retired_manragh

27th August

The reserves kicked off the season with a good 2-1 win over Brentford, Charlie Sheringham scored the opener while under 18 academy player Ben Kudjodi scored the winner in the 76th minute, Tommy Black missed a penalty in the 51st minute which should of put the lads up 2-0.

In international news we had Shefki Kuqi (Finland), Gábor Király (Hungary), Clinton Morrison (Rep of Ireland) and Carl Fletcher (Wales) all called up for full internationals on the second of September, with us due to play Stoke on that date we were hoping to get the game postponed by the FA, Ben Watson and Scott Flinders were also called up to the England under 21 side for their games on the 1st and 5th of September.

Other news seen me have a meeting with chairman Simon Jordan about the wage budget and after a long discussion he allowed me to offer Tommy Black a mutual termination package which would see the unhappy player leave the club for a reduced sum, with his leaving it meant we were now under the seasonal wage budget, with that out of the way we talked shop for a while and Simon left saying he was pretty happy with the start we had made to the season and was enjoying how we played.

Dong Fangzhuo pulled up a little sore at training with a groin strain, it would see the Chinese International out for around a month

August Summary

Player of the Month: Freddy Eastwood -Striker(Southend)
Young Player of the Month: Elliot Ward – Centreback (Coventry)
Manager of Month: Dennis Wise – Leeds United

(h) v QPR 1-1 draw CP: Kuqi (pen 58) :QPR: Jones (41) mom: G Ainsworth – AM R

(a) v Birmingham 3-1 win CP: Freedman (pen 36) Morrison (73, 83: mom STR) Kuqi inj (10) - Birm: Bendtner (89)

(h) v Plymouth 3-1 win CP: Freedman (1, 45: mom Str) Soares (49) - Ply: Ebanks-Blake (71)

(a) v Cardiff 2-2 draw Car: Chopra (1, 17) Purse(rc:14) mom: Iwan Redan Str - CP: Freedman (44) McNaughton (og 49) Wheater inj (7)

(h) v Hull 2-1 win CP: Freedman (pen 22, 45) Granville(rc: 90 prof foul) – Hull: Parlour (59, mom: AM RC)

League Cup 1st rnd : 1-0 win @ Walsall – CP: Fangzhuo (18, mom: Str) Wal: rc: Roper 21, Pead 90)

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">PWDLGDPTSLeeds5401+212Palace5320+511Wolves 5320+311Derby5311+410Barnsley5311+210</pre>

retired_manragh

The start of September seen the Euro Championship qualifiers begin and we managed to convince the FA to postpone the away game at stoke while they agreed to move the game they only agreed to move it to Wednesday instead which I found stupid to say the least, although we would get back fringe international squad members like Fletcher and that, we would still be missing key players like Kuqi, Gábor and both u21 England internationals Watson and Flinders which meant we would have to play reserve keeper Julián Speroni as both the first team squad members were away, no amount of rational reasoning would get them to see my point so I resorted to calling them farking morons which didn’t go down to well. Simon Jordan and general mananger Peter Morley had a good chuckle about it back to the office in the car, with Simon saying in all seriousness afterwards I would have to watch my comments to the press now as the FA would crack down on any ill comments.

The next days paper had a little bit about our dilemma
Saturday seen England smash Andorra 7-0 in the first game Chelsea’s Ashley Cole awarded man of the match for his two assists and excellent running and play making from left back, Lampard, Crouch and Jermaine Pennant all scored braces for England while captain Steven Gerrard scored the other in the demolition job.

There wasn’t to many surprises in other games as Italy crushed Lithuania 5-0 in group B while Scotland recorded a good 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands in the same group

Germany beat Iceland 3-1 in group D while Wales held the Czech Republic to a 2-2 draw which is a great result for them away from home.

Other results seen Northern Ireland overcome a stubborn Iceland 3-2 in Belfast while Holland easily accounted for their opponents on the trip to Luxembourg.

