4000 per week, the fifth-highest paid player on the team. Currently out for 8 months with torn knee ligaments.

23-Patrick Kenny, GK - 24 years old, valued £130K. Clearly the #1 keeper in Tracey's absence. Earns £2900 per week.

2-Robert Kozluk, DR - 24 years old, valued £140K. Pacy and scrappy fullback with good tackling ability. Earns £2400 per week.

3-Robert Ullathorne, DL - 30 years old, valued £95K. Slow but has good technique and loads of experience. Earns £1500 per week.

5-Shaun Murphy, DC - 31 years old, valued £190K, 18 caps for Australia. Commanding centreback with excellent heading ability. Earns £1900 per week.

6-Robert Page, DC - 27 years old, valued £325K, 25 caps for Wales. Influential player with good technique. Earns £3500 per week.

20-Jean-Phillipe Javary, AMC - 24 years old, valued £75K, French. Hard working, aggressive midfielder. Earns £1400 per week.

4-Steve Yates, DRLC - 32 years old, valued £100K. Earns £3000 per week.

7-Michael Brown, MC - 25 years old, valued £375K. Hardworking talent with very good intangibles and sure tackling ability. Earns £5000 per week.

8-Stuart McCall, DMC (Player/coach) - 38 yrs old, 40 caps for Scotland. Still an influential player, hardworking anchorman. Earns £3000 per week. Has welcomed me with open arms and we've already formed a good relation.

12-Nick Montgomery, MC - 20 years old, valued £95K. Enthusiastic midfielder with good marking ability. Earns £2200 per week.

17-Phil Jagielka, MC - 19 years old, valued £170K. Energetic player with good passing ability. Earns £3400 per week.

18-Michael Tonge, MC - 19 years old, valued £275K. Young talent who's coveted by several Premiership clubs. Very good dribbler. Earns £4900 per week as our first "indispensable" player.

21-Colin Cryan, DC - 21 years old, valued £45K, Irish. Commanding centreback with very good strength. Earns £725 per week.

38-Marcel Cas, MR - 30 years old, valued £140K, Dutch. Speedy midfielder with questionable technique. Earns £3000 per week.

9-Carl Asaba, SC - 29 years old, valued £230K. Quick striker but not very talented. Earns £4000 per week.

10-Paul Peschisolido, SC - 31 years old, valued £140K, 45 caps for Canada. Experienced and good dribbler but lacks stamina. Earns £2300 per week.

11-Laurens Ten Heuvel, SC - 26 years old, valued £200K, Dutch. Another very fast striker with less talent than I'd liked. Earns $2300 per week.

14-Wayne Allison, SC - 33 years old, valued £50K. Hardworking attacker with very good heading. Earns £2000 per week.

16-Peter Ndlovu, FRLC - 29 years old, valued £250K, 61 caps for Zimbabwe. Very fast and with adequate crossing ability, he could be a right winger. Earns £5500 per week as our second "indispensible" player.

30-Tyrone Thompson, DMC/SC - 20 years old, valued £24K. Hot prospect who tackles hard. Earns 1100 per week.

34-Steve Kabba, FRC - 21 years old, valued £220K. Huge talent with great speed and finishing ability. Earns £2200 per week.

39-Iffy Onuora, SC - 34 years old, valued £45K, Scottish. Very strong, durable player with some nifty moves. Earns £2000 per week.

22-Ben Doane, DR - 22 years old, valued £60K. Earns £1100 per week.

21-Benoit Croissant, DC - 21 years old, valued £22K. Earns £850 per week.

26-Grant Smith, ML - 22 years old, valued £45K. Some passing and dribbling ability. Earns £1200 per week.

20-Jean-Phillippe Javary, AMC - 24 years old, valued £75K. Hardworking, decent dribbler. Earns £1400 per week.

12-Dean Windass, AM/FC - 33 years old, valued £95K. Very good passing, heading, finishing. Earns £8000 per week, the highest wage on the team.

[3ric]

The reserves squad consist of:
Lewis Killeen, SC, 19 yrs.
Ryan Mallon, SC, 19 yrs. On loan to Halifax.
Jake Speight, SC, 16 yrs.
Daniel Sloane, SC - 18 years old.
Ashley Sestanovich, FC - 20 years old.
Daniel Wood, FLC - 18 years old.
Jonathan Forte, AML - 15 years old.
Ian Ross, MC - 16 years old.
Adam Baum, D/MR - 19 years old.
Owen Morrison, AMRL - 20 years old, valued £70K, Northern Irish. Earns £1200 per week.
Rob Nugent, DC - 19 years old.

In the U19s we have 24 players between 18 and 16 years of age.

According to my assistant manager, the default lineup would consist of
GK Kenny,
DL Yates, DC Murphy, DC Page, DR Kozluk,
ML Brown, MC Tonge, MC McCall, MR Ndlovu,
FC Windass, FC Allison.
Substitutes: Jagielka, Cryan, Smith, ten Heuvel, Croissant, Javary, Peschiolido, Doane.

I would rather see Kabba replacing Allison in that squad, and question the choice of placing Brown on the left, when he'd probably be best suited alongside Tonge in McCall's spot.

That leaves Grant Smith as the only option at ML, as Ndlovu plays on the right.

I assign my three scouts to youth players, UK and Ireland and England to start searching for prospects. The main need initially is at winger, where we could use one extra at both sides.

We also need a reserve goalkeeper.

I place Doane, Croissant and Cryan on the reserve team, leaving Ullathorne, McCall and Thompson as the backups at defender.

At midfielder we put Cas on the transfer list - his £3000 wage has to be unloaded as quick as possible. Cas and Javary are demoted to the reserves. Jagielka and Montgomery stays in the first team.

The attackers we demote are ten Heuvel, Onoura and Asaba, which leaves Peschisolido and Allison as the backups behind starters Kabba and Windass. For a little longer term we need more young talent here.

[3ric]

Looking at the finances, we see that our wage budget is £60K, while we pay wages for £80K. Simple math tell me that we need to cut £20K, and that will have to come from the 14 players currently listed as backups - they cost us a combined £30K.

For comparison, our four key players command a total of £22K in wages, while seven first team players are paid a combined £19K. The remaining 37 players (rotation, prospects, youngsters) cost us only £8.8K in wages.

We transfer list ten Heuvel, Onoura, Asaba, Javary, Morrison, Allison and Doane to go with the already listed Cas. If we can unload these quickly then we've freed £18K in wages.

Should I release them on free transfer then I'd be forced to pay in excess of £1.5M in compensation - which we cannot afford with our meager £677K cash balance. (Also, the board will be much more strict when allowing releases on free transfer than in previous versions of CM, and it will have negative effects on their opinion of me.) But I could release both Morrison and Doane for just £55K each, if I want.

[3ric]

When looking at transfer prospects, I quickly make an offer to former Tottenham keeper Frode Grodås, 37. He'd be a decent backup for the short term. Former Wolves AML Andy Sinton also get an offer, but the lack of known available midfielders at a bargain price force me to look at which loans that may be available.

One player who was available on free transfer, Brazilian AM/FRC Artur, showed interest in playing for the Blades. We bring him over on a trial.

He turned out to be a very speedy, flamboyant 32-yr old that would be a nice backup to Peter Ndlovu at right winger. I sign him to a two-year deal for £750 a week.

GK Grodås' current club, Hönefoss in Norway, wants to negotiate the transfer and name the price £10K, which we accept.

Norwich calls to tell us they've accepted our proposal to loan their AM/FLC Chris Lewellyn. The next day we get the news that Man Utd are prepared to loan us Luke Chadwick, an AMRL. A comparison between these two shows that Chadwick are superior in both the mental and the physical department, while Lewellyn holds an edge in the technical skills. They are judged to be about equal as midfielders, while Chadwick is much better as an attacker.

We withdraw the offer to Burton Albion for Andy Sinton, and we settle for Lewellyn, who joins us on loan for this season.

17/7/02 - it's time for our first friendly this season - an away game at Victoria Road, Dagenham, vs Dag & Red. Peter Ndlovu dons the captain's bindle. We score twice in the first half before substituting everybody but the keeper. Dag and Red score a consolation goal in the 63rd minute to give us a 2-1 win.

Hönefoss up their price for GK Grodås again - it's now at £12K, which we accept. Finally, we can begin contract negotiations with him. He's currently being paid £240 a week, but his agent tells us he's to be considered a "key player" and that we don't have the resources to meet his demands. We counter by offering a one-year deal as a "rotation" player for £875 a week, and a £1000 signing bonus.

24/7/02 - our second friendly is at home vs Margate, another Conference team. We win 4-0 on goals by Kabba, Allison and Peschisolido (2).

GK Grodås reject our contract proposal, and we turn our efforts to the signing of former Zaragoza keeper Otto Konrad, currently with Austrian club Salzburg. Our physio reveal that two-goal hero Peschisolido suffered a calf strain in the Margate game that will limit him for about 2 months.

28/7/02 - we face Third Division team Scunthorpe. Windass and Thompson scores to give us a comfortable 2-0 win.

Charlton makes a £625K offer for our young midfielder Michael Tonge, and we aren't in the financial position to refuse. It's a generous proposal, as Tonge is valued at £275K - and it includes 10% of the next sales fee.

The next day we get another offer for Tonge from Manchester City worth £300K and a 30% next sale clause. We reject this proposal as we prefer Charlton's offer. Bolton offer £550K and %10, which we will try to negotiate to 20%.

Our starting defender Robert Page get a call-up to the Welsh national team. We try to negotiate with Salzburg GK Konrad, but can't match his wage demands.

Fulham also put in an offer for Tonge which is equal to Charlton's. We accept. Our next incoming message is a reminder that several Blades' contracts will expire after this season. We'd love to keep Steve Kabba, making him the top priority to re-sign. Others we'd like to stay with us are DR Rob Kozluk, injured GK Simon Tracey, AM/F Dean Windass, FR Peter Ndlovu, and player/coach Stuart McCall. That leaves Wayne Allison, Rob Ullathorne and Tyrone Thompson as players we don't offer an extension.

Steve Kabba is offered a wage raise of £1200, while Windass is interested in signing a contract with a reduced wage from £8000 to £5250 per week.

GK Tracey is currently being paid £4000 and gets an £1200 wage offer, and Kozluk get an extension offer with about the same salary.

