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Fresh off their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Cardiff City in Wales during the second round of the Carling Cup, Wycombe returned home to the friendly confines of Adams Park looking to continue to climb their way back up the league table and into a possible shot at promotion. It was a goal that Andy knew his men deserved and that was well within their reach if they played up to their full potential. Andy’s men were currently lying in tenth position in League Two, but were a mere single point away from sixth position in the table. A spot that would be the final position in the promotion playoffs had the season ended today.

There opposition on this day would be the lads from Swindon Town, a team that was languished in the obscurity of the middle of League Two’s table. It was a place where Andy hoped his men would not end up at seasons end. Mid-table would mean no playoffs. No playoffs would mean no shot at promotion. No promotion would result in Andy and his men spending at least one more season in the hell hole that is the lower leagues of football.

Andy exited the tunnel at Adams Park and was greeted by an unusually warm October afternoon, thirty-four degrees according to the weather presenter from the BBC. It was days like this that made Andy wonder what made everyone so upset about global warming. Hell, he would take thirty-four and sunny in October rather than minus three and snowing any time. He was also greeted by more than four thousand of what he considered to be the best fans in the world. He might hate the pay and the quality of play that came with the territory of being a lower league manager, but the fans were something else.

There was just this sense of absolute passion for their favourite club that they exhumed seemingly every waking hour of every single day that he just loved. It even made some rabid hockey fans back in his home nation of Canada look like piddly little school boys.

The match got underway in much the same manner that many of Wycombe’s fixtures under Andy Martin had, with the Chairboys controlling the ball and getting several early chances at scoring a goal. This match it was a three headed monster of forwards Jermaine Easter and Ian Stonebridge, along with midfielder Sergio Torres leading the attack for the home side. Torres sent one of his now signature long shots just over the bar, while Easter and Stonebridge sent a shot a piece just the wrong side of the post. Despite the bit of bad luck in regards to his teams inability to find the back of the net during the first half, Andy knew that the second half would bring much better things if they continued to play the way they had during the first half.

But the second half didn’t get off to the start the he, his team, or his teams supporters had hoped it would. A cross from the right side struck the leg of Wycombe defender Will Antwi and went into the back of the Wanderers goal. The dominate home side were now unlucky to be 1-0 down after fifty-one minutes, thanks to an own goal. Through it all, though, Andy remained unfazed. He knew there was still almost forty minutes to play plus whatever injury time would be added on.

Andy’s patience would pay off in the sixty-ninth minute when Chris Palmer hit an absolutely sublime thirty yard strike from the left hand side which somehow managed to miss everyone when swerving back across the goal before bulging the bottom right hand corner of the net. The fans around Adams Park erupted into sheer jubilation. They had drawn level thanks to an unbelievable effort from the Wycombe winger.

“I think that’ll be your winner for goal of the week!” Ian Culverhouse happily shouted over the noise from the crowd towards Andy Martin.

“Goal of the week?” Andy said, “I think that’s your winner for goal of the ****ing year!” He said with an ecstatic laugh before high fiving his right hand man.

If Palmers effort was going to be the winner for goal of the year, then Matt Bloomfield’s effort just six minutes later would have to be considered a very, very close second. Following a long throw into the penalty area from Jermaine Easter, Ian Stonebridge played a little flick back to Bloomfield who hit a powerful drive from twenty-five yards out which struck the top corner of the goal. Again, Wycombe’s fans were sent into raptures as the ball struck the back of the net. They had gone from 1-0 down to 2-1 up in just ten minutes thanks to two monumental strikes from two midfielders who were better known for their beautiful crosses to set up others in the penalty area rather than their scorchers from twenty-five or thirty yards out.

“I think Mister Palmer now has some competition for goal of the year from Mister Bloomfield,” Andy joked with his assistants as he finished pumping his fists wildly.

The Wycombe fans were again able to ring out in shouts and cheers when Swindon’s Patrick Ince was sent off in the eighty-eighth minute with a straight red card following his delivery of a Zidane-like head butt to the chest of Chris Palmer. He was sent back through the tunnel to the tune of “Hit the showers” from Wycombe supporters. Andy couldn’t help but chuckle to himself a little bit at that little song. It was most certainly deserved and it most certainly made him smile.

