retired_w0lfpack1

The stupid phone was ringing, shrill and harsh.

My head hurt.

I blearily looked up from my bottle, to fumble around for it.

Drat!!

Knocked over the bottle.

Looked around for some paper towels, but got distracted by the shrill phone again.

"'Allo."

"Monsieur Amaroq?"

"Yes?"

"You have not been to work in over a month."

"Sho?"

"You cannot claim to be the manager of Nîmes if you will not come to work."

"Oh."

"I think we have shown a lot of patience with your 'illness', but this last.."

"No, no, you don't understand. I'm pshycho.. pshy.. psychololol.."

"Psychologically?"

"YES! Psycholgic'ly incapable of coming to work. We should discuss a leave of absence."

"Yes. I agree.

"A permanent one."

BarryLFC

Paris Est

With all our new players in situ it would take some management job to knit them into a team. Nevertheless, the improved quality was immediately apparent as we drew 1-1 with 5th placed Angers, 1-1 again with a craft Clermont side under the management of their assistant boss and 2-2 with Cannes, despite having been 2-0 down and reduced to ten men and losing Armand One, who scored against both Angers and Clermont, to injury.

With One out it was the perfect time for Pius N'Diefi to come back from holiday, and he did, scoring the last gasp winner in a senational 3-2 home win over leaders Laval. Trailing 2-1, and reduced to 10 men, we went looking for a draw and came out one better. We lost 4-1 at Sannois a week later, but for me it was a better performance, on the whole.

I felt we had the beating of Toulon, having gone to their park and dramatically won earlier in the season, and so it proved, One returning with two goals in a 2-1 win. We haven't scored since, losing 1-0 to a debatable penalty at Martigues and drawing 0-0 at home to Nimes. With Louhans-Cuiseaux and Yzeure next up, six points are a must.

Visiting Louhans-Cuisaeux was not likely to be a gimme, and they did come into the match ahead of us in the table by about five points, but I had faith in my team, despite no goals for about four hours of play. That ought to have ended ten minutes before half time when Pius N'Diefi found himself eyeballing the keeper, but it wasn't until five minutes later that he broke the deadlock with his twentieth goal of a great personal campaign, after One drew the goalie out and slid the ball across for a tap-in.

Just ten minutes after the break, however, all our hard work was undone as Irélé Apo levelled. We did catch a break when the home side were reduced to ten men with twenty minutes to play, but could our shot-shy attack take advantage? No. A draw was a devastating result.

Yzeure at home was always likely to be a must-win game, but with the drop zone just two points behind us, it became yet more so. With no recognised right backs available and Jerome Vareille out for the year, it became still more treacherous.

Nicolas Trégeur made it 1-0 early on, and it was now up to the team to settle and play their stuff as I knew they could.<oro-Mvé went close, but there was bad news too as Armand One pulled up lame. It got worse on the stroke of half time as a terrible backpass let Yzeure in for 1-1 and I had it all to do at the break.

I gave them my best Mel Gibson, and they gave me their best dying giraffe, losing a second goal early on in the second half. Losing our goalscorer to injury just made it worse, and we were staring relegation in the face. Yzeure smelled blood, pushing forward at every opportunity and we looked done. A third from fully 40 yards killed it with ten minutes to play and the stadium was like a cemetary as we trooped out in shame and silence.

Vannes were the division's form team, and we were distant second-favourites for the clash. A slip of the tongue on national radio convinced our fans that I would prefer to manage Strasbourg, and I was on the verge of an acrimonious split with the club where I signed a new 2-year contract just a week ago.

A lack of goalies meant we were 4-2 down at the break and forced to turn to Eboué Eboué. He saved a penalty as we closed to 3-4, but a red card for Marchand and an injury to third sub Mozika reduced us to nine men for the last fifteen minutes. Miraculously One levelled, but Vannes stepped it up with two more goals and we were gone.

Fortunately I was not gone, and led the team out for the home finalé against Boulogne-sur-Mer. New signing Arnaud Lebrun, a free transfer, played at right back. Who knows what woke the team up? Maybe, trailing 1-0 halfway through the first half, they just realised they needed to shape up? Maybe it was luck? Either way, the 3-1 interval lead was much appreciated by me and by the home support.

