retired_bethricci

i know i was just continuing your point

retired_Brandon Scott

Sunday 29th April 09 1000hrs

Jake was nervous. In fact he was almost paralysed with fear. Phone in hand he prepared to call the number: 0500 693 505. He had his newspaper cuttings, he had his almost encyclopaedic memory of all things Ben Amponsah and more than anything he had his plan ,which was about to come to fruition. One call to Gabby Logan on Five Live would be all it would take to realise it...

It had almost been too easy: he had wondered what medium he should use to try and effect a meeting with Ben Amponsah and it had come to him when listening to a madcap quiz on Soccer AM one morning: what if he played on the vanity of one of the Radio presenters and challenged them to see just how 'in' with the footballing elite they were? The person that came to mind was Gabby Yorath, who, it was said, was very close to certain Premiership Managers, Ben Amponsah included. Jake had been assisted in the formulating of this plan by the continuing coruscating form of his team: everyone was talking about Arsenal now as they mounted a late surge for both the Premiership and for the Champion's League Trophies: they had lost the 1st leg Quarter Final 1-0 in a wet and unseasonably cool Mestella Stadium at the beginning of the month but had not looked back since, reeling off home victories against Wigan (4-1) , Valencia (2-0 in the return leg), Blackburn (a 4-0 drubbing) and Leeds (3-0) and added to that battling away victories to QPR (1-0), Portsmouth led by the peerless Marcello Lippi (3-2-Jake could still not quite understand how Portsmouth had managed to secure the services of arguably the World's best manager but that's another story) and best of all a 2-1 away win against Inter in the 1st round of the Champion's League Semi-a superb result which gave Arsenal every chance of reaching their 2nd consecutive Champion's League final-some feat!

Amazingly Gabby had taken the bait and had agreed that for part of her Sunday show, if Jake rang in and could answer all her questions pertaining to Ben Amponsah's life, career and current good form, she would personally arrange for him a one on one interview at the Manager's house. Jake had been stunned. Either Gabby was a good sport or she really didnt believe that Jake could answer all the questions. It didnt matter: Jake was going to give it a damn good shot!

The papers were there to give Jake fortitude really and inspire him-he had been getting so much joy and pride from them recently: he scanned some of the recent headlines:

and:

And this one:

Jake was ready: now it was time to show Gabby just how much he was driven by the Arsenal Manager....

retired_Brandon Scott

Saturday 2nd May 2009. 1000hrs

It was a wet cool May morning as Jake arose muttering 'so much for global warming' as he reached for his dressing gown. He always liked to sleep with the windows open, whatever the time of year, but he imagined that that the mornings wouldnt be quite as cold as this one had dawned.

He padded barefoot to the kitchen where his dad was sat with the usual array of Saturday Supplements and papers. Sebastian Patterson was grinning from ear to ear.

'Look at this Jake-you're famous' he chuckled and handed over part of the Independent's Saturday Sports section to his son. Jake rubbed his eyes-quite why he had gotten up so early on a day when he usually lay in at least until lunchtime was anyone's guess?

It was an article by one of his favourite writers, Brian Viner, who wrote in an unfussy, committed way-unlike that sanctimonious old fart, James Lawton, who was always railing at some moral indiscretion or another!

And they were slim Jake thought glumly: Manchester United only had to despatch the woeful Leeds away and then had a formality of a home game to Middlesborough to clinch the title, whereas Arsenal had to see off first Middlesborough and then Chelsea away-not an easy task at the best of times. The table seemed to indicate that Arsenal were destined to come 2nd this year, which was an improvement on the two 3rd place finishes managed so far Jake thought glumly-not good enough though.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Chelsea| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Man Utd | | 36 | 23 | 9 | 4 | 68 | 25 | +43 | 78 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Tottenham | | 36 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 53 | 30 | +23 | 72 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Arsenal | | 35 | 21 | 8 | 6 | 65 | 29 | +36 | 71 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Chelsea | | 35 | 19 | 8 | 8 | 53 | 29 | +24 | 65 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Liverpool | | 36 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 50 | 33 | +17 | 63 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Aston Villa | | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 49 | 43 | +6 | 56 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Blackburn | | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 53 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Bolton | | 36 | 11 | 18 | 7 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 51 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Charlton | | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 52 | 39 | +13 | 50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Man City | | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 38 | 53 | -15 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Portsmouth | | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 43 | 49 | -6 | 44 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Newcastle | | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 32 | 35 | -3 | 43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Reading | | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 40 | -8 | 41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | West Ham | | 36 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 30 | 50 | -20 | 40 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Middlesbrough | | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 39 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | West Brom | | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 32 | 49 | -17 | 38 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Q.P.R. | | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 30 | 47 | -17 | 37 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Fulham | | 36 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 24 | 40 | -16 | 36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Wigan | | 36 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 35 | 51 | -16 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Leeds | | 36 | 3 | 9 | 24 | 23 | 64 | -41 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

He read on:

'Blah, blah, blah, blah' Jake intoned 'what were you looking at Dad-and can you turn the heating on please? It's freezing in this house?'

'There son-there...and stop being such a jessie!'

'Oh don't you start, Sebastian Patterson: I have enough to contend with the people at school accusing me of being gay without you starting too' said Jake playfully giving his Dad a dig in the ribs and laughing.

'sorry son-there's the line you will be interested in-I'll go turn the heating on-it is rather chilly today now you mention it'

Jake smiled as he read the next part:

Jake was already by the last line reaching for the phone to breathlessly call Gemma-wait til all their friends saw this.....

retired_abermea1441

i know i was just continuing your point </BLOCKQUOTE>

mintastic

Yey, he's back!


Good Come back MAMBOMAN!!

retired_abermea1441

i know i was just continuing your point </BLOCKQUOTE>

mintastic

Yey, he's back!