The sounds of the final whistle being blown just a few minutes later also made Andy, along with everyone else invovled with Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, smile like a Cheshire cat. The final result wound up being 2-1 in favour of the good guys. They had vaulted themselves up into sixth position in the league table. The playoffs would be a great accomplishment at the end of the season if they were able to win the two crucial matches which would send them up to League One. Of course, automatic promotion for finishing first or second in the league at the end of the year would be even better.

There was no sighting of the couple who Andy believed had been his parents at the end of the match. On the one hand, Andy wanted to believe that he had been seeing things in the past couple of matches. But on the other hand, he wanted to believe that his folks had finally turned the corner and learned the error of their ways. Maybe his parents actually loved him.

Andy gave his head a shake. His parents weren’t something that he needed to worry about at the current time. His side had just picked up a big come from behind victory and it was now time to celebrate. Of course, what would a proper celebration be without a bit of a **** up, eh?

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If something has to change
Then it always does
If something has to change
then it always does

As the first few lines of the Editors tune “Bullets” blared through the alarm clock radio, Andy struggled to find the off button. Last night could only be described as a blur. The night started off at the local pub called “The Red Dog”. Several shots of tequila and after a few vodka red bulls later, it was off to one of the hottest clubs in High Wycombe, called “The Druid”. Needless to say Andy didn’t remember much from his first trip to “The Druid”.

As a result of all this, Andy felt like he had gotten run over by a Mack truck and then had the driver get out of the truck and slam his head in the door no less than one hundred times. He stumbled to his feet and fell directly into the wall. He slumped down to the ground, he was in no condition to anything other than just lay in bed today. He didn’t have this option, however, as there was training today.

To make matters worse, the phone had just began to ring off it’s hook. Andy groaned and crawled over to his phone. Slowly he picked it up and spoke into the receiver.

“Hello”
“...”

Unfortunately for Andy, the voice on the other end of the line was Wycombe chairman Ivor Beeks and he certainly wasn’t in a very good mood. He kept going on and on and telling Andy to look at this morning’s newspaper. Andy thought he must be talking about what had to be a stellar write-up about his side’s thrilling 2-1 victory in their last match.. Unfortunately for him, it had nothing to do with Wycombe’s victory in their last match. It did tell the story of Andy’s fun night out last night, though.

Chairboys Manager A Ladies Man

That was what the headline read on the front page of “Bucks Free Press”. The front page photograph was Andy Martin in between two stunningly beautiful women, each kissing one side of his face. The Canadian had a happy look on his face and appeared to be yelling “WOOOOO” as the picture was taken. If a picture was worth a thousand words, then the caption that was placed below the photograph certainly told the rest of the story.

Andy put the newspaper down and a look of complete and utter shock came across his face. He certainly would have some explaining to do today.

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As Andy brought his car to a stop in the parking lot at Adams Park, everything seemed to have an ominous feel to it. It was obvious that he was going to be in some hot water from the higher ups at Wycombe due to his conduct the previous night and he knew whatever trouble was going to come his way on this day was all too deserved.

As he made his way up to the chairman’s office, Andy felt as if he was a dead man walking the “Green Mile”. He thought for certain that he would be sacked as Wycombe’s manager after his escapades, no amount of good results could save him after actions like that. That was when he heard those fateful words

“Mr. Beeks is ready to see you now Mr. Martin.”

Andy swallowed hard and attempted to put on a brave face as he walked into the chairman’s office. He accepted the fact that it was only going to be a matter of time until the words “you’re fired” escaped the lips of the chairman. Maybe he was just being paranoid, though. But what if he wasn’t?

“So I see you had a good bit of fun last night.” Beeks said with a stern look across his face.

Andy gave an uneasy laugh, “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“Don’t you know what that could do to the reputation of our club?” The chairman questioned. The stern look has still not disappeared from his face.

“Yes sir.” Andy said weakly. He had a feeling what was going to come next.

“I’ve only got one thing to say to you.” The chairman said with a booming voice

“What’s that?” Andy asked. Although he really didn’t need to ask.