Stuart McCall will probably agree to a new deal with his salary halved, leaving Ndlovu as the lone remaining Blade in this wave of re-negotiations. He wants the same salary as before, I want him to agree to a £5000 deal. We'll see.

We approach division rival Grimsby in an attempt to loan their 18-yr old talent GK Bradley Hughes.

[3ric]

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August 2002:
-------------------------------

1/8/02 - at home vs Premier League club Sunderland. Our first real test before the start of the new season. We'll let the starters play as much as we can. DL Yates got injured in the 24th minute and was replaced with Ullathorne. We substituted Tonge at halftime for Montgomery, Tonge's expected replacement after his transfer. After trailing 0-1 we switch to a more attacking tactic with 20 minutes to go and get an equalizer when Windass scores on a freekick in the 82nd minute. Seven minutes later we get a winning goal on a long shot from midfielder Michael Brown, and get a nice 2-1 upset!

The physio report that Yates only got a small knock and would be fit again in a week. We've drawn Exeter from the Third Division in the first round of the Worthington Cup (formerly the League Cup).

Tonge, our coveted midfielder, reveals that he has agreed terms with Fulham, and we confirm the deal. We also get the news that Windass, Kabba and Kozluk has agreed to their new contracts, while McCall, Ndlovu and Tracey reject our proposals. All three are willing to continue negotiations, however.

We've slashed £6500 off the wages, leaving us only £14.5K over the budget. We put forward new contract offers to McCall, Ndlovu and Tracey. McCall wants to be guaranteed a place in the first team before considering a new contract. Tracey may have changed his mind about re-signing.

We start a more active approach to our transfer listed players - clubs that assistant manager Blackwell feels would be interested are offered our players. We start by contacting seven clubs, among them Bristol Rovers, and asking them if they'd be interested in Owen Morrison. We do the same thing for the other seven players, hoping that will generate interest.

We arrive to agreements with both GK Tracey and MC Montgomery, cutting their wages somewhat. But Ndlovu is still resisting our efforts, and now seems to want more than our budget would allow. We decide to hold off negotiations with him for a while.

Our phone calls to other clubs have paid off somewhat as Wycombe offer us £60K for Ben Doane, which we gladly accept. However, nobody else took the bait as we get a whole bunch of "thank you, but no thanks".

We get our backup GK on loan as Bradley Hughes agrees to the loan deal with Grimsby. Ben Doane accepts the contract terms with Wycombe and the transfer is completed. That saves us some more money in wages, and we're now just £11.25K over the budget.

6/8/02 - We play our final pre-season friendly away at Oldham Athletic, which turn into a uneventful 0-0 draw, thankfully without anyone getting injured. MC Montgomery was the man of the match, a good sign for his ability to handle first-team duty.

We make an offer to Portsmouth for their transfer listed DC Carl Tiler. Another defender that would be of value to us is clubless Brazilian Junior Baiano, who'd need a work permit, but his wage demands are reasonable, so we'll give him an offer just to see what he says. He's a former national with 27 caps but I don't know if that will be enough for a permit.

The First Division kicks off with the game Ipswich at Brighton, where Town dominates in a 3-1 win with Pablo Counago scoring a brace. Bobby Zamora, however, was man of the match and scored Brighton's only goal.

Junior Baiano agrees to our contract offer, but we have to wait two weeks to find out if he'll get a work permit. We withdraw our contract offer to Carl Tiler, as he wanted a relatively high wage and the assistant manager didn't think it would be worthwhile. Instead we contact Peterborough United for their 22-yr old defender Brian McGovern, whom one of our scout had seen in a friendly a couple of days earlier, and recommended.

11/8/02 - our first competitive game in the First Division is at home vs Crystal Palace. They play a 4-4-2 with wingers Tommy Black and Julian Gray pushing forward, and have Dele Adebola and Andy Johnson as strikers. We start the following lineup:

                      GK Kenny
DL Ullathorne - DC Murphy - DC Yates - DR Kozluk
ML Lewellyn - MC Brown - MC McCall - MR Ndlovu
          SC Kabba   -   SC Windass

We'll play my usual preference - long balls down both flanks to the speedy wingers who crosses in to get goals on headers. English 1st division football at its best.

We take the lead in the 23rd minute after Windass crossed the ball over to the right flank where McCall had drifted into an open space. The Scot then drove to the box and shot past the keeper into the top corner after beating his man for 1-0, Blades! Palace equalized in the 69th minute on a spectacular 40-yd free kick by Danny Granville. After 91 minutes Steve Kabba scored the winning goal after Windass played a through-ball that beat the offside trap, leaving the younger attacker alone with keeper Kolinko. Windass was deservedly Man of the Match in this 2-1 win.

We've been rated as having 40-1 odds to gain promotion this season, with Leicester as the favorite at the odds 2-1. Ipswich and Derby are priced at 5-2, Wolves and Millwall at 3-1 and Norwich at 14-1.

Charlton makes an offer for our star midfielder Michael Brown worth £425K, but we reject this as Brown is valued at £375K and the sale of Tonge has given us enough funds to keep us floating for a while more.

Peterborough ask for £35K and a 50% next sale clause in exchange for their defender McGovern. I try to negotiate this to £30K and 25% of the next sale.

Bolton Wanderers call and make a £500K offer for Michael Brown. Again we reject.

[Katon]

Playing the demo?

If Windass is playing that well, I'm a bit worried about the database. The only thing he's good at in real life is attacking goalies. Literally.

[3ric]

LOL! I'm surprised at his high ratings as well - somebody over at sigames said he has a higher finishing rating than Thierry Henry... (although I think I recall now that Miles D said their stats weren't directly comparable, as Windass' current finishing rating was relative to his potential or something as that)

It's the demo, and I'm counting on that I can continue playing with the full version (as with CM3). I'll play on until I get fired then this thread continues with a Third Division team.

Since this version doesn't support printing yet, I can't dump stats as easily, so maybe I get a little wordy here in the beginning until I have found the right mix of results and intrigue.

[3ric]

Peterborough drop the "next sale clause" from the McGovern transfer proposal and settle for just a £35K fee, which I accept.

14/8/02 - away at Walsall. We are priced as 6-4 favorites. Yates and McCall rests and are replaced with Page and Montgomery. We lose 1-3, after giving up a penalty and two goals from David Zdrilic. Steve Kabba scored our late consolation goal. Chris Lewellyn was MoM.

17/8/02 - away vs Norwich. The Canaries are favored 6-4. We lose 0-1 on a Phillip Mulryne freekick. Ndlovu twisted a knee in the game and will miss about 4 weeks.

McGovern accepts our contract offer of £1100 a week, and announces he "is really enthusiastic about the prospect of playing for such a well-supported club". However, we choose to delay the transfer just in case we actually could complete the signing of Brazilian defender Junior Baiano - no sense in signing them both.

In morning of the 22nd of August I'm early at work, eagerly awaiting the word on Junior Baiano's application for a work permit. At noon we get the word - it's a yes! We can complete the transfer! Wo-hoo!

24/8/02 - at home vs Reading. Baiano makes his debut, and we've changed our tactics a bit. We win 3-0 on goals by Artur (our second Brazilian, with Portuguese passport) and Windass(2). Baiano almost scored on a freekick that was just inches outside the post.

McCall sprained his ankle in the game and will miss about two months. Chairman Derek Doyle himself came down in the locker room after the game to tell the team how pleased he was with the win, and particularily praised Artur's spectacular individual effort on his goal where he had a 40 yard run before beating the keeper.

Leicester has offered our scout George Harrison a job with them. We will receive £5000 in compensation if the deal goes ahead. We cancel the transfer of DC McGovern from Peterborough. The next day we lose Harrison as he accepts Leicester's offer.

Nottingham Forest put in an offer for backup MC Phil Jagielka worth £140K. He is a good player, but has a wage of £3400 that we probably can't afford, especially with the recent signings. After his sale we're still £13.2K over the wage budget, but the cash balance has increased to £2.27M.

31/8/02 - away at Millwall. They are favored at 5-4 odds. Montgomery takes McCall's place. Nothing helps this day - we even try out the new "gung ho" mentality in a desperate attempt to catch up - and we lose 0-4 with Dennis Wise overwhelming our young interior midfield.

The First Division leaders, and us, at the end of the month:

1. Portsmouth   4-0-1 / 14-5
2. Ipswich      4-0-0 / 9-3
3. Rotherham    3-2-0 / 9-4
4. Wolves       3-1-1 / 8-4
5. Norwich      3-1-1 / 5-4
6. Nottm Forest 3-1-1 / 9-9
----
15. Sheff Utd   2-0-3 / 6-9 

[3ric]

-------------------------------
September 2002:
-------------------------------
Crystal Palace's Dele Adebola wins the First Division Player of the Month award, and the Wolves' Joleon Lescott is the Young Player of the Month. Rotherham's manager Ronnie Moore is First Division Manager of the Month.

4/9/02 - at home vs division leaders Portsmouth. They are favored at 6-4 odds, but we will deploy an attacking tactic and try to neutralize AMC Paul Merson. We lose 0-1 despite a solid team effort.

To top the misery we get the bad news from the physio that both Windass and Steve Kabba have shoulder injuries that will need two months each to heal. Now we have four forwards injured and seven hurt players in total, which includes most of my best players.

(Marc has promised that while the number of injuries will stay about the same after the patch, it will be less likely to be so many long-term absences.)

However, we get a boost to the lineup when Peter Ndlovu returns to full training.

11/9/02 - away at Exeter in the first round of the Worthington Cup. Wayne Allison and Peter Ndlovu play as forwards. Iffy Onoura from the reserve team get a place on the bench. We manage only 4 shots on goal for the entire game and lose 0-1.

14/9/02 - at home vs Derby, who's favored 5-4. We get a 1-1 draw on a late header by substitute forward Onoura.

Paul Peschisolido returns to full training and goes into the lineup, while Ndlovu moves back to right winger.

21/9/02 - away vs Bradford. We play it safe and return with a scoreless tie, 0-0. Our keeper, Paddy Kenny, was man of the match. Defender Shaun Murphy twisted his knee and will miss 4 weeks.

Stuart McCall returns to full training, and replaces Montgomery in the lineup. Unhappiness is now spreading in the team, as five players have major concerns about our league position (18th) which in my opinion is due to the injuries to three of our key players. McCall's return should help a little at least, but that Rob Kozluk think we should top the table is just plain unrealistic.