Our only player involved in the game was Finnish striker Kuqi who came on as a substitute in Finland’s 1-0 away win over Poland, Kuqi had a couple good touches in the 20 minutes he was on.

Scott Flinders was an unused substitute in the England u21’s 4-1 away win over Bulgaria and 5-0 win over Armenia which meant England would take on Greece in the playoff leg.

retired_manragh

Away at Stoke

With a depleted side we were still hoping for a win over the relegation candidates, with Dong out injured and Kuqi away on international duty it meant Charlie Sheringham got a call up to the subs bench, if he manages to get on it will be interesting to see how he handles himself.

We went out with a defensive mind set into the game and Stoke sensed it and went for the kill and played way above the standard you would have expected for their lowly standing in the league, and it was only the brilliance of stand in keeper Speroni who kept us 0-0 until the break with some fantastic acrobatic saves. I was pretty disappointed with the players at half time and myself for not having the confidence to play our normal game, so in the second half we went back to how we played so far this year.

We were a little better in the second half in the fact we managed to stop Stoke’s dominance and stifled their shots on goal but it was still a decidedly average performance by the team, Charlie made his debut in the last half hour but couldn’t do anything to help the team out of the trough, thankfully we had managed to steal a point for ourselves in a game where we deserved none, Darren Ward was given the man of the match for his efforts at centre back but it should have been given to our keeper instead who had a fantastic game.

With internationals going on while we were playing Kuqi was again the only player of ours to be involved in the actual game and I think he wishes he wasn’t when the Fins were smashed 5-0 at home to a rampant Portugal which seen Man U player Cristiano Ronaldo given man of the match for his display and 2 assists.

England stumbled in their Group E clash at Macedonia with a 0-0 draw, McClaren will be disappointed with the team’s lack of composure if front of goal but Filip Madzovski did have a great game in goals as well which didn’t help.

Friday the 8th’s training session seen James Scowcroft pull up a bit sore with a thigh strain we had the option of given him injections to get him through but being a fringe player at the moment we decided that giving him the time off would be better.

Our next match was our second televised game this time we took on Roy Keane’s Sunderland and even though they were struggling in 17th so far we wary of the talent they had, they had been hampered by injuries so far this season especially with the first two choice keepers out injured, Mártin Fülöp and Darren Ward.

A great start for the team as Morrison put away our first goal with less than 2 minutes on the clock after a excellent long throw by right back Butterfield and it was his good tackle and pass that set up our second on 12 minutes, he disposed a Sunderland player and then found Kuqi streaming down the wing who inturn slotted in inboard and Jamaican McAnuff made no mistake slotting past the diving keeper. Morrison had his second on 25 minutes when Lawrence found him in the box and the Irishman made no mistake with the finish. Yorke give them a bit of hope with a goal just before half time but we were deservedly leading 3-1 at the break.

Kuqi scored two goals in quick succession in the 58th and 63rd minute to put the game beyond doubt with a 5-1 lead so we brought of Morrision who picked up a knock earlier in the game, at the end of 90 the scores didn’t change and we had won 5-1 in front of a great crowd and also in front of TV camera’s, it was all smiles for me in front of the camera at the end of the game.

The only player that made team of the week after our impressive performance was Kuqi which was a bit surprising, McAnuff and Lawrence were both brilliant in the game but the result against Stoke might have pulled them down a bit.

Tuesday the 12th seen us travel to Colchester for our next game and although everyone expected us to beat them easily, away games were never easy, any team in this league is capable of beating another on their day especially at their own home.