Armand One completed his hat-trick early in the second half, but then it all threatened to go wrong as Serge-Alain Liri pulled one back. We were not, however, in the mood to throw this one away, and we didn't, sealing the win with a patient and disciplined performance to comfortably ride out the remaining time and ease a little further away from relegation with two games to go.

It seemed now that I would be given the opportunity to close out the season with two dastardly away games to come against relegation rivals Raon and Beauvais. At Raon we again came from behind to lead at the break, Tréguer and Laigle scoring for a 2-1 lead. It wasn't to last though, Vincent levelling matters and then netting one more time to leave us struggling for breath.

Raon's Porquet was sent off with 25 minutes left and One immediately levelled. The revival threatened to end there, and so it did. The one point kept our noses ahead of Chatellerault and Pau, but going to Beauvais, level on points, would be vital and we were fading aat the worst possible time.

BarryLFC

Paris Est - final day showdown

It was all hands to the pumps as we travelled to face Beauvais in a critical last-day showdown. With Chatellerault playing Yzeure we knew that anything short of a win would likely mean relegation.

Both teams had early chances, but with neither safe, and both on 40 points, the nerves showed, with shots snatched and passes misplaced. It took a penalty goal to settle the home side and our relegation looked inevitable. Pau were cruising and Chatellerault ahead. Either winning would relegate us without a win here.

The second half began with half chances at each end, but a slip by the home team's goalie allowed N'Diefi to level and the hunt was on for the goal that would keep us up. Sadly, the home side scored first and it was all over. Surely.

Aymard Moro-Mvé was introduced as a final gambit. I had hoped there may be time to score twice, but I wasn't confident. One was injured and carried off, and without a recognised striker to play in his place, I went with a winger. It didn't matter. We lost, and were relegated. Ugh.

shannon2007

Vannes - The Great Escape

The new signings for sure would be given a pretty warm reception at the club, as our first match of 2007 was at league leaders, and soon to be Champions Laval. Dropping behind on 11 minutes, nevertheless there were encouraging signs but a missed 76th minute penalty from Jean Sebastien Gomba looked to have blown our chances of a point until Jeremy De Magalhaes put the ball into his own net with six minutes remaining. An excellent performance and a very welcome, extremely valuable point.

Sannois SG were also pushing for promotion, and our first foots for 2007 would provide a stern test for a side with six new signings in the line up. Just eight minutes had passed when Alan Le Borgne sent us ahead, Alexandre Baudrier hit a brace and Alexandre Raineau was also on target as we went in an amazing four nil up that the break. Mehmet Akyil added a 5th on 56 minutes and in injury time Igor Djoman bagged us an incredible sixth. It was a stunning performance and the new signings had really made their mark.

1-1 draws with Toulon and Martigues followed, before a hard fought 3-2 win over a Nimes side who had finally managed to get rid of the mis-firing Amaroq. Louhans were swept away by 4-0 and the side really were playing more like promotion contenders than relegation candidates and slowly but surely we were opening up a gap to safety.

A dissapointing performance against bottom club Yzeure though as we could only draw 1-1 away to them, but followed that with a fine 3-1 over Beauvais and our status in the National was virtually safe. Injuries and suspensions were taking their toll, but a 1-0 win over Boulogne took the unbeaten run to eleven, before we battled back from 2-1 down at half time away to Raon to win 3-2 and mathematically seal our salvation.

Struggling Paris FC then came to call and what ensued was an incredible match. There were rumours circulating that the Vannes players might throw the match with their own safety assured and when the enigmatic Pius N'Diefi sent the visitors ahead after just four minutes it seemed those rumours just might be true. Only 120 seconds later though, Mehmet Akyil fired in a free kick from about 35 yards which the Paris keeper just didn't seem to see and it was 1-1. Another free kick, this time from Alan Le Borgne seemed to slip through the keeper and then a few minutes later the keeper virtually dropped another Le Borgne effort into the net and it seemed that perhaps the wad of money in a brown envelope had gone to the wrong player.