25/9/02 - away at Wolves. They are favored 5-4, and play an attacking 442 formation according to my scout. They are placed 3rd in the division. We score the first goal through Allison on a Ndlovu corner kick, but collapse to a 1-4 loss.

(At this rate I could be headed for a new job in div.3 a lot sooner than I thought!)

The good news is that both Windass and Kabba should be back at full strength in a week.

28/9/02 - at home vs Stoke, 13th in the division. We are actually favored at 6-4 odds. Stoke score three goals in the final 10 minutes, winning 3-0 and sending us plunging further into despair.

The board is disappointed, but seems to recognize there's still a chance to finish strong and meet the expectations of a mid-table finish.

The First Division leaders, the bottom feeders, and us, at the end of the month:

1. Ipswich      7-2-1 / 18-6
2. Wolves       7-2-1 / 18-6
3. Nottm Forest 7-2-1 / 19-10
4. Rotherham    6-3-1 / 17-9
5. Norwich      6-2-2 / 14-10
6. Portsmouth   6-1-3 / 21-11
----
19. Sheff Utd   2-2-6 / 8-18
---- 
22. Brighton    2-1-7 / 11-20
23. Gillingham  1-1-8 / 5-18
24. Reading     1-1-8 / 10-26

[3ric]

-------------------
October 2002
-------------------
I get a vote of confidence from the board - they are "still sure that they made the right choice" in selecting me as the manager. The First Division Player of the Month is Wolves defender Joleon Lescott. Nottingham Forest's Gareth Williams is Young Player of the Month, and the Wolves' Dave Jones is Manager of the Month.

I do some more tactical changes to get the defenders to close down on opponents better. Bristol Rovers make a £70K offer for Owen Morrison, which I accept.

Steve Kabba and Dean Windass return to full training, which means the Blades' first team is now back at fulls strength.

9/10/02 - away at Leicester, 9th in the division. Stefan Oakes scored twice on a penalty and a free kick to send us home with a 0-2 loss.

16/10/02 - at home vs Brighton, 22nd in the division. Somehow we manage to concede three goals in the first 27 minutes and claw two goals back to lose 2-3. Kabba and Windass both scored. Memo to self: Scratch the tactic from this game as useless.

19/10/02 - away at Wimbledon, 21st in the division. Stuart McCall has to get some rest and is replaced by Montgomery. We get an 0-0 draw with Steve Kabba having several close chances.

23/10/02 - derby at home vs Sheffield Wednesday, 12th in the division. We are tied 1-1 until only 8 minutes remains, then our rivals win the games on goals on a free kick and on a penalty. Every team in the first division seem to have a freekick specialist these days...

26/10/02 - away at Ipswich, 1st in the division. We lose 0-3 as Marcus Bent score two goals on shots from the 25-30 yd range.

The First Division leaders, the bottom feeders, and us, at the end of the month:

1. Ipswich      10-2-2 / 27-11
2. Nottm Forest 10-2-2 / 27-12
3. Leicester    10-1-4 / 33-17
4. Wolves       9-2-4  / 25-15
5. Portsmouth   9-1-4  / 31-16
6. Rotherham    8-4-2  / 21-13
----
22. Sheff Utd   2-3-10 / 11-29
23. Gillingham  1-4-10 / 8-24
24. Reading     1-2-11 / 15-39

[3ric]

-------------------
November 2002
-------------------
The board tells me they are "satisfied" with my performance as manager. They are lying, but it's nice of them to say that. Brighton's Bobby Zamora is the First Division Player of the Month. Jonathan Stevenson from Leicester City is Young Player of the Month and his manager, Micky Adams, is Manager of the Month.

Shaun Murphy, Robert Page and Paul Peschisolido are called up to their respective national teams, Australia, Wales and Canada.

2/11/02 - at home vs Burnley, 19th in the division. This is a must-win if we are going to turn this negative trend around. Despite having a 5-2 shot advantage we get another 0-0 tie.

Rob Ullathorne has strained knee ligaments and will miss two months, and Steve Kabba will be suspended for one game after getting five yellow cards. I make some offers to some players that I hope can come in and save my job - I have to fix the financial situation later. I've managed to slash £10K in wages, though. We have £525K available in the transfer budget now, thanks to my player sales.

6/11/02 - away at Nottingham Forest, 2nd in the division. A defensive tactic get us nothing more than a second consecutive 0-0 draw. The points from the last two games move us up from a relegation spot to 20th in the division, but we're five points behind Burnley at 19th.

We're ready to sign a young talent at striker, John Turner from Cambridge, for £80K. We negotiate with Swedish side Landskrona for their 18-yr old talent Alexander Farnerud. Notts County call us and offer their young defender Kevin Nicholson to us. He's only 22 and a nice talent, we'll see what my assistant manager thinks of him.

Negotiations with Farnerud is called off since he states he isn't interested in a transfer to the Blades. Ah well, it was worth a try anyway. We've approached the respective clubs for SC Cedric Roussel and DMC John Collins, both transfer listed.

Wolverhampton replies to our offer for Roussel and wants £110K plus our midfielder Nick Montgomery in return. I try to offer them Jean-Philippe Javary instead.

15/11/02 - at home vs Grimsby, 11th in the division. Midfielder Michael Brown score his first goal of the season on a great individual effort in the 68th minute which is enough to give us our first win since August 24th, a 14-game winless streak!

Unfortunately did our goal hero also pick up his fifth booking and will miss the next game.

Kevin Nicholson signs with Watford and the Wolves reject our offer for Roussel.

[Katon]

Are you sure you'll want to mcontinue this when the full version comes out?

[3ric]

That would feel like cheating, now that I've been posting the embarrassing truth of it...

Seriously, I've bonded already with the team and don't feel like starting over - I just hope it will be easier with the full version (not conceding as many free kicks and obvious offside goals, for one) and when I do turn the team around it will be that much nicer...

[3ric]

GK Simon Tracey begins light training with the team, but he's still four months away from playing.

24/11/02 - away at Rotherham, 8th in the division. We take the lead after only five minutes on a fabulous 30-yd strike by Dean Windass and play defensively from that point on. That isn't enough to stop Rotherham from equalize in the 88th minute to get us a point each.

We're still 20th, five points behind Burnley and one point ahead of Wimbledon. A scout has found a 22-yr old midfielder, Lado Burduli, in the Georgian team Dynamo Tbilisi that we believe would be a valuable member of our first team. He already has 9 caps for Georgia and is a total package, according to my scout.

27/11/02 - at home vs Gillingham, 23rd in the division. We find ourselves behind 0-1 early in the game but Windass gets a goal on a header to tie the score, 1-1, which also is the final result.

30/11/02 - away vs Coventry, 9th in the division. We fight hard to keep them off, but are down 0-1 in the 75th minute when the floodgates open and they score three more times. Ugh. 0-4, that hurt. Stu McCall is tired from playing in every game and will need to skip the next one.
The First Division leaders, the bottom feeders, and us, at the end of the month:

1. Portsmouth   14-2-5 / 48-20
2. Nottm Forest 12-5-4 / 38-20
3. Ipswich      12-2-4 / 35-20
4. Leicester    12-2-7 / 43-30
5. Norwich      11-5-5 / 30-24
6. Sheff Wed    11-3-7 / 35-21
----
21. Sheff Utd   3-7-11 / 14-35
--
22. Gillingham  1-7-13 / 15-36
23. Bradford    2-4-15 / 16-41
24. Reading     1-3-17 / 18-55

[3ric]

-------------------
December 2002
-------------------
The board still says they are satisfied with my performance. Preston's Ricardo Fuller is First Division Player of the Month. Brighton's Bobby Zamora is Young PLayer of the Month, and Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp is Manager of the Month.

After we've offered the player to various clubs, Colchester took the bait and made us an offer of £75K for Laurens ten Heuvel.

7/12/02 - at home vs Preston, 10th in the division. Steve Kabba scored twice to give us a welcome 2-0 win.

We've drawn Wolverhampton in the FA Cup third round. We try sign a new winger, Lado Burduli from Dynamo Tbilisi, but lost him to Leicester - he got his work permit now. Rats.

14/12/02 - away vs Watford, 12th in the division. Watford give us a good 0-3 spanking as I neglect to change tactics from the last game... sigh.

McCall pick up a fifth yellow card in the game and get an automatic suspension.

18/12/02 - away vs Crystal Palace, 16th in the division. Another 0-3 loss. Does nothing else but an extreme defensive setting work on away games?

22/12/02 - away vs Reading, 24th in the division. Despite having a big possession advantage the whole game all we get out of it is a 0-0 draw.

26/12/02 - at home vs Walsall, 18th in the division. Dean Windass scores the only goal of the game to give us a 1-0 win.

This is where the demo usually ends, but since I got the full version today, I'll just continue playing. Bwahahaha.

1/1/03 - at home vs Norwich. Murphy scores on a Ndlovu corner, but the Canaries tie the score, and we draw 1-1.

Rob Kozluk broke his wrist and will be away for a month.

4/1/03 - at home vs Wolves in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. We lose 1-2. Murphy headed in our goal, off a corner again.

Ndlovu has fractured ribs and will need 4 weeks of rest.

[3ric]

11/1/03 - at home vs Millwall. Paul Ifill and Neil Harris score and send us packing with a 0-2 loss. Defender Shaun Murphy continue his impressive streak of impressive performances with an 8 rating today.

11/1/03 - away at Portsmouth, 1st in the division. Not much to say here as we suffer an embarrassing 0-4 defeat. Murphy, as usual, was our best player in this game.

And now I'm getting that kiss of death - the vote of confidence. Yikes. They have announced that my job is safe, but the news item is headlined with 'Sheff Utd board consider my position'.

I do some changes to the training regime and will try a 3-5-2 tactic in the next game. We've also bought D/DML Chris Armstrong from 2nd division Oldham and MRC Robin Hulbert from Bristol City.

18/1/03 - at home vs Wolves, 5th in the division. Wolves win 3-1 as the new tactic is a fiasco. Back to the drawing board. Murphy scored another goal on a header corner kick.

29/1/03 - away at Derby, 16th in the division. I want a win on my birthday! The home team take the lead thanks to "The Silver Fox", Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli, but we tie the score on a goal by Dean Windass (or "Widearse" as he's affectionately called by the opposing fans). Unfortunately enough we concede another goal to lose 1-2.