But the stern, cold look on Beeks’ face quickly changed to a wide grin. This left Andy to wonder just what the hell was going on.

“You really are a ladies man!” Beeks said as he let out a big laugh. He even put Andy in a headlock and ruffled his hair a little bit. This certainly was not what the Canadian had been expecting based upon this mornings phone call.

“Do me a favour next time you’re out, though.” Beeks said as Andy turned to leave the office.

“Yeah sure thing.” Andy said with a huge sigh of relief.

“Either give me a call and we’ll get on a proper **** up or bring a few of those nice young girls over to my place for a little ‘visit’” He said with a huge smile.

Andy left the office and started back down the hall towards the elevator. He had survived the meeting without being fired. He was even more shocked to find out that the chairman of his club want him to bring some of his lady friends to him the next time he went out for a night on the town. As he got into the elevator he sighed to himself one last time and thought to himself aloud.

“Maybe this old geezer is cooler than I thought.”

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After his little mishap on Saturday night, Andy hoped that his little drunken escapade would not prove to be a distraction for his team as Wycombe travelled Wrexham. They were a team that liked to play a fast, attacking style of football. This was something that obviously worried Andy as the Wycombe defence had always been proven to be the weakest link in the team.

Things didn’t get off to a very good start for the visitors, either. In the twenty-fourth minute, a Wrexham cross deflected off the leg of Wycombe midfielder Sergio Torres and into the back of the Wycombe goal for the dubious own goal.

Chris Llywellan made it a 2-0 score line for the home side when he danced around keeper Ricardo Batista and calmly slid the ball into the back of the net in the thirty-seventh minute. The Wrexham fans were overjoyed and they had every right to be. They were up two goals on a team they should not be and it was all because of sloppy play and mental mistakes.

Things went from bad to worse for Wycombe as Llewellyan notched his second goal of the match and fifth of the season in the forty-fifth minute with a stunning strike from just outside the penalty area to make it a three goal advantage. Again, it was Sergio Torres who was to blame as his poor clearance attempt only went directly into the path of the Wrexham player who unleashed a ferocious strike which nearly ripped through the back of the net.

Andy had seen enough. He turned and made his way back through the tunnel, leaving the managing duties to his assistant, Ian Culverhouse. It was probably a good thing he left because the hosts added a fourth marker on the last kick of the ball prior to the half-time whistle being blown. Matt Crowell swung in a free kick which missed everybody and sailed into the back of the net. The midfielder had a look of embarrassment across his face as he certainly didn’t mean to score, but he’ll certainly take it.

Wycombe did make some tactical changes at the half time break, with Sergio Torres being put out of his misery as a result of being replaced by Jermaine Easter. The Wanderers also changed into a 4-3-3 formation from the 5-3-2 they had been using previously. It seemed to work as they came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half. They were generating several chances in front of goal but a lack of a finishing touch from any of the Wycombe players, but especially Ian Stonebridge who had multiple chances at goal, resulted in no goals being scored off the majority of those chances.

They were able to fire in a consolation goal late in second half injury time when Matt Bloomfield shot home a ball that deflected off the post and right to him before he put it into the back of the net. It certainly made no difference in who got the full three points on this day, though. Wycombe would walk out 4-1 losers and Andy Martin would walk out one very frustrated manager.

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Following their embarrassing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Wrexham in their last match, Wycombe returned home to Adams Park to take on Notts County. Notts Co were a team that were surprising people in League Two. The visitors were tipped for a relegation battle at the start of the season, but up to this point had surprised everyone with their results and were good enough to lie second in the League Two table.

Despite the surprising run of results from their opponent, Andy knew that his side definitely had a chance to head out on their home pitch and walk off with the full three points on this day. He knew his team certainly had something to prove following the debacle that was their last outing.

Jermaine Easter gave the home fans a lift in the twelfth minute when Rob Williamson played a long ball forward that the Welsh striker was able to run onto and beat the keeper with for his fifth goal of the season to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the early goings.

The joy would be short-lived, though as in the twenty-fifth minute Easter was having words with the match official, Colin Harwood following a strange decision to award a free kick to Notts in a dangerous position. Whatever it was that Easter said, Harwood took exception to and gave Easter a straight red card for his troubles.