Pierre Laigle gave his side hope just a minute later, but Alexandre Baudrier sent Vannes into the break 4-2 up after a quite incredible first half of football. Two minutes after the break, N'Diefi struck again, and just before the hour, Gomba missed a penalty that would surely have sealed the match.On 69 minutes Paris were reduced to 10 men as former Vannes player Arnaud Marchand lost the plot and was red carded. Four minutes later the visitors were down to just nine men, yet amazingly Armand One was allowed to equalize and the enquiry into the match was getting ready. Less than a minute later though Le Borgne restored the Vannes lead, and Baudrier added a 6th just to make it look good. My players had certainly tried to help the Paris cause it seemed, but HD's lot just didn't want to play ball.

Our thirteen game unbeaten run came to an end with a 1-0 loss at Sete, before we gifted Pau the chance to stay up as we let them beat us 1-0 at home and ended the season with a 1-0 loss at Romorantin. A dissapointing end after such an excellent run, but in the end we secured a 10th place that at one point had looked impossible.

If we can bring in a few players to increase the depth of the pool we might just manage to create a promotion push next season. Not very likely though really.

shannon2007

French National Final Table 2006-2007

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Laval | | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 75 | 40 | +35 | 76 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Cannes | | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 68 | 43 | +25 | 72 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Sète | | 38 | 17 | 15 | 6 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 66 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Sannois SG | | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 61 | 50 | +11 | 64 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Toulon | | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 59 | 45 | +14 | 63 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Angers | | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 61 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Romorantin | | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 44 | -4 | 57 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Clermont | | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 56 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Boulogne-sur-Mer | | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 56 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Vannes | | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 58 | 51 | +7 | 51 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Nîmes | | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 51 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Martigues | | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 37 | 39 | -2 | 50 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Cherbourg | | 38 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 55 | 60 | -5 | 48 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Louhans-Cuiseaux | | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 54 | 61 | -7 | 45 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Beauvais | | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 38 | 51 | -13 | 43 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Châtellerault | | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 49 | 72 | -23 | 42 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | Pau | | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 43 | 51 | -8 | 41 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Paris FC | | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 59 | 73 | -14 | 40 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Raon-l'Etape | | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 37 | 53 | -16 | 35 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Yzeure | | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 36 | 79 | -43 | 25 | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

retired_hern1001

January – Cannes

For the first time since I’d become manager of the club, we’d suffered a loss over a month, £47,000 to be exact. No doubt the £50,000 transfer fee paid to Sannois for striker Paul Alo’o Efoulou had a part in that. He was joined by young defensive midfielder Soares who joined for £1,000.

Both were in the starting line-up for the home game against Boulogne-sur-Mer and both made an impression. Efoulou scored twice (1-0 and 3-1), the first coming from an impossible angle, but taking a deflection while the second was an easy chance after a cross from Braizat. Diabaté had scored the 2-0 just before halftime with yet another free kick and while Boulogne did something back, they never had a chance and Braizat scored a late goal to seal the 4-1 win.

Promes picked up a suspension and then an injury meaning that he was out for the game against Raon L’Etape. Kadir came back in. We had the best of the first half with good early chances and were rewarded when Darchy turned his marker and scored a good goal. The home side hit straight back though and then dug in to preserve the draw. They did so and it was two points dropped against the cellar dwellers.

The one game left in January saw us entertain HD’s Paris FC. We were unbeaten in six, but would miss Diabaté who was out with the flu. Just four minutes in, Touré went on a solo run and slotted home to make it 1-0. Three minutes later, Efoulou doubled the margin and a rout was on. Paris redeemed themselves though and grabbed a goal back just before halftime. A second half penalty for the guests was then converted to make it all square at two each. We pressed hard, but despite Ayala being sent off for brutally hacking down Efoulou, we were unable to force a winner.

February – Cannes

We lost another fair bit of money at the start of February, almost another £50,000. In addition to that, we lost our first game in eight against Sete, despite being hotly tipped for the win. They had all the play in the first half, but only a penalty got them on the scoresheet. The second half saw a major mistake by Benhamou and it was 2-0 to Sete. Efoulou grabbed one back late from a corner, but it wasn’t enough.