That was the last straw to the board, and I get the boot. Time to look at the job market, but unfortunately there's no other job available for now. Time passes...

[3ric]

Stan Ternent, formerly the manager of Burnley, is my successor at Saltergate. Best of luck to him. Rochdale in div.3 might be my next employer as the job seems to be very insecure at the moment (as of February 15th). Three days later there's a job opening and I apply for the position.

On the 22nd of February, Rochdale appoint... (thank you, you shouldn't have...) John Hollins as their new manager... (huh? who?) Darn it, back to watching reruns of "Days of Our Lives" again, I guess.

On the 25th, I see that both Wigan and Leyton Orient could be available jobs soon. But I lose out on them, not because of that they found better candidates to hire, but because I simmed too far and flat out missed out on applying.

Oh well, next in line is Huddersfield. Meanwhile, Sheff Utd tied their first game after my firing, but has now lost 6 straight and is in danger of relegation. Bwahahaha.

West Ham sack Glenn Roeder, they are in the Premier League so I probably have no chance, but what the heck. Ok, they didn't hesitate in hiring former Bayer Leverkusen manager Klaus Toppmöller. After a long while the Kettering job (in the Conference) becomes available. Huddesfield is still very insecure, along with recent additions Northampton, Wycombe and Leeds.

Suddenly, both the Shrewsbury and Wycombe jobs becomes available. We miss out on Wycombe, but later apply for both the Northampton and the Wolves job. Some more time passes... and finally, I land the job with Conference side Forest Green. Wo-hoo!

[Katon]

Just a side note . . .
Sheffield United play in Sheffield. At Bramall Lane, to be precise. Saltergate's Chesterfield territory.

CM4 seems to be a bit harder than previous versions. Both dynasty reports seem to have turned into relegation struggles. Good luck in the Conference!

[3ric]

D-oh! What a mix-up! I've must have been really tired last night!

[Radii]

Go Forest Green! I wonder how many CM4 dynasties are going to show quick sackings while we're all getting used to the game, glad you are sticking with the writeups though!

[3ric]

Thanks, Radii! There's quite a few CM4 dynasties now, all of them currently in the Conference. It should be interesting to compare and see who's getting a promotion first...
------------------
My new club proudly announce their hiring and tells everybody that's prepared to listen that they expect to achieve a mid-table finish, and to help achieve this I've been given a transfer budget of £2K. Wow.

It's the 22th of June, and the Fans Player of the Year award has just been given to Nigerian striker Kayode Odejayi.

When looking at the squad, we have the following options:
Goalkeeper - Steve Perrin, a 32-yr old with good reflexes and nice jumping ability. He's backed up by youngster Ellis Glassup, 20, who's strong and agile.

Defenders - starting at left fullback where we'll probably pick Stephen Jenkins, 23, a strong and agile man with decent pace. In the middle there's Jamie Impey, 25, another strong boy with superb crossing ability, and Paul Dodsworth, 19, who's a stud in the aerial battles. At right back the choice is 19-yr old Darren Jones who's the best tackler of the back four. Physically an imposing line. There's also Jon Richardson as the backup, but we need one or two more here.

Midfielders - Alex Sykes play left winger, he's a team leader with great intangibles. Inner midfielders are Gary Owers, another man with very good touch on the crosses, and 20-yr old Brazilian Paulinho, who's a great passer. Matthew Russell on the right wing should be alright as well. The midfield as a whole isn't as physical and there's a worrying lack of pace here. There's a lot of options here, though, as we also have Adams, Futcher, McLoughlin (an Irishman with 42 caps, currently injured), Williams and Allen as backups.

Attackers - the only options here are Alex Meechan, 23, and the 21-yr old Nigerian, Odejayi. There's also Neil Grayson, but he's 38 and set to retire.

I immediately scan the transfer wire for players without contracts and put out several offers to see who's biting. I'll probably hire a coach as well we only have one who's awful. The assistant manager is pretty good, however.

I find out there's a transfer coming in - from my old club, Sheff Utd, no less. It's striker Lewis Killeen who's coming on a free, that's good to know. The economy of the club is actually quite decent, as we are £3300 under the wage budget.

Next day, we sign two coaches, Rob Campkin and Julian Carrera. The old one is kept on the wage roll as I don't want to pay £2000 in compensation for releasing him. We also sign 33-yr old defender Carl Tiler, who has played with Portsmouth and Charlton.

As the first week rolls on, we get lots of rejections from players who's basically offended that I dared suggest they would come to Forest Green. In the midst of all this we actually get a commitment from former Russian international Andrei Kanchelskis, formerly of Derby. He'll need his work permit approved first, of course. He has previously played for clubs such as Manchester United and Everton.

We get two friendlies scheduled, with Bath and Dover Athletic. The squad is put on pre-season training and the two new coaches start their work. The old one is told to stay out of the way.

We get Newcastle's young talent Richard Offiong on loan. He's not very fast, but a deadly finisher.

On the July 9th, we get the news that Kanchelskis' work permit has been approved, and he's allowed to join Forest Green.

[condors]

good luck with forest green!

[3ric]

13/7/03 - Our first friendly is at home four days later vs 2nd division team Colchester. To my surprise is that the Rovers (that's us) play excellent and actually outshoot our opponents 11-3, with DMC Gary Owers starring. I've already written off this game as a scoreless draw, when they score an own goal in the 91st minute to give us the 1-0 win.

16/7/03 - away vs Bath City, no idea where they belong, probably from an even lower division than the Conference. We lose 0-2 as most of the players has become very tired, I'll probably have to put a few on "no training" for a short while.

Also, we get both Dodsworth and Kanchelskis on the injured list - they will miss 3 months and 2 weeks respectively. We sign another scout as we currently only have one, and I want one to scout our next opposition, in addition to one who's looking for youth players.

Our last signing in the preseason is Moroccan defender/defensive midfielder Tahar El Khalej, 35 yrs old with 103 caps. His signing was done two weeks ago, and we just got his work permit confirmed.

27/7/03 - at home vs Southend, in the Third Division. We lose 1-2 with the goal coming from Alex Meechan, but get some lively action from the players in the second half, particularily Richard Offiong, who creates several chances and help us get a 10-6 shot advantage. Paulinho twists a knee in the game and is in need of two weeks rest.

[3ric]

August 2003

5/8/03 - our last friendly before the real thing. At home vs lower team Dover Athletic. We win 2-0 on goals by Meechan (in the 8th minute, great pass by Odejayi) and by Killeen off a corner in the 80th minute.

We put the team on a custom-made first team schedule without any cross-country training in-season. Looking at the starting lineup for the regular season, we go with the following based on their performance in the friendlies:

               Perrin
Jones - Impey - El Khalej - Jenkins
Kanchelskis - Paulinho - Owers - Allen
         Odejayi - Offiong

Depth chart:
GK: Perrin - Glassup
DL: Jenkins - Futcher
DC: El Khalej - Dodsworth - Tiler
DC: Impey - Richardson
DR: Jones - Williams
ML: Allen - Sykes - Futcher
MC: Owers - (El Khalej)
MC: Paulinho - McLoughlin - Adams
MR: Kanchelskis - Russell - Williams
FC: Odejayi - Meechan
FC: Offiong - Killeen

I'm pretty satisfied with the midfield, but would like to see more speed overall on the team - especially the wing backs could be exploited on quick attacks down the flanks. A fast guy as attacker would be nice as well.

We sign a new contract with Adams and continue negotiation with Jones. The only other with an expiring contract is Grayson. Jones sign our next bid two days later. We're still about £1800 under the wage budget.

Dag and Red are 6-4 favorites to gain promotion from the Conference this season, we've been rated at 100-1, that's long odds for sure. The scout reports that Hereford is a competent team, but their attack isn't the fastest.

16/8/03 - away vs Hereford. Darren Jones dons the captain's bindle, and we start defensively to try to take advantage of quick counter attacks. Odejayi score the first goal off a corner, but in the second half we get a penalty kick against us, which John Grant calmly converts. Hereford's Andy Tretton is sent off for pulling substitute Killeen's shirt while he was bearing down on goal. The game ends with a 1-1 draw. Daniel Allen, the left winger, fractured his ribs and will miss a month.

El Khalej has been called up to the Morocco international team for the game vs Sierra Leone in the African Nations Cup qualifier.

23/8/03 - at home vs Southport, 11th in the Conference. Allen is replaced by Sykes in the lineup. We take the lead when Sykes lift in a pass to Offiong in the box where he scores an easy goal. In the 58th minute we get a second goal from Offiong, and Odejayi score a third four minutes later. A very nice 3-0 win, with Paulinho as the man of the match. Owers got a groin strain and will be away from the lineup for 4 weeks.

Midfielder McLoughlin returns to full training. I'm not getting much production out of my left back, so I start to scan for any available extras.

30/8/03 - away at Scarborough, 5th in the Conference. El Khalej is replaced by Russell. We lose 0-3 as Karl Rose bags two in the final four minutes.

Conference standings:
1. Nuneaton Borough  9 pts, +8 GD
2. Scarborough       9 pts, +7 GD
3. Dag & Red         9 pts, +7 GD
4. Aldershot         9 pts, +5 GD
5. Halifax           9 pts, +5 GD
---------------------------------
11. Forest Green     4 pts, 0 GD
---------------------------------
20. Northwich Vics   0 pts, -5 GD
21. Burton Albion    0 pts, -6 GD
22. Shrewsbury       0 pts, -7 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.66 over 3 games
K.Odejayi, 7.66 over 3 games
G.Owers, 7.50 over 2 games

[3ric]

September 2003

Conference Player of the Month: Lanre Bimbo Fatokun, Scarborough.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Billy Mehmet, Nuneaton Borough.
Conference Manager of the Month: James Storme, Scunthorpe.

Arsenal defender Igor Stepanovs has been released from the club, and the player's agent is willing to talk with us about a contract with a £550 wage, a reasonable number for us. Midfielder Alan McLoughlin has announced he will retire after the season.

13/9/03 - at home vs Farnborough, 16th in the Conference. El Khalej is back in the lineup. After 73 scoreless minutes we break the tie when right back Jones pushed up the flank while midfielder Adams (subbed in for injured Russell) dropped back in defence. Jones reached the touchline and crossed into the box where Odejayi waited to score. But a breakdown in defense allowed the visitors to escape with a 1-1 draw.