Two quality goals first from Freedman in the 20th minute and then from Kuqi in the 28th gave us a 2-1 lead at the break after Tom Soares gave away a penalty early in the match in which Chris Iwelumo converted. Freedmans goal was a fantastic curling shot from the inside of his right boot, it was hit hard and curled late giving the keeper no chance and it will be a contender for goal of the month. Kuqi’s goal was class as well, a sublime first touch allowed him to quickly steady and lob the keeper who was off his line from about 30 out. After the break Colchester came looking for the equaliser and it was Hogan Ephraim who gave it to them, it was just reward for an exquisite performance from the young West Ham loanee and he fully deserved to get a goal. My players never gave up though and Freedman netted his second in the 70th minute to give us the lead and eventual winner, it was a fine performance by the lads and I'm very happy to get the win.
Despite being beat twice it was Gábor Király who received the man of the match, I'm guessing for his performance in the last 15 minutes where he made 3 great saves to enable us to keep the lead.

With only a few days rest for the home game against Tony Mowbray’s West Brom we made a few changes to the centre of midfield with Watto (Ben Watson) and Flo (N’Galula) starting, Dan Wheater was also back in the starting line up displacing Matty Lawrence back to the subs bench.

The game itself was a exciting game to watch and will probably be remembered for two of the finest goals I have ever seen Flo’s goal was a 35 yard thunderbolt that smashed into the underside of the bar and went in to give us a 2-0 lead while Robert Korens was very similar except it was 5 yards further out and he hit first time on the half volley, Király has been in great form for us this year and he didn’t even move! At the end of 90 is 2-2 and some would say we were lucky to draw in the end but I'm happy with how we played and we are the only team not to have lost this season besides from Norwich who have played 2 less games and won 2 and drawn 5 from their 7 games so far this season.
With Wednesday’s cup clash against Wigan at JJB Stadium coming up we held a few closed session for training working on some tactics for the game, Wigan were struggling to score this year in the premier league and confidence was down and with a leaky defence I thought we might be able to steal a goal or two on the counter so the sessions were worked around those sort of tactics.

retired_manragh

retired_manragh

The third round League Cup draw seen us matched up against Tranmere at their home, it was going to be a tough game but I think we have what it takes to get a decent result their.

We were heavily backed favourites to account for Coventry at home, but I knew it was going to be a hard game, Coventry had just had a good shoot out win at Charlton’s home so they would be confident of having a good result against us.

The locker room – after the game

“Unlucky today lads, it was a good performance but luck just wasn’t with us today. Good games today Arron and Gaz you did well controlling the back flanks and good stuff from you Flo as well, great game Ben just need to work on your passing a little and selection. Shefki you just need to know when to take the extra touch, twice you could have steadied and then take the shot, but instead you just blazed away, same with you Clint you had a good chance there in the later stages and could have steadied.

Well we knew it was going to happen at some stage lads, we lost today but it’s up to us to bounce back quickly, Barnsley next week so I expect a good performance on the track this week, keep the heads up we didn’t play badly today�

Went down and watched the reserves play against Southend on Sunday at they were stiff to lose as well, 3-2 they went down with a late injury time winner to Southend to give them the game, sometimes the hard work just doesn’t pay off. Charlie Sheringham came on as sub in the game and looked lively while 16 year old Jack Lyons played well and scored a good goal, he rolled his ankle pretty badly in the game and looks like spending a month give or take a few weeks on the injury list.

The last game for the month against Barnsley seen an even contest which finished 1-1, it was a deserved result for both teams and I’m happy with how we played, Wardy was unlucky to have a penalty judged against him in the 3rd minute but Freedman knocked in an typical opportunists goal to give him his tenth goal of the year. Ben Watson played an excellent game a picked up the man of the match award. Clint Morrison picked up a slight knock in the game but with 14 days rest now until our next match he should have plenty of time to recover.

retired_manragh

September Summary

Freddy Eastwood picked up his second player of the month award the young Southend striker was living up to the recent hype and if keeps it up then a few Premiership clubs will begin to get very interested. West Brom’s Curtis Davies received the Young player of the month award while Ian Holloway bagged manager of the month his teams 5 wins out of 6 games. No surprise to see Kovan’s goal against us getting the goal of the month but I was a little surprised not to see Flo’s goal in there, still we was well represented as Dougie Freedman’s goal against Colchester got second.