At least relegation bound Pau wouldn’t be a daunting prospect, though their manager Simon F. was keen to grab a win over us and billed us as midtable at best. I responded by saying that he would get them relegated. The players were obviously fired up for it and just 13 minutes in, Mostovoy pounced on a rebound to fire home the opening goal. Both teams forced chances afterwards, but it was Pau who grabbed a first half injury goal to get back into the game. They really should’ve gone on to win it, but Aristouy had left his shooting boots at home and missed three good chances. And as often is the case in football, your opponent will run away with the win then. We did just that with a 89th minute goal from Kevaughn Connell. A tad fortunate perhaps, but they all count.

There was just one game left in the month, against Romorantin and once more, we grabbed a narrow win to keep us in the promotion chase. Efoulou scored the only goal of the game, rounding the keeper on 44 minutes, but really we should have scored more with both Darchy and Mostovoy unable to put it on target.

retired_hern1001

March – Cannes

The board were only satisfied at the start of March, partly because it was the third consecutive month that returned a loss, nearly £42,000. And their opinion of me can’t have improved much after our dreadful performance against lowly Chatellerault. We only managed a 1-1 draw, despite forcing numerous chances. We started well, getting an early goal through Efoulou, who has made a good start for us. But a poor backpass from Cérielo let the underdogs in for a late equaliser. To compound our woes, Igor Angulo picked up a torn calf muscle which would keep him out for some time.

We did far better in the next game against Cherbourg. Possibly helped by the praise of their manager, we gained a good 2-0 win. Efoulou and Darchy had early chances, but it wasn’t until the latter was fouled inside the penalty area that we got the lead. Anthony Braizat converted from the spot. In the second half, Paul Alo’o Efoulou sealed the result by converting from Cérielo’s cross.

There were just six games to go now and we still were in with a chance to win the title. We’d need leaders Laval to slip up at some point and then beat them in our very difficult run in. Apart from Laval, we had Angers, Clermont, Sannois and Toulon, all sides pushing for promotion (though Clermont were a fair bit off, but they were managed by Panpardus of course). The only easy game in that run would be lowly Beauvais.

Angers were up first and we played very well, peppering their goal with shots in the first half. They had the best chance however, in the 32nd minute, when Braizat conceded a foul in the area. But Benhamou pulled off a good dive to his left to stop the effort from Tangeaoui and beat it away. Shots continued to fly in the second half and even a nasty injury to Venn Touré couldn’t stop us, but none found the target. Until the 85th when substitute Kevaughn Connell pounced on a poor clearance from the Angers defence and slotted home for a narrow 1-0 win.

April – Cannes

The board were still only satisfied with my performance over March, but they must have seen enough good because they offered me a new two-year, £875 per week contract.

The side responded beautifully to the news and we proceeded to steamroller Clermont in the first half of our encounter at the start of the month. Efoulou scored a tap in on 24 minutes and five minutes later, a shot from Darchy took a big enough deflection to leave Pan’s goalkeeper stranded. It was later awarded an own goal. We had some shots after that as did our opponents, but it wasn’t anything threatening as we extended our streak to 6 games unbeaten.

Beauvais were up next and we dominated them left, right and centre. Somewhat troubling then that we only had two goals to show for it by the end of 90 minutes. It was still enough for the win, but the other sides on our remaining fixtures list won’t be so forgiving. Efoulou scored the first, pouncing on Mostovoy’s through ball and Darchy scored his first goal in 11 hours, but it was well worth the wait, a 25-yard screamer.

I’d tied up contracts for all but one of my players who had expiring deals, but the one who didn’t sign a new one was a key player. Lassina Diabaté wasn’t keen on staying and finally agreed a deal to go to Siena on a free transfer at the end of the season. It was not the news I’d wanted to hear just before the crunch game against Laval. A win would see us close the gap to one point, while a draw would keep us in a promotion spot. A loss though could see us slide out.