Russell broke a bone in his shoulder and is expected to be out for two months. Igor Stepanovs has agreed to a contract with Forest Green, and will await his work permit application to be granted. A report surface on Shrewsbury's financial difficulties, they are prepared to listen to any transfer offer coming in. Gary Owers resume full training.

20/9/03 - away at Telford, 21st in the Conference. We start beautifully, as Offiong get a through ball in the 5th minute from Paulinho and extends the pass to Odejayi who gives us the 1-0 lead. Telford fight back and score twice on us, but late goals from both Offiong and Odejayi put us in the clear with a 3-2 win.

Left midfielder Daniel Allen resume full training after his injury.

27/9/03 - at home vs Barnet, 2nd in the Conference. We try out Tiler at left back to see how he does. The Bees attack strongly on their right flank, but loses the ball to Owers, who counters with a tremendous 60-yd cross over to Offiong, who beats the last defender and slots the ball home. In the 43rd minute we get another great chance as Odejayi shoots from close range. The shot is saved by the keeper but defender Impey pounces on the loose ball and easily scores. 2-0 at halftime. That is also the final score despite a 6-11 shot disadvantage.

Stepanovs is granted a work permit, and joins Forest Green. He'll add some needed pace, marking and tackling ability to the defense. He has 41 caps for Latvia, and is only 27 years old.

30/9/03 - at home vs Halifax, 9th in the Conference. Man of the Match Kayode Odejayi scored two goals to give us a 2-0 win, but in the closing minutes was keeper Perrin injured and will miss 2 weeks with a chest injury.

Conference standings:
1. Scarborough      21 pts, +16 GD
2. Dag & Red        16 pts, +9 GD
3. Barnet           15 pts, +9 GD
4. Hayes            15 pts, +8 GD
5. Morecambe        14 pts, +7 GD
---------------------------------
6. Forest Green     14 pts, +5 GD
---------------------------------
20. Telford          2 pts, -10 GD
21. Northwich Vics   1 pts, -12 GD
22. Southport        1 pts, -14 GD

Top rated players on the team:
K.Odejayi, 8.00 over 7 games
Paulinho, 7.85 over 7 games
G.Owers, 7.80 over 5 games

Goals:
K.Odejayi, 6 goals in 7 games
R.Offiong, 5 goals in 7 games
J.Impey, 1 goal in 6 games

[3ric]

October 2003

Conference Player of the Month: Kayode Odejayi, Forest Green.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Elvis Hammond, Morecambe.
Conference Manager of the Month: Mark Patterson, Leigh RMI.

Stepanovs and Kanchelskis are called up to the Latvian and Russian national teams. That cause the match scheduled for the 11th to be moved to the 8th. We're currently looking for a replacement goalkeeper - even if the transfer deadline has passed, there's a rule allowing transfers for keepers if you have injuries at the position.

We're in talks with Reading's Jamie Ashdown and Barnsley's Craig Parry. I would prefer Parry since his wage demands is significantly lower.

8/10/03 - away vs AFC Wimbledon, 13th in the Conference. Without Perrin in goal I'm not very confident about our chances. We start defensively but find ourselves down 0-2 after 20 minutes. We lose 0-4 with Allen and Odejayi getting '5' ratings. The reserve keeper, Glassup, surprisingly got a '7'.

We complete the deal with keeper Parry, who joins the Rovers for £7000 and a £120 wage. Defender Dodsworth return from injury and resume full training. I offer two players, Meechan and Richardson, to other clubs since they haven't played much and is valued relatively high.

We have drawn lower team Colwyn Bay in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup Qualifyer.

18/10/03 - at home vs Hayes, 2nd in the Conference. We win 2-0, with both goals coming in the second half after they got a player sent off. Odejayi and Offiong scored one each.

21/10/03 - away at Burton Albion, 19th in the Conference. We get a 6-2 shot advantage, and Odejayi was Man of the Match, but there were no goals in this 0-0 tie.

25/10/03 - away at Colwyn Bay, in the FA Cup 4th round qualifying. Embarrasingly, we lose 1-3 despite getting the opening goal through an Odejayi breakaway. Colwyn Bay had 9 players that earned an '8' rating while only Paulinho reached that standard for us.

To add injury to insult(!), we have to do without Gary Owers for three weeks as he suffered a twisted knee. A couple of days later, we get Matthew Russell back in full training.

Conference standings:
1. Scarborough      27 pts, +17 GD
2. Morecambe        23 pts, +13 GD
3. Aldershot        21 pts, +10 GD
4. Hayes            21 pts, +10 GD
5. Barnet           19 pts, +13 GD
---------------------------------
8. Forest Green     18 pts, +3 GD
---------------------------------
20. Scunthorpe       6 pts, -8 GD
21. Northwich Vics   5 pts, -14 GD
22. Southport        1 pts, -22 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.81 over 11 games
K.Odejayi, 7.63 over 11 games
I.Stepanovs, 7.40 over 5 games

Assists:
K.Odejayi, 4 assists in 11 games
D.Allen, 3 assists in 7 games
R.Offiong, 2 assists in 11 games

[3ric]

November 2003

Conference Player of the Month: Steven Ferguson, Aldershot.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Paulinho, Forest Green.
Conference Manager of the Month: Richie Barker, AFC Wimbledon.

1/11/03 - away at Dag & Red, 6th in the Conference. Substitute striker Lewis Killeen had only been on the field for four minutes when he scored the only goal of the game off a corner in the 87th minute. His first goal ever for the Rovers netted us an excellent 1-0 win!

The board make an announcement that they've been very pleased with the results so far this season. Newspapers write that we "might still be favorites to go down but the start [...] to the season has certainly been encouraging".

5/11/03 - at home vs Stevenage, 11th in the Conference. The team turn in what could be their best performance collectively, so far this season, and we win comfortably by 4-1, with Odejayi and Offiong getting two goals each.

12/11/03 - at home vs Margate, 14th in the Conference. The visitors get the upper hand at first with a goal in the 34th minute, but Odejayi tied the score just before halftime. In the 81st minute we got the winning goal on a cross from the left by Allen, which Offiong turned into a half-volley shot past the keeper. 2-1, Rovers!

After the Stevenage game we climbed the standings to 4th place, and this latest win got us up even further, to 2nd place! There's five teams within four points from second place, however.

22/11/03 - away vs Aldershot, 6th in the Conference. We come crashing down today as Aldershot win 4-0, one goal came on a penalty after Stepanovs was called for hand-ball. Despite the bad result, our midfielder Paulinho was very good, as he has been for a long time now. To reward his consistency, I put out an official press release praising his contributions to the team.

29/11/03 - at home vs Shrewsbury, 16th in the Conference. This one is no contest as Offiong score as early as in the 6th minute and Odejayi add two more goals for a 3-0 win. El Khalej picked up a groin injury and will be out for a month.

Dag & Red sign Northwich's talented striker Johnny Allan.

Conference standings:
1. Scarborough      37 pts, +21 GD
2. Morecambe        35 pts, +22 GD
3. Barnet           31 pts, +25 GD
4. Aldershot        31 pts, +14 GD
5. Hayes            30 pts, +17 GD
---------------------------------
7. Forest Green     30 pts, +7 GD
---------------------------------
20. Telford         13 pts, -12 GD
21. Burton Albion   13 pts, -22 GD
22. Southport        4 pts, -32 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.87 over 16 games
K.Odejayi, 7.50 over 16 games
R.Offiong, 7.50 over 16 games

Goals:
K.Odejayi, 13 goals in 16 games
R.Offiong, 10 goals in 16 games
L.Killeen, 1 goal in 8 games

[3ric]

December 2003

Conference Player of the Month: Adriano Rigoglioso, Morecambe.
Conference Young Player of the Month: David Perkins, Morecambe.
Conference Manager of the Month: Steve Parkin, Hayes.

2/12/03 - away at Morecambe, 2nd in the Conference. Offiong is a little worn and skips this game in favor of Killeen, with Meechan on the bench. With the last kick of the game does Elvis Hammond of Morecambe get the ball behind keeper Parry, and we lose 0-1.

6/12/03 - away at rivals Yeovil, 5th in the Conference. We get a penalty when Yeovil's Skiverton was caught holding Offiong's shirt on a corner. Stepanovs converted calmly and we were in the lead, 1-0. The home team tied the score in the 53rd minute and we were content with playing for a draw, but got a lucky break in the 78th minute when Offiong beat an offside trap and made no mistake alone with the keeper. A huge 2-1 win!

Leyton Orient sign former Scottish national John Collins on free transfer.

13/12/03 - at home vs Northwich Vics, 19th in the Conference. The Trickies proved to be a relative pushover as we beat them 4-1, with goals from Offiong, Odejayi (2) and substitute Killeen.

20/12/03 - at home vs Scunthorpe, 16th in the Conference. In the 33rd minute was Offiong put through by Paulinho on a breakaway, only to have his shot saved by the keeper. Odejayi pounced on the rebound and hit the empty net for the 1-0 lead. Then he scored a second goal in the 79th minute and we win 2-0.

Barnet offer our coach Julian Carrera a job with them, we will receive £7000 if the deal goes ahead.

23/12/03 - away at Nuneaton Borough, 14th in the Conference. Offiong is tired and sits on the bench today while Killeen plays. Disaster strikes in the 26th minute as Paulinho manages to put the ball into our own goal. However, he redeems himself with a 40-yd run along the right flank before scoring on an adacious 25-yd lob over their keeper. Nuneaton takes the lead again on a corner in the 67th minute. We start attacking and put in Russell and Offiong, but that only results in another goal for the opponents and a 1-3 loss.

Carrera accepts the offer from Barnet, and we have to search for a new coach.

26/12/03 - at home vs Leigh RMI, 10th in the Conference. They score twice in the second half and we don't come closer, despite having 3 attackers at the end, than a Stepanovs header to make the final score 1-2.

We sign Arthur Molineux as the new Forest Green coach.