A topsy turvy month for us with 2 wins, 3 draws and a loss in our 6 games but we did have a good win against Wigan in the League Cup.

0-0 draw @ Stoke man of the match: Darren Ward (CP)

5-1 win @ home v Sunderland –Goals CP: Morrison (2, 25) McAnuff (13) Kuqi (58, 63) Sun: Yorke (54) man of the match :Matt Lawrence (CP)

3-2 win @ Colchester – Goals: CP: Freedman (20, 71) Kuqi (28) Col: Iwelumo (pen 4) Ephraim (49) man of the match: Gábor Király (CP)

2-2 draw @ home v West Brom – Goals: CP Freedman (10) N’Galula (12) WB: Koren (59) Clement (79) man of the match: Diomansy Kamara (WB)

0-1 loss @ home v Coventry – Goals Mifsud (24) man of the match: Misfud (Cov)

1-1 draw @ Barnsley – Goals CP Freedman (28) Bar: Hayes (pen 3) man of the match: Ben Watson (CP)

League Cup Third Round
1-0 win @ Wigan –Goals CP: Kuqi (77) inj: Green (90) man of the match: Julián Speroni (CP)

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">PtsGDDerby21+8Palace20+9Wolves 20+5Sunderland19+1Southend18+126-10th positions all had 18 points</pre>

With pretty much a quarter of the season gone we were in a good position, but there were the doubters all ready seeing we hadn’t had a win in 3 games, I was pretty confident we would get back to winning ways pretty soon though.

retired_manragh

October

A well earned rest for the players should hopefully see them refreshed for the away clash against Derby on the 14th, which was a week and a bit away, Kit had suggested giving the players a few days off and I agreed, keeps morale up and doesn’t over work the players too much.

The reason for the 2 week break was again International games and we had 3 players off to join their respective National squads: Kuqi (Finland), Király (Hungary) and Fletcher (Wales) were all named in their teams squads for the games on the 7th and 11th. Scott Flinders and Ben Watson were also picked for the England’s u21 side who took on Greece in the Euro u21 Championship Qualifiers playoff legs on the 6th and 10th.

For me I had the board meeting early in the month and as you would expect everyone was pretty happy with the results so far, especially the win over Wigan in the league cup, we also turned a profit of over £600k in the month which was great for the clubs finances.

A review of training with Kit seen us both agree that the schedule was fine at the moment and noticeable stand outs at training were David Wheater, Julián Speroni who had really picked up the intensity after getting a few first team games and Reserves defender Mark Hudson was also putting in good efforts, on the flip side Dong Fanghzhou and James Scowcroft had dropped off a little but they were both returning from injuries so we would give them both another month before we lit a fire under their arses!

Friday the 6th seen Ireland call up Sean Scannel to their under 19 team for their 3 games on the 10th, 13th and 15th, its always good to see the youngster called up.

Once again the only player in our squad to get any game time in the international was Kuqi who came on as a sub in both games, he did well enough in the time he got with a bit of luck he might get a start soon as the starting strikers don’t seem to be doing to much.

For me though I went to Ireland at Bobby’s request and expence! to see Ireland take on the Czech’s, Bobby was pretty impressed with my start and congratulated me on the good win over Wigan but apart from that we didn’t talk to much football as we just sat back and watched the game unfold which seen him swearing and cursing as the Czech’s came and grabbed an easy 3-0 win, seemed the Irish had a bit of work to do if they wanted to qualify for Euro 2008.

Back to London for me after the game as we had a few days to prepare for the top of the table clash against Derby who was playing above all expectations so far this year.

retired_manragh

Well controversial is what will be described in our top of the table clash against Derby, in a close first half both team had their chances to score but a poor decision by the ref seen him send of Wheater in the dying seconds of the first half for a professional foul when the Derby forward went down quicker than a two pound prostitute.