Enough to think about then and when Laval went up after just nine minutes, I feared a repeat of their first half performance in our previous encounter when they scored 3 times in seven minutes to seal the game. None of that was forthcoming though and we levelled 20 minutes later through Darchy who finally got it in after their goalkeeper had saved shots from both Efoulou and Mostovoy. We even took a lead in the second half, albeit it somewhat fortuitous when Soares managed to get on the end of Martin’s free kick and scrambled it in without knowing much about it. It looks like peaches and cream all round when Mostovoy made it 3-1 eight minutes from the end, but Laval finally managed their quick goalscoring routine, scoring twice in three minutes to level the game and pretty much putting us out of the running for the title. It was a four point gap between them at the top and us in second with just two games left to play.

Still, we seemed reasonably securing in our promotion spot and could well be going up to the Ligue 2.

retired_hern1001

May – Cannes

Just two games left, both of them against direct competition in Sannois and Toulon. Unbeaten in eight games, we went in against Sannois full of confidence, despite missing Diabaté due to food poisoning, but we’d have to get used to doing without him anyway. It was a back-to-the-wall job for us at the start though as Sannois came out blazing. Their shots went all over or wide though, much to the relieve of Benhamou in our goal. From our end, we did force their keeper into saves, but comfortable ones at that.

In the second half, we finally broke through when Carteron found Darchy unmarked in the area and the captain scored an easy goal. It looked like Sannois were right back in it two minutes later, but Fortunat’s effort was (justly) ruled out for offside. We suffered more injury woes when Kadir limped off injured with a nasty calf injury. It turned out to be torn and would need 3-5 months of recuperation. Shortly after that, we sealed the match when Darchy was fouled inside the box and once more Anthony Braizat stepped up to slot home the spot-kick.

It turned out that the 2-0 win was enough for us to clinch promotion and there were scenes of joy and celebration around the stadium and indeed the dressing room as the news was confirmed. Both the board and supporters were happy with my achievement, but now we’ll have to build for a tough season ahead. At least I can claim the first MMONGS promotion :cool:

It meant the final game was of little actual meaning, but we were still keen to win it anyway. That we did, helped by a 3rd minute sending off for opponents Toulon and a 93rd minute winning goal by Samuel Darchy. We’d come from behind as well after a lapse of concentration had sent Toulon ahead. Mostovoy made it 1-1 from a free kick in the 64th minute after Giminez had been awarded his second yellow to reduce Toulon to nine men. At that point, there were only ten of us left on the pitch as well as Diabaté ended his Cannes career on a low with a sending off.

He did get an award in the post-season ceremonies though as Star Player of the Season while I myself was 2nd in the elections for Manager of the Year. Not a bad end to my first season then.

retired_bbcarr

Pau FC

There was dancing in the streets. Really. People were just that excited that we’d actually managed to sign someone. See, practically no-one even wanted to discuss a move to Pau (maybe they all just thought I was that bad a manager) but finally – once Paris Est had kicked him out of the door – Madjid Bouabdallah agreed to sign on and boost our attacking options.

He was on the bench for our no excuses, must win relgegation crunch clash at Châtellerault. This lot had beaten fellow strugglers Paris Est, so we were rightly a bit cautious going into the match. However, we proved finally that we could play and romped off with a five-goal victory. Star striker Pierre Aristouy netted first, and his partner in crime, Tidiane Dia added two more before the break. Bouabdallah came on to net a debut goal on the hour, and Mourad N’Zif completed the rout with a minute to go.

Another player released from his club, another signing for Pau. That seemed to be how we would have to work after picking up centre back Youness Bengelloun on a free transfer, and like Bouabdallah, he was thrown straight onto the bench. The match in question was a home game against Cherbourg, and we propelled ourselves towards the teams above with another crushing win.

Aristouy gave the crowd something to cheer when he netted after just eight minutes, but we looked in for a long day when WilsonSanches-Leal equalised, and Cherbourg pressured our defence, looking for a second. Somewhat luckily; however, we broke upfield and grabbed a second ourselves, Dia putting home a rebound, and the suddenly on-form striker struck twice more in the second half to claim a hat-trick.