Conference standings:
1. Barnet           46 pts, +32 GD
2. Aldershot        46 pts, +21 GD
3. Morecambe        43 pts, +22 GD
4. Scarborough      40 pts, +14 GD
5. Forest Green     39 pts, +9 GD
---------------------------------
20. Northwich Vics  18 pts, -18 GD
21. Shrewsbury      17 pts, -21 GD
22. Southport       13 pts, -33 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.81 over 22 games
K.Odejayi, 7.50 over 22 games
R.Offiong, 7.47 over 21 games

Assists:
D.Allen, 8 assists in 18 games
K.Odejayi, 6 assists in 22 games
R.Offiong, 6 assists in 21 games

[3ric]

January 2004

Conference Player of the Month: Jim Bentley, Morecambe.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Karl Noble, Farnborough Town.
Conference Manager of the Month: Terry Brown, Aldershot.

The board is delighted with my performance as manager. El Khalej resumes full training after his long absence.

World Player of the Year is Man Utd keeper Fabien Barthez. World Footballer of the Year is Liverpool's Brazilian keeper Marcos. European Footballer of the Year is AC Milan's defender Dario Simic.

1/1/04 - at home vs Hereford, 14th in the Conference. John Jeffers of Hereford score the first goal on a cross from Grant, but in the second half we tie the score when Offiong intercept a pass and puts the ball past the keeper. The winner came from a Stepanovs free kick to Odejayi who volleyed it home to make the score 2-1.

We've drawn lower team Chelmsford City in the English FA Trophy Third Round.

7/1/04 - away at Southport, 22nd in the Conference. We start a little cautious, but we get two quick goals anyway as Offiong steals the ball from a defender and then on a headed cross by Odejayi. The game was basically over in the 25th minute as we controlled the game totally.

Paulinho picks up his fifth yellow card and will be suspended for one game.

10/1/04 - away at Chelmsford in the FA Throphy. Somehow, we stumble to a pathetic 0-1 loss and are outgunned 5-10. Even better, Odejayi was injured and will miss about 4 weeks of play.

We make an offer to sign Torquay's 19-yr old attacker Biju Kironde.

13/1/04 - at home vs Scarborough, 7th in the Conference. We are resting Offiong and Kanchelskis today, but Paulinho returns to the lineup. Meechan and Killeen starts as forwards, and Russell plays right winger. We get a nightmare start as the Seadogs' Fatokun scores 1-0 on a breakaway in the 2nd minute. At the end of the first half, we get a tying score as Meechan stressed their keeper into a bad clearance which Killeen snapped up to score from 20 yards. Anthony Ormerod scores 2-1 for Scarborough in the 51st minute and they manage to hold us off until the final whistle.

17/1/04 - away at Barnet, 1st in the Conference. Offiong and Kanchelskis is back for this game, which is a relief. Strevens scores 1-0 for the Bees in the 15th minute on a 30-yd screamer. Offiong drops out on the right wing in the 62nd minute, pushes forward and reaches the touchline despite a strong challenge from the left-back and crosses to Meechan, who heads into goal and the 1-1 score! Strevens scores his second goal in the 76th minute to put us one back 1-2. One minute into injury time there's a good opportunity for us as Meechan gets the ball in the box from Paulinho, but as he's about to lose the ball he manages to push the ball to Offiong, who fires the shot in goal for the 2-2 equalizer!

Killeen damaged his shoulder in the game and will be unavailable for 2 weeks, adding to our injury problems at attacker.

21/1/04 - at home vs Telford, 17th in the Conference. Meechan starts alongside Offiong, and Impey starts at defender in place of El Khalej, who's away with the Morocco national team. Meechan gets injured in the 40th minute, and our last healthy attacker, Grayson, trots onto the field. Four minutes later he scores his first goal of the season on a headed corner! We go ahead 2-0 on another corner in the second half, and this time it's Offiong who heads it into the net from the near post.

Meechan got a groin strain, which will sideline him for four weeks. Ouch.

24/1/04 - away at Farnborough, 15th in the Conference. Grayson is only at 76% fitness, which leaves us with Offiong as the only option at forward today. We start Kanchelskis as a "link-up" forward between the midfield and Offiong. Another option is left winger Sykes, who has a '13' in finishing, we'll probably try him out at some time. I'll say, this dynasty got real interesting in a hurry!

After 67th minutes we had to substitute Offiong after he's been running himself ragged chasing ball alone. Sykes went in and we pushed up Kanchelskis' position. With five minutes left of the regular time, they get a penalty and score the 0-1 goal. We go into attacking mentality and push everybody up, but to no avail.

Conference standings:
1. Aldershot        61 pts, +28 GD
2. Barnet           56 pts, +38 GD
3. Morecambe        52 pts, +24 GD
4. Forest Green     49 pts, +12 GD
5. Scarborough      46 pts, +12 GD
---------------------------------
20. Shrewsbury      21 pts, -30 GD
21. Scunthorpe      19 pts, -15 GD
22. Southport       19 pts, -43 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.82 over 28 games
K.Odejayi, 7.55 over 25 games
I.Stepanovs, 7.52 over 23 games

Goals:
K.Odejayi, 19 goals in 25 games
R.Offiong, 16 goals in 27 games
L.Killeen, 3 goals in 13 games

[GrantDawg]

Good read. Thanks!

[3ric]

Thanks! Anyone with comments on the report format? Should I include more/less data?

[Radii]

More data is always better if it's presented nicely, but without the print function I'm really not sure of a good way to present everything... perhaps the top assist men though would be good to show, espicially with the forwards getting all the goals for now

[Nyarlahotep]

Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I'm hooked either way.

[condors]

i am enjoying the read, i am thinking about a manager's report card at the end of the season for my players, may be a good read as i always want to know, what your thinking when your playing, then again i may be the only person that thinks that way

[3ric]

February 2004

Conference Player of the Month: Barry Laker, Stevenage Borough.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Adam Kerley, Nuneaton Borough.
Conference Manager of the Month: Richie Barker, AFC Wimbledon.

I get the news that Third Division club Exeter is in a financial crisis which opts me to make an £8K offer for striker James Coppinger.

3/2/04 - away at Halifax, 7th in the Conference. Both Russell and Offiong get injured during the game and have to be substituted, and we just fall apart in the final 20 minutes, conceding two goals to lose 0-2.

Offiong will be out for three weeks, but both Russell and Allen, who also had suffered a knock, will be back at full strength in just a couple of days. 39-yr old Grayson, who played 49 minutes, is so winded he probably can't play in our next game...

A couple of days later, we get the welcome news that Kayode Odejayi has resumed full training. Exeter has accepted our offer for Coppinger, but we have competition as both Margate and Luton has put in bids for him.

7/2/04 - at home vs AFC Wimbledon, 11th in the Conference. Killeen starts at forward together with Kanchelskis as Odejayi isn't match fit yet. Owers moves over to the right wing while McLoughlin takes the vacant interior midfield spot. Kevin Rapley scores for Wimbledon in the 5th minute and we eventually lose 0-3, with McLoughlin having failed miserably to compete in the middle - he reached 49% fitness as early in the 61st minute! This suggest he needs another training schedule or he's no longer useful in any way.

Coppinger signs with Second Division team Luton, no surprise really. Instead we look at Reinier Moor, his teammate at Exeter, and at Wycombe's Craig Faulconbridge and Mark Philo.

Some days later we have to withdraw our offer for Faulconbridge as Wycombe demands £24K for him. However, they accept a price of £6K for Philo.

11/2/04 - at home vs Burton Albion, 16th in the Conference. Odejayi is back in the lineup next to Killeen while Kanchelskis return to his usual position. Right back Jones rests but Paulinho plays despite only 90% fitness. We lose 1-2 as Dale Anderson scores a brace and we can only respond with a Lewis Killeen header.

Wycombe's Faulconbridge signs with Crewe in the First Division. Philo agrees to a transfer to Third Division Rochdale.

14/2/04 - away at Hayes, 9th in the Conference. For once, we get a good start of the game as Killeen scores in the 2nd minute, but without our best players, we're no match in the long run. Odejayi gets hurt again and we lose 1-3. Luckily, he'll be out for only a week with a damaged elbow. We have dropped to 9th place in the Conference, but only one point behind Halifax on 5th place.

We sign 29-yr old midfielder Mick Galloway from Gretna, a Scottish team. He'll join us when his contract expires on the 1st of July. Alex Meechan returns to full training. Transfer prospects Moor calls off further negotiations with us, citing 'ridiculous' contract offers.

28/2/04 - away at Stevenage, 14th in the Conference. Offiong and El Khalej is back, which means we can field our best team for the first time in five weeks. Sadly that doesn't help as we turn in a flat performance and is soundly beaten 0-3.

Conference standings:
1. Aldershot        70 pts, +29 GD
2. Barnet           68 pts, +45 GD
3. Morecambe        62 pts, +28 GD
4. Dag & Red        59 pts, +17 GD
5. Halifax          56 pts, +10 GD	
---------------------------------
11. Forest Green     49 pts, +1 GD
---------------------------------
22. Southport       25 pts, -47 GD
21. Scunthorpe      23 pts, -19 GD
20. Shrewsbury      21 pts, -41 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.69 over 33 games
K.Odejayi, 7.46 over 28 games
R.Offiong, 7.44 over 29 games

Assists:
Allen, 11 assists in 30 games
R.Offiong, 7 assists in 29 games
K.Odejayi, 6 assists in 28 games

[Katon]

Ouch! Bad month.

[3ric]

March 2004

Conference Player of the Month: Ben Strevens, Barnet.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Matthew Shaw, Hayes.
Conference Manager of the Month: Richie Barker, AFC Wimbledon.

We offer a contract to Rochdale striker Kevin Braniff, his initial wage demands are pretty steep but we can offer him a £125 raise from his current wage. Braniff rejects the proposal on the following day. We withdraw from negotiations rather than push our wage budget.

6/3/04 - away vs Margate, 9th in the Conference. Richard Hammond scored twice for Margate to give us our seventh consecutive loss. A late consolation goal by Odejayi was a small comfort. Kanchelskis hurt his foot early in the game and has to get three weeks rest.

13/3/04 - at home vs Dag & Red, 4th in the Conference. Offiong drifted out on the right wing but was trapped against the sideline by three opponents. But a forward run by right back Darren Jones allowed him to chase Offiong's clearance, and Jones went unchallenged to score. We had another goal by Odejayi disallowed, but 1-0 was good enough for a rare win! Another right winger went down injured in this game - Russell will be out two weeks with a gashed leg.