This obviously infuriated the Wycombe supporters and their manager who had to be physically restrained by both assistant Ian Culverhouse as well as the fourth official from running onto the pitch and getting in the face of Mr. Harwood. Nothing the striker could have said could have warranted a straight red card. A yellow card almost certainly would have been the proper punishment in this case, but not a straight red. Nevertheless, Wycombe were reduced to ten men for the remainder of the match and would be forced to cling to their small one goal advantage.

And the pressure certainly was poured on by the visitors, who were looking for that all important tying goal. Several balls were played into the Wycombe penalty area but were cleared away to relative safety with ease. Mix that in with a couple of timely saves from Wycombe goalkeeper Ricardo Batista and you’ve got the makings of a 1-0 lead for the hosts at half-time.

During the half-time team talk, Andy begged and pleaded with his men to keep defending as if their lives depended on it. Everyone watching the match knew that Wycombe would be a man down for a long time and that their legs were going to grow tired. Everyone knew that Notts County were going to be doing everything possible within their power to grabbing the tying, if not the winning, goal in the second half, and it would be up to the men in blue shirts to stop them.

Things got off to a decent enough start in the second half for Wycombe. They were preventing their opponents from getting any real in close opportunities at the goal, and they were just simply playing the ball long down the field in order to kill time off the clock and to relieve the little bit of pressure they had been undertaking.

Things went from bad to worse for Wycombe in the sixty-fifth minute as Jonny Dixon tugged on a Notts County players shirt and picked up his second yellow card of the match, resulting in a red card being shown to him as well. Wycombe were now reduced to nine men and with only a one goal advantage, things certainly weren’t looking on the up and up for Andy Martin’s men.

But there happened to be a breakthrough in the seventy-fifth minute of play. Ricardo Batista restarted the match with a goal kick which was flicked on by Sergio Torres directly into the path of on-running Wycombe forward Ian Stonebridge. Stonebridge took the ball and ran with it towards the only man he had to beat, the goalkeeper. Stonebridge slid the ball around the onrushing keeper and into the back of the net.

It was a two goal advantage for Wycombe with fifteen minutes plus whatever added time there would be left to play. Normally, you could put the match to bed at this point but Andy and everyone else in the ground knew that when a team is down to nine men as his team was, anything could happen with this amount of time still left to play.

But outside of the one chance from Mendes which he sent sailing over the bar, it was the nine man Wycombe side who were generating chances on the counter-attack. Sergio Torres certainly had a bounce back game in this one and nearly made in three for the hosts when he sent a blistering strike just a hair over the crossbar.

Ultimately, Torres’ effort would not matter as the final whistle blew and it finished 2-0 for the home side. Andy was pleased to get out of Adams Park having secured the full three points, especially knowing what could have happened when his team went down to just nine men. But the poor officiating from Colin Harwood left a sour taste in his mouth. Andy was going to make it his mission to let everyone know his thoughts about how the match was officiated and just what should be the fate of the man in charge of that match.

For now, he had to go back and try and create a game plan while having to cope without both Jermaine Easter and Jonny Dixon for their next match. It was certainly two massive losses to the side and people would know it. It would be a patch-work side heading into their next match with injuries and suspensions taking their toll, but such is life and Andy and his men would just have to deal with it.

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This is going along very nicely, Andy. :thup:

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SEPTEMBER 2006 SUMMARY
English League Two unless otherwise noted

MK Dons 1(Platt 89')
Wycombe 1(Crooks(og) 9')

Wycombe 0
Macclesfield 0

Wycombe 2( Antwi 10'(pen), Easter(90')
Walsall 3(Sam 22', 58', Wrack 40')

Hereford 0
Wycombe 1(Torres 58')

Carling Cup Round Two
Wycombe 0
Cardiff City 2(Ledley 53', 90')

Wycombe 2(Palmer 69', Bloomfield 75')
Swindon 1(Antwi(og) 51')
Notes: Ince(Swindon) sent off(88')

Wrexham 4(Torres(og) 24', Llwellyan 37',45', Crowell 45+2')
Wycombe 1(Bloomfield 90'+1)

Wycombe 2(Easter 12', Stonebridge 75')
Notts Co. 0
Notes: Easter(Wycombe) sent off(25'), Dixon(Wycombe) sent off(65')

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“Men like that should not be allowed to referee the game of football AT ANY LEVEL, let alone the level we’re at right now.”