We suffered a blow with the news that left winger Kevin Barralon would be out for at least a month – if not two – with knee ligament damage, and the first match he would miss was the visit to high-flying Angers. Two goals from Stéphane Biakolo was no less than they deserved for their early dominance, but somehow we wrestled ourselves level, Dia and Serreau giving us hope at half time. That hope continued into the second period when Tessali put us ahead with twenty minutes left, but two goals in the final four minutes – from Planus and Madiokoko – gave Angers their three points.

Panpardus was under pressure at Clermont – though the team arrived with his assistant manager in charge – and somehow they contrived to beat us only one-nil. Rudy Carlier was in magnificent form – until he found it necessary to shoot – but the law of averages worked in his favour, and from about his fiftieth shot of the game, he finally broke the deadlock just after the hour.

Cannes may have been in the push for promotion, but they were clearly a side playing well above their mid-table home, and I had no hesitation in telling the media so at the pre-match press conference. WLKRAS seemed to have a problem with that and nailed us on for relegation – no ****, Sherlock – and fired his troups up so that they came flying out of the blocks. Mostovoy grabbed a deserved thirteenth minute lead, but we rallied well and Dia had us level in first-half injury time. From there we dominated the second half, we created countless chances, the three best of which fell to Aristouy, but the bastard chose this day to miss everything that came his way, and we fell to a completely obvious eighty-ninth minute winner from Connell.

I bowed out at this point on a leave of absence, stating my desperate need for a beer and left the side in the incapable hands of Brahim Naïmi. I expected us to go down without a wimper, but my assistant dragged us to within a point of safety by the end of the season. Somehow I avoided the sack despite the team having to ply their trade in the CFA next season, but the question of whether I will still be there remains unanswered.

retired_manragh

Clermont

I was sick of it here and France, the board were annoying me with their were happy we’re sad routine, so I decided to do some scouting of Holland and left immediately giving my assistant instructions that he was to play the formation I had set all year and with the majority of the squad that I had written down.

I think a month or so passed, maybe two hard to say really, I’d been eating a lot of cake and spending a fair bit of time in this world famous café’s, I decided to check my phone to see what day it actually was, but I realised I hadn’t charged it since forever so the battery was dead flat, I chucked it on charge and got back to my fun.

When I remembered to check my phone again it could have been a week could have been a month, who really cares, but it did have a full box of messages and 132 missed calls. I checked my voice mail and there was a mixture of my ex wife, Claude Michy who was worse than my ex wife and my assistant leaving up dates, time to head back.

I wont bore you with the details of my arrival back, but Michy said he wasn’t satisfied with my performance look at the finances and all that sort of stuff, like that was my fault!, he wasn’t happy with our 8th in the league tables either and less impressed with my comment its hard to make strawberry jam when the only ingredients you have is s**t, might not have like my Australian sense of humour.

Games went on, we won a few lost a few and drew a few and the only thing consistent was Michy’s whining and saying I'm pleased I'm unsatisfied routine, with a few games left in the season, I’d had enough.

“I quit, effective immediately” I said as I handed over my resignation, Michy didn’t say anything he sat there with a shocked look on his face and I walked out and went back to my House.

I was looking through the jobs and I noticed a few in Scotland that could have prospects, their managers were apparently under a lot of pressure.

A few calls got me in touch of the chairman’s and it went something like this

“David Murray, Rangers Football Club, how may I help you Mr Panpardus?”

“G’day mate” I said “I’ve sent you my resume and this is the follow up call to see about taking over from Walter Smith who doesn’t seem to have the know how to win you a title”

“And you think I would give the job to a manager who failed to get his overpriced team out of the French National” he replied “Ahahahahahahaha"

"Ahahahahahahaha"

"Ahahahahahahaha"


“Mr Murrray, you there” but all I could here was maniacal laughter on the other end.

I had similar responses from a few teams, especially in the Scottish Premier so I'm guessing that was off limits, maybe another trip back to Holland then was on the cards, as I was about to book my tickets I received a phone call, it was Claude Michy offering me my old job pack, same pay and everything, he was deeply apologetic for his mood swings and just wished me to come back and manage the side, he realised it wasn’t my fault and would be more sympathetic to my needs in future.

I refused the job, packed my bags and headed out of France, Holland here I come!