It changed the tone of the game as we made a few adjustments at the break to try and cover for the man down and to the lads credit they did a sterling job N’Galula and the rest of the defence did an excellent job in cutting out any chances but it was another bad decision that cost us when Seth Johnsons late winner in injury time wasn’t ruled out for offside.

“Tough break today, Ben Watson seemed to think the goal should have been ruled offside, whatdo you think about the decision�

“I think it was one of two bad decisions that cost us today, and we definitely did not deserve to lose that game, Johnson was onside when he scored the goal but when the cross came in they had two players clearly offside and when our players went to cover them we left a gap in the middle and that’s how he scored, refs and assistants have to be able to see this and quite frankly it has cost us a few points with us not getting any and Derby getting 2 more than they should of�


I was sitting at my desk when Simon came in and sat down the day after the my comments and handed me the fax from the FA saying that post match comments were out of line and I was officially warned that any further comments would be dealt with harshly

I just laughed as I read it, screwed it up and threw it in the bin

“Be careful now champ, they will come down harsh on you next time and we can’t afford you to serve a touch line ban� Simon said “And lets take our frustration out on Luton this coming week� he said with a wink as he left my office.

Before our home game against Luton I was notified that young Arron Fray had made the team of the week after his good performance against Derby, it was a good reward for the young 19 year old who had been quite good for us so far this year.

A frustrating game against Luton 16 shots for the game with only 6 on target told the story really although 5 of those shots was Danny Granville have a crack with free kicks, still its frustrating to dominate a game and come away with a point, 5 games now without a win in the league seen us drop to 8th place.

Jobi McAnuff and James Scowcroft were rewarded for their fine performances with a berth in the team of the week, it was the first appearance I think for both players.

retired_manragh

retired_manragh

A good performance at home in our last game for the month seen us easily account for Norwich, McAnuff and Kuqi our two goal scorers while their keeper was awarded the other accounted for 3 goals while Cristaldo scored his first ever goal for the Canaries. In a somewhat strange decision Darren Huckerby got man of the match when I thought Gary Borrowdale was easily the best man on the ground.

October Summary

The training reports were a bit of the same ol same ol, everything going well, no real complaints from the players while Carl Fletcher and James Scowcroft had picked up their efforts and were considered to be training strongly, once Mark Hudson was a stand out in the reserves team for his work ethic and it wont be long before he forces his way into the first team squad.

Freddy Eastwood couldn’t get a hattrick in the player of the month awards this month’s honour went to 22 year old centre back Dean Leacock while our very own Gary Borrowdale came runner up, he did win the Young player of the month award though which would be presented to him at our next home game, a fantastic effort from the youngster. Derby manager Billy Davies won the manager of the month award.

The Board meeting went quickly with no major things to be discussed, they were still happy with the performance the lads were turning out and we currently sat in sixth place in the league with a game in hand over the rest of the top 5. A slow month for the club financially seen us drop around £150k which wasn’t too bad as we had still turned a profit of over half a million so far this season.

Results for the month seen us slide a bit in the tables but that was due to the bad start of the month when we lost one and then drew the next, the two wins that followed put us back up in the hunt once again

0-1 loss @ Derby –Goals: Seth Johnson (90) man of the match: Dean Leacock (Der) Red Cards: David Wheater (CP, 45)

0-0 draw @ home v Luton: man of the match Leon Barnet (Lut)

4-3 win @ Southend – Goals CP: Soares (26) Scowcroft (30, 78, 82) SE: Eastwood (27) Maher (44) Speroni (og 76) man of the match Scowcroft (CP)

3-1 win @ home v Norwich –Goals CP: Marshall (og 19) McAnuff (32) Kuqi (54) Nor: Cristaldo (57) man of the match: Darren Huckerby (Nor)

League Cup 3rd Round

2-1 win @ Tranmere –Goals CP: Kuqi (4,10) TM: Mullin (75) man of the match S Kuqi (CP)

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">PtsGDDerby34+14Wolves 32+10W Brom 30+11Leceister30+11S’hampton28+5Palace27+11 *game in hand*</pre>