Those were the first words to escape the lips of Andy Martin during the post match media festivities, and it was obvious who those words were directed at.

“Wouldn’t you say that Mr. Harwood during today’s match other than those two calls that you disagree with?” One local news reporter asked.

“Absolutely not.” Andy replied in an angered tone. He was clearly annoyed with that question being asked. Almost as much as he was annoyed by today’s officiating.

“So you’re saying that Easter didn’t deserve a booking?” Tommy Hughes, a reporter from Sky Sports asked from the back of the queue.

The stern look never left Andy’s face as he replied, “I didn’t say that, did I? He most certainly deserved A BOOKING. A YELLOW CARD! He most certainly did not deserve to be sent of straight away for something as trivial as that. Did I make my point clear enough, Mr. Hughes?”

The reporter nodded without saying another word. In fact, it seemed as if the Sky Sports man was now afraid of the man standing at the podium. He had sent his message loud and clear to anyone who was willing to listen. Hell, he was even willing to pass along his message to people who WEREN’T willing to listen. He wanted Colin Harwood to no longer be involved with refereeing in football. He knew the risk he was taking by having such an outburst in the press. He knew he could wind up receiving a touchline ban for his actions, but to be honest he didn’t care one bit.

For the time being, Andy had much more important things to worry about rather than a silly touchline ban. More important things like just how his squad were going to be able to cope with the loss of their leading scorer and his preferred partner for at least the next match.

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Wycombe headed into their away match-up with league leaders Hartlepool a severely depleted squad. They would be without Jonny Dixon and Jermaine Easter through suspension, and they would also be without goalkeeper Ricardo Batista who was away on international duty with the Portugese Under-21's. To make matters worse, the decision regarding Wycombe’s appeal to the Jermaine Easter ban and it did not go in favour of the Welsh international. In fact, the English Fa had decide to extend the ban a further two matches bringing the total to three matches.

Because of the number of players out for various reasons, Andy was forced to revert to a 4-5-1 formation from their regular 5-3-2 formation the had been playing. The 4-5-1 was certainly not Wycombe’s comfort zone but desperate times called for desperate measures. And this was a time that called for such measures.

Hartlepool certainly came out the aggressors at the beginning of the match, controlling the majority of the possession and generating several chances within the opening moments of the match. They were certainly showing why they were the league leaders at the present time, and they were exposing the weaknesses the visitors had with so many players being out. Wycombe spent the vast majority of the first half penned in their own final third and nothing Andy tried seemed to be working to get them out of their predicament. Yet somehow, they were able to go into the changing rooms at half-time with the scores still level at zero.

The home side came out in the second half still looking for the one goal that would put him out in front. After sixty-five minutes, the score was still level but striker Ian Stonebridge had just picked up a booking and given away a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Not wanting to risk losing another player due to suspension, he quickly subbed Stonebridge off for the rarely played Tommy Mooney. Andy hoped that this would be the opportunity for Mooney to finally get out of the starting blocks and really improve to a decent season.

Mooney immediately started getting service from the long balls that had been played forward from the visitors all match long. Had it not been for an absolutely horrible finishing touch from the striker, Wycombe may well have been in front.

“This is why he doesn’t play very much.” Andy said to Ian Culverhouse in an angry tone and point towards the Wycombe forward.

Unfortunately for Wycombe, Hartlepool’s pressure finally paid off in the eighty-eighth minute when Michael Hunter headed home a cross from the right side to make it 1-0 for the home side. Immediately, Andy sent his men in to full out attack mode, throwing everyone and everything towards the Hartlepool penalty area to try and draw the game level and steal a point for the visitors at the death.

Things were looking promising for Wycombe, Kevin Stockley played a cross deep into the penalty area which was inadvertently headed behind for a corner. Andy was on the very edge of his technical area absolutely screaming at his men to hurry up and take the corner. Chris Palmer obliged his gaffer’s pleas by sprinting over and quickly taking the corner. It deflected off the ‘pool defender and behind for another corner kick.