16/3/04 - at home vs Aldershot, 1st in the Conference. With nothing to lose, I put us on hard tackling and attacking right from the start. We got the opening goal after middle defender Jamie Impey had dribbled to the opposite touchline to deliver a superb cross to Odejayi, who headed in the ball off the post. The Shots tied the score at 1-1, but two goals in the second half from Richard Offiong and one from left winger Daniel Allen gave us a great 4-1 win! Allen, however, strained his knee ligaments and will need some rest to heal.

24/3/04 - at home vs Morecambe, 3rd in the Conference. A tough, intense game where we got a bad break early as left winger Alex Sykes suffered a back strain and had to be substituted for 3rd stringer Alan Futcher. Nonetheless, we won 1-0 though a breakaway goal by Odejayi.

27/3/04 - away at Shrewsbury, 22nd in the Conference. Kanchelskis is back on the right wing and Futcher get his first start on the left wing. Offiong scores in the 22nd minute, and gets sent off in the 70th. Despite being a man down we hold on for our third straight win, 1-0. Kanchelskis returned too soon from his injury and had to go off in the 8th minute. He'll miss another month in rehab, but what's worse is that Paulinho also picked up an injury despite finishing the game. He's expected to be out for two months!

Offiong gets an automatic one-game suspension following his red card. We try to remedy the situation by bringing in some players available on free transfer, first a Turkish defensive midfielder, Ümit Özat, and then left midfielder Andy Sinton. He's 38, but we can't be too picky at this point, and he agreed to a cheap one-year deal. Özat on the other hand will have to await the decision on his work permit.

The next day we get striker Liam Hatch to agree on terms, and he joins the Rovers on a £8K transfer from Gravesend.

Conference standings:
1. Aldershot        79 pts, +34 GD
2. Barnet           75 pts, +46 GD
3. Morecambe        72 pts, +34 GD
4. Dag & Red        66 pts, +20 GD
5. AFC Wimbledon    65 pts, +27 GD	
---------------------------------
8. Forest Green     61 pts, +6 GD
---------------------------------
22. Southport       30 pts, -46 GD
21. Scunthorpe      24 pts, -23 GD
20. Shrewsbury      21 pts, -52 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.60 over 38 games
K.Odejayi, 7.48 over 33 games
R.Offiong, 7.47 over 34 games

Goals:
K.Odejayi, 21 goals in 33 games
R.Offiong, 20 goals in 34 games
L.Killeen, 5 goals in 17 games

[3ric]

April 2004

Conference Player of the Month: Lee Matthews, Dag & Red.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Craig Parry, Forest Green.
Conference Manager of the Month: Richie Barker, AFC Wimbledon.

6/4/04 - away at Northwich Vics, 20th in the Conference. Allen and Russell returns to give us good options on the wings while allowing Owers and El Khalej to play in the middle. We won 3-1, and Richard Offiong went nuts as he scored all three of our goals!

10/4/04 - at home vs Yeovil, 13th in the Conference. El Khalej is away on international duty, and injuries makes me consider playing Sinton inside, but I decide putting Offiong in Paulinho's place and giving Hatch his first start. The score is tied at 2-2 after 70 minutes, with both goals coming from Odejayi with Hatch feeding the ball. Odejayi scores his third in the 76th minute, again on an assist from Hatch, but Yeovil equalizes to 3-3 with only 5 minutes left. Then we get the winning goal to go to 4-3 from who else but four-goal hero Odejayi.

That's also a new single-game scoring record for Forest Green. We also get the news that sorry Shrewsbury has been relegated from the Conference. Two days later we learn that potential transfer prospect Ümit Özat's work permit application has been turned down. We try to appeal against the decision, as he does have 18 caps for Turkey.

16/4/04 - away vs Scunthorpe, 21st in the Conference. The Harriers put up more than just a token resistance, and the game appears headed towards a 0-0 draw when Odejayi scores twice in the final 20 minutes. Unfortunately we have to do without our leading scorer for a while as he suffered a torn groin muscle in the last minute of the game.

Our opponents Scunthorpe is the second team to be relegated from the Conference. We are currently in 7th place, with the same amount of points as Halifax on 6th and Leigh RMI on 5th and the last playoff spot. Manchester United has won the Premier League on strength of a current streak of 24 games without a loss.

24/4/04 - at home vs Nuneaton Borough, 10th in the Conference. Offiong returns to the forward position while Sykes play along Owers in the middle. Liam Hatch scores his first goal for the Rovers in the 24th minute. Nuneaton tied the score just before half-time, but we got a penalty kick late in the game which Stepanovs converted to give us a 2-1 win. Russell damaged his heel but will return to full training in a week, the bad news concern Offiong, who twisted a knee and will be out for three weeks.

Kanchelskis return to full strength, and our transfer for Ümit Özat has been cancelled as the appeal was denied. We move instead to sign West Ham's young defensive midfielder Shaun Byrne, whose contract is expiring.

Conference standings:
1. Aldershot        88 pts, +39 GD
2. Barnet           87 pts, +57 GD
3. Morecambe        77 pts, +36 GD
4. Dag & Red        77 pts, +34 GD
5. Forest Green     73 pts, +12 GD
---------------------------------
22. Southport       34 pts, -49 GD
21. Scunthorpe      24 pts, -32 GD
20. Shrewsbury      22 pts, -57 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 7.60 over 38 games
K.Odejayi, 7.58 over 36 games
R.Offiong, 7.55 over 38 games

Assists:
D.Allen, 13 assists in 37 games
R.Offiong, 10 assists in 38 games
K.Odejayi, 7 assists in 36 games

[GrantDawg]

Again, enjoying the dynasty. Living through you right now, so keep it up.

[3ric]

May 2004

Conference Player of the Month: Kayode Odejayi, Forest Green.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Richard Offiong, Forest Green.
Conference Manager of the Month: Mark Patterson, Leigh RMI.

1/5/04 - the final fixture, away at Leigh RMI, 8th in the Conference. If we win this game, we qualify for the playoffs. Leigh must win to have a chance, but that means both Halifax and Dag & Red must lose their games. All four of us are within three points of the fifth and final playoff spot.

El Khalej and Kanchelskis are back at their familiar positions, but Paulinho, Odejayi and Offiong are missing, and Futcher, Hatch and Killeen play instead. Leigh score in the 19th minute after Parry made a fantastic save but couldn't prevent them to score on the rebound. We are still down one-nil at half-time, and take a look at the other scores: Dag & Red is tied 1-1 with Morecambe, and Halifax is trailing Aldershot 0-1. Currently it's Leigh who's in the playoffs unless we can score. We go to attacking mentality but almost immediately concede a second goal. We manage a consolation goal in injury time by Meechan, but ultimately lose 1-2. Leigh does the unthinkable and leaps up three spots to snatch the final playoff spot.

Owers pulled a hamstring and will be out for four weeks. Southport will be relegated from the Conference and Aldershot is awarded an automatic promotion to the Third Division.

Barnet play Leigh and Morecambe face AFC Wimbledon in the playoff semifinals. AFC Wimbledon won the first leg 2-1 while the other game ended 1-1. Wimbledon and Leigh face each other in the playoff final after winning the second legs 2-0 and 3-0.

Newcastle wins the FA Cup on penalties over Aston Villa. Morecambe wins the FA Trophy after extra time with 3-2 over Halesowen. Liverpool wins the UEFA cup with a 3-1 win over Parma. AFC Wimbledon win the Conference Playoffs final over Leigh RMI on penalties.

We've been given £80K for our final position in the Conference. New teams in the Conference next season are Bury and Port Vale. Forest Green's defender Igors Stepanovs was awarded the English Conference Players Select award. AFC Wimbledon's manager Richie Barker is the English Conference Manager of the Year.

FC Bayern won the Champions League by beating Newcastle 1-0 in the final.

Final Conference standings:
1.  C Aldershot        91 pts, +41 GD
2.    Barnet           87 pts, +55 GD
3.    Morecambe        78 pts, +36 GD
4.  P AFC Wimbledon    77 pts, +31 GD
5.    Leigh RMI        73 pts, +25 GD 
---------------------------------
7.    Forest Green     73 pts, +11 GD
---------------------------------
22. R Southport        37 pts, -46 GD
21. R Scunthorpe       25 pts, -32 GD
20. R Shrewsbury       23 pts, -57 GD

[3ric]

Post-season Squad Summary:

Goalkeepers
33-yr old Steve Perrin began the season as the number one keeper, but an injury forced him out of the first team. He had a 7.17 rating over 7 games. His replacement, 20-yr old Craig Parry, had 11 clean sheets and a 7.25 rating over 36 games. He almost single-handedly kept us in games at times, and was Conference Player of the Month in March. Ellis Glassup started one game and had a forgettable performance.

Defenders
Thankfully we didn't suffer from many injuries among the defenders which meant only five players got a lot of appearances. Igors Stepanovs led the way with a 7.34 rating over 38 games. Pairing with him was Moroccan international Tahar El Khalej who had 7.14 over 28 games. When Tahar was absent was Jamie Impey a capable backup with 6.74 in 25 starts. Initially we had a problem at left back, but when we asked DC Carl Tiler, (who's left-footed) to play there, he responded with a steady 6.62 over 39 games. Finally was 20-yr old Darren Jones the iron man in the defense with 43 appearances and a nice 6.83 rating at right back. As for the future, we have to be wary of that both Tiler and El Khalej is pushing 35 yrs old and we don't know if both have one more season in them.

Midfielders
The surprise here was left winger Daniel Allen, who despite his slender age at 20, led the team in assists and notched a solid 6.50 average in 38 appearances. 33-yr old Gary Owers commanded a defensive inner midfield role and did very good with a 7.12 rating in 39 games. The star of the midfield was the man with an attacking inner midfield role, 21-yr old Brazilian Paulinho. He flourished in that position and had a team best 7.60 rating over 38 games. His six assists seems a little on the low side, as he appeared to be feeding the strikers with incisive through balls every game. Right winger Andrei Kanchelskis was perhaps a little disappointing in that he didn't do more than a solid effort worth a 6.88 rating in 36 games. Andrei is also 35 yrs old and we have to wait and see what he can do for us next season. The backup with the most appearances was 26-yr old Matthew Russell with 11 starts and 18 games coming on as a sub. But Matt had only a 6.27 average and we'll probably look at an upgrade here.