“HURRY UP!” Andy shouted towards his men while gesturing towards his wrist watch. Time was quickly running out.

Palmer played the second corner towards the back post, but a Hartlepool defender attempted to head clear but it bounced directly into the path of Sergio Torres who took a crack at goal and forced a terrific save from the keeper. It didn’t strike the back of the net, but it did force a third corner for the visitors. The pressure was really piling on now. This was probably their last chance at trying to steal a point.

Torres raced over to take the corner, he swung it in looking to find the head of ANY Wycombe player. He found the head of Tommy Mooney...Unfortunately for anyone who was a fan of Wycombe, Mooney’s header was well wide. The goal kick that followed would turn out to be the final kick of the match. Wycombe had gone down 1-0 to the league leaders. Had there been someone up front who had even the slightest of finishing touches, the score line may well have been different. The look of frustration was evident on Andy’s face and anyone watching knew exactly why he was frustrated.

How the hell was he going to survive the next two games without the services of Jermaine Easter?

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Andy and Wycombe returned home to Adams Park with everyone wondering just how they were going to cope with the loss of Welsh international striker Jermaine Easter for two more matches. Andy did have Jonny Dixon back in the fold for this match following his one match ban. However, Andy decided that it would be best to stick with the 4-5-1 formation from last match and play Ian Stonebridge as the lone man up front. Dixon was named to the substitutes bench, while Tommy Mooney was dropped from the team entirely for this match.

Their opponents on this day would be Bristol Rovers, a team which lied in twentieth place in the league table and were currently on a run of five games without a win. Obviously this was a team that Andy believed was ripe for the pickings. Of course, he had to keep in the back of his mind that anything could happen on any day in football. They would still have to play a good game if they wanted to secure the three points.

From the kick-off it was clear who the better team on this day would be, though. Wycombe came out like they were a team that had something to prove. In truth, they were a team with something to prove. Their inconsistent play had always left something to be desired, both from the supporters and those in the media.

Ian Stonebridge got the party started for Wycombe in just the eighteenth minute. First, he unleashed a powerful shot which was saved brilliantly by the Rovers goalkeeper. Unfortunately for Bristol, the ball bounced loose and the rebound was pounced on by a watchful Stonebridge who pounded the ball into the back of the net.

“That’s the reward you get when you hustle and you keep your eye on the ball!” Andy said gleefully towards his substitutes as well as his other coaches on the bench.. He turned towards his striker and gave him a thumbs up for his effort.

Had it not been for the absolutely spectacular play of Rovers goalkeeper Steve Phillips, they may have been three or four goals down at the half-time break, but as it stood it remained 1-0 for the home side as the teams headed into the changing rooms.

The pressure intensified from Wycombe as the second half got underway. The 4-5-1 formation Wycombe had employed certainly appeared to be paying off in spades. Everyone from Chris Palmer, to Ian Stonebridge, to even Will Antwi were getting a crack at goal but were unable to put a second goal past the Rovers goalkeeper.

Of course, it all changed in the sixty-first minute when Ian Stonebridge scored his second tally of the match, running onto a long ball played forward by Rod Williamson before dancing around a Bristol defender and putting the ball into the back of the net.

The Wycombe bench was ecstatic with what had just transpired on the pitch. They had secured a bit of breathing room in the match. Andy reminded his men that they could not afford to let up on their opposition. They were in a very comfortable position, but they couldn’t allow themselves to get too comfortable even with a two goal advantage.

Wycombe kept up their attack for the remainder of the match, not wanting to sit back on defence. Unfortunately, their continued attack didn’t lead to any more goals, but it still wound up being three points in Wycombe’s corner following their 2-0 victory. Andy had to admit that he was pleased with the result. He was even more pleased with the play of striker Ian Stonebridge, two goals and man of the match honours was quite the accomplishment. Perhaps he would have to consider playing Ian up front along side Easter once Jermaine returned. He didn’t want to create an internal controversy, but he did want to do what’s best for his club and if it meant switching things up to yield more goals, then so be it.