Forwards
We wasn't surprised when we saw what Richard Offiong did to opposing defences, the Newcastle youngster arrived with his undeniable talent and notched 23 goals, 10 assists and a 7.55 rating over 37 games. His presence helped his compatriot, 22-yr old Kayode Odejayi, reach new heights and to have an unbelievable season with 27 goals, 7 assists and 12 Man of the Match awards. His average rating over 36 games was 7.58. Odejayi isn't nearly as talented as Offiong, but complement him nicely with his strength and determination. The only other forward getting significant playing time was 21-yr old Lewis Killeen, who netted 8 starts and 10 appearances as a sub. He scored five times and had a 7.00 rating.

Future plans
Both McLoughlin and Grayson plans to retire, which will free £1250 in wages. I will also try to re-negotiate Kanchelskis' contract to reduce his wage, and this will make enough room in the budget for the players who are coming in, which are midfielder Mick Galloway, striker Biju Kironde and defender Shaun Byrne. Together with the late-season addition of forward Liam Hatch, we should be able to field a good team with room to spare for a quality player on loan, perhaps at right winger.

[3ric]

June 2004

Conference Player of the Month: Gregg Blundell, Northwich Victoria.
Conference Young Player of the Month: Craig Parry, Forest Green.
Conference Manager of the Month: Richie Barker, AFC Wimbledon.

Kanchelskis accept the wage reduction to £325 a week, without changing the length of the contract. Richard Offiong's loan contract ends and he returns to Newcastle. He is transfer listed though so his future there is somewhat unknown.

Both Gary Owers and Andy Sinton announce that they will retire after the season. I'm somewhat surprised at Owers' decision and try to persuade him to play one more year before hanging up the boots. Owers says he will consider it and get back to me in about a week with his decision.

The 2004 European Football Championship in Portugal is underway.

Kayode Odejayi is voted Forest Green's Player of the Year for the second straight year. We have received £100K for Conference TV rights for the next season. We've also signed a new sponsorship deal worth £45K over three years. The board tell me they are very pleased with my performance this season, and maintain the same expectations for a safe mid-table position for next season. The transfer budget is limited to £8K.

My assistant manager report that we have scheduled friendlies against Southend, Dover Athletic and Bath City. (Note: I think it's great that you can get your assistant to do that - I've always hated the hassle of booking friendlies in the past)

Manchester City released a 20-yr old midfielder I have on my short list (which isn't very short, by the way) and I immediately offer him a £350 contract. His name is William Flood, and he's an AM/FC with good technique and dribbling ability. However, City appears to have changed their mind and offer him a new contract. Flood happily signs and says he's "over the moon". Well, good for you.

[3ric]

July 2004

Port Vale approach me and offer their goalkeeper Chris Gowan for £8K. He's good, but not that much better than Parry to make me consider the deal. Owers has retired but McLoughlin is still on the team with his £625 wage, which is ridiculous as he's useless. I consider releasing him outright but this will cost me £16K and I don't know what effect that will have on my transfer budget. His current contract isn't expiring until December. Finally I decide to bite the bullet and release him on free transfer.

England win the European Championship with a 1-0 win over Sweden in the final.

I continue to look at midfielders that might be available on loan. In the end I settle for Coventry's 18-yr old Isaac Osbourne, trying to bring him over.

Currently the whole team is on preseason training, but when I look at the training reports I see that two players aren't on the same level of fitness as the rest of the team. Both are reported as having a too heavy training schedule considering their low morale and they are newcomer Galloway, and surprisingly, Odejayi. The latter is a mystery as he appears to be unsettled but as he hasn't said anything we don't know what's the problem. I put them on an easier schedule to see if that helps.

18/7/04 - the first friendly, at home vs Gillingham in the Third Division. We start the following eleven:

                Parry
   Jones - Stepanovs - Impey - Byrne
Kanchelskis - Paulinho - El Khalej - Allen
           Hatch - Killeen 

We win 3-1 after going on a scoring spree at the beginning of the second half. First Paulinho scored on a free kick from 25 yds, and then Alex Meechan bagged two after some good link-up play with Kironde. After the game we discover that Paulinho has a hairline fracture in his wrist and will need 4 weeks for it to heal.

We discuss contract demands with Danny Holyoak, a young defensive midfielder. We have some other offers out to see what happens. One very interesting name is Algerian national Mustapha Hadji, formerly of Aston Villa.

We complete the transfer of Holyoak, and on the same day we get Hadji's signature on a contract! Wo-hoo! He's an AM RC, which suits us perfectly as Kanchelskis had a dismal performance in the friendly, panting all over the field with a 43% fitness at half time.

24/7/04 - at home vs Dover Athletic, a lower league team. We give Kanchelskis another chance on right wing while Hadji takes Paulinho's spot in the middle. Holyoak takes the other inner midfield spot and El Khalej moves back into the central defence. Odejayi starts alongside Hatch in the attack.

Holyoak gets a knock in the second minute, Impey replaces. We beat Dover 1-0, but for the second straight game the starters didn't do squat in the first half. Meechan scored the goal, again - he's pushing for a starting spot. Holyoak twisted his knee and will miss two weeks.

30/7/04 - at home vs Southend, a Third Division team. Again we win 1-0, and this time the goal came from a starter - Lewis Killeen, who scored on a diving header.

[3ric]

August 2004

The PFA place a transfer embargo on Sheffield Wednesday, they haven't been able to pay their players' wages.

3/8/04 - away at Bath City, a lower league team. This is the second time in two years we've played Bath in a friendly, last time we lost 0-2. Well, after 72 minutes we're down 0-2 once more. I don't know what it is, we just can't beat these guys. Lewis Killeen scored a consolation goal to make the final score 1-2.

Middlesbrough midfielder Kim Källström was sold to Real Madrid for £3.1M.

We get a reminder of which players on the team have contracts that expire in the next 12 months - it's Impey, Sykes, Perrin and Futcher. None of them is a regular starter. I offer Impey a three-year extension with the same base salary as he has now.

Paulinho returns to full training. Barnet, Morecambe and Dag & Red have been made 7-4 favorites to gain promotion from the Conference this season. Forest Green has been rated at 10-1, the bookmarkers believe we aren't far behind the top teams in the Conference in terms of quality.

Farnborough sign away our scout, Dave Dennis. We are awarded £2000 as compensation.

21/8/04 - away at Margate, in the first competitive game of the new season. We start the following lineup:

                Parry
   Jones - Stepanovs - Tiler - Byrne
Hadji - Paulinho - El Khalej - Allen
           Hatch - Odejayi

We score 1-0 in the 70th minute when Odejayi intercepts a weak pass and counter-attacks. He's forced out to the right touchline, but manages to get a cross in, right on the head of Meechan, who's coming from behind and scores! We immediately pull back and put everybody on "hold up ball" to idle away the remaining time. We were hit by several injuries in the game, Hadji suffered a calf strain and will miss a month, Hatch had a torn calf muscle and should be out for two months, and finally did goalscorer Meechan get a heel injury which would only take a week to heal.

We sign Simon Clifford as our new scout to replace Dennis.

28/8/04 - at home vs Nuneaton Borough, 6th in the Conference. Kanchelskis and Killeen steps into the starting lineup and Kironde get a place on the bench. We get behind 0-1 in the 26th minute when Stepanovs is whistled for a penalty kick, but goals by Killeen and Odejayi in the second half give us a 2-1 victory. Allen got strained knee ligaments and needs two weeks of rest.

31/8/04 - away vs Scarborough, 1st in the Conference. Despite the short time of preparation we rest only Kanchelskis and Killeen. Holyoak and Kironde starts in their place, and Galloway replaces Allen. They take the lead through Brassart in the 14th minute, but Kironde equalizes on a cross from Galloway. Ormerod scores and we're down 1-2 until Paulino curls in a free kick from 25 yds to get a tie and one point for us.

Conference standings:
1. Morecambe        9 pts, +5 GD
2. Scarborough      7 pts, +5 GD
3. Barnet           7 pts, +4 GD
4. Forest Green     7 pts, +2 GD
5. Northwich Vics   6 pts, +2 GD
---------------------------------
20. Dag & Red       1 pts, -3 GD
21. Port Vale       0 pts, -4 GD
22. Halesowen Town  0 pts, -5 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 8.33 over 3 games
K.Odejayi, 8.00 over 3 games
C.Parry, 7.66 over 3 games

[3ric]

September 2004

Darren Jones has been called up to the Wales U21 team for the games vs Sweden U21 and Yugoslavia U21. Stepanovs and El Khalej has also been called up to their national teams for the upcoming games - Latvia play a friendly and Morocco the first qualifier to the African Nations cup.

4/9/04 - at home vs Telford, 15th in the Conference. Odejayi scores on a header in the 9th minute, and despite that it was the only goal of the game, the win was never in doubt as Telford failed to threaten. Odejayi suffered a gashed leg which should heal in two weeks.

18/9/04 - away vs Burton Albion, 5th in the Conference. Stepanovs and Odejayi skips this game, the former because he just returned from the Latvian qualifying win over Belgium. The home team gets a player sent off in the 7th minute, but we fail to take advantage of it, and the game ends 0-0.

Mustapha Hadji returns to full training.

21/9/04 - at home vs Morecambe, 1st in the Conference. After the opening kickoff by Morecambe they begin an attack on their left flank but manages to lose the ball which turns into a counterattack where Kironde empathically scores after only 25 seconds of play! Next defensive blunder is made by Morecambe's left back, who lost the ball to a pressuring Hadji, who found Odejayi on a cross for 2-0! Morecambe managed to claw one back but Allen scored 3-1 in the 43rd minute to secure the win.

25/9/04 - away vs Halesowen Town, 21st in the Conference. We only manage a 1-1 tie after getting behind early, defender Carl Tiler scored on a headed corner.

Conference standings:
1. Stevenage        18 pts, +9 GD
2. Scarborough      17 pts, +8 GD
3. Morecambe        16 pts, +7 GD
4. Forest Green     15 pts, +5 GD
5. Hereford         13 pts, +3 GD
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20. Leigh RMI       5 pts, -1 GD
21. Halesowen Town  4 pts, -8 GD
22. Port Vale       1 pts, -9 GD

Top rated players on the team:
Paulinho, 8.00 over 7 games
K.Odejayi, 7.83 over 6 games
T.El Khalej, 7.71 over 7 games

Goals:
K.Odejayi, 3 goals in 6 games
B.Kironde, 2 goals in 3 games
L.Killeen, 1 goal in 3 games