Good Come back MAMBAMAN!! </BLOCKQUOTE>

retired_bethricci

thank you mambaman

retired_Brandon Scott

Nice to know you guys care sometimes difficult to work out how your story is going down but thanks

Will post another installment tonight as I am enjoying this so much :p

retired_Brandon Scott

Saturday 9th May 2009 1245hrs

Jake's Dad put his head into the steamy bathroom and shouted at the shower: 'Come on Son! The game's about to start!'

'Jees! Really? Coming!' That was why he'd gotten up early Jake thought as he careened out of the shower room, towel wrapped around and grabbed his luxurious dressing gown then used its voluminous folds to dry himself off before he plonked himself down on his dad's plush leather sofa.

For his part Seb Patterson smiled indulgently at his son's antics: at least he seemed to be over the worst of the depressive behaviour-the recent run of their Team and the possibility of Champion's League glory had really lifted Jake and it showed...and then there was the coup with Gabby Logan-amazing!

'Listen to this son: Henry's won player of the month, Walcott, Young Player of the Month and Amponsah Manager of the Month: a hat-trick!'

'Fully deserved though Dad: that's 2 months on the trot for all prizes as Richards won Young Player last month and Van P the Player with Ben Amponsah also getting last months Manager of the Month-here come the pundits'

'And here comes the newly installed Manager of the Month Martin-I'll bet he's hoping it hasnt jinxed him?'

'Well it didnt last month did it Andy-lets look at the Arsenal line up'

The Sky match graphic came up right on cue:

Buffon

Hoyte Toure Gallas Traore

Walcott Denilson Richards Van Persie


Bendtner Henry (c)


'It's all about pace Martin' intoned Andy Grey 'See Amponsah has been crafty these last 6 weeks and shuffled his pack: he has replaced the tiring Clichy at left back with Traore-the lad's quicksilver and really complements the dribbling skills of Van Persie on the left. At the same time he's pushed Walcott back to the right wing to replace Hleb, who was inconsistent. This gives Arsenal real pace on both flanks: Hoyte has been consistent at right back and what can I say about the other 3, Buffon, Toure and Gallas? They need no introductions'

'And Bendtner?'

'Well. Niclas Bendtner has also been a revelation Martin-we knew the lad had skill after that loan spell at Birmingham City in the 06/07 season where he scored 23 goals in 41 appearances. Amponsah knew he was good too but only played him 8 times last season. This season the injury to Tevez and the inconsistency of both Walcott and Van Persie as strikers has given him his chance: he is more of a natural finisher than the 2 now on the wings but-see-what this gives Amponsah is 4 forwards who are good at scoring goals. And listen to this Bendtner has started 15 times this season and scored 10 goals with 7 assists and 2 Man of the Match Awards: No bad eh?'

'Not bad indeed Andy-and what about the midfield? Is it not a negative move to play 2 holding midfielders in the centre?'

'Why? Why is it Martin? Both Richards and Denilson are apt to get forward in a way that Gilberto doesnt but what this gives Amponsah is real bite in the centre of the park. This has been how Arsenal have played for the last 2 months: in that time they have only lost away games to Spurs and Valencia-you work it out! Besides he doesnt need a creative midfielder like Rosicky when the team are going to play down the flanks does he?'

'Good point Andy-now what about Boro-how are they going to contain the threat from Arsenal today?'

'Well...'

But Jake wasn't listening at this stage because the Team were trooping on and the camera was now cutting to his hero: he had indeed adapted the team's tactics and reshuffled his pack brilliantly and Arsenal were indeed flying-yes they needed Spurs and Man U to slip up as Henry had mentioned in his pre-match rallying cry to the Team, but they still also needed to carry on winning to be in with any chance. what had impressed Jake was this new-found 'never say never' attitude that permeated through the Team...only 1 person could have been responsible for that and Jake was looking at him: there he sat, face inscrutable: urbane, intelligent, handsome and passionate-oh what questions Jake had in store for him-what questions!

retired_Brandon Scott

Sunday 3rd May 2009 1800hrs

Sebastian Patterson peered anxiously back into the living room as he spoke in quiet tones into the phone

'He's not taken it well I have to say Dr. He is just staring at the screen: I have tried to communicate with him but he's utterly non-responsive. Yes. For the last fifteen minutes. None at all. Ok. Ok I will try that-hang on.'

Jake's Dad returned to the living room just as Martin Tyler announced almost triumphantly on the TV:

'THEY'VE DONE IT! MANCHESTER UNITED ARE CHAMPIONS AGAIN! Chelsea's dominance is over and the threat from Arsenal extinguished!'

That's all he needed thought Sebastian as he crept towards the TV. The voice went on:

'Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Boro yesterday would have made no difference and this Leeds team were hardly going to offer any resistance. The score: Leeds United 0, Manchester United 3. Andy, your thoughts-'

And at the point the TV was switched off by the older Patterson the younger one stopped hugging his knees to his chest in that child-like way and spoke: 'there is still the Champion's League Dad not to mention 2nd place-we cannot allow Spurs to beat us to 2nd place.' This last was said with almost vicious intensity.

Seb went to sit by his son and hugged him close. 'We're all disappointed son but as you say we can still be Champion's of Europe and we can still beat the hated Spurs to 2nd place eh?'

Jake nodded and sniffed, his eyes were as wide as saucers, red and inflamed, giving him an almost cartoon like appearance.

'Yes the Champion's League Dad-it's all to play for-I don't know what I will do if we don't win....'

And Seb was scared because not for the first time he genuinely feared for his son's sanity: they simply had to win the Champion's League-there was no other option.............

retired_Brandon Scott

Monday 11th May 1630hrs

Jake was supposed to have been playing football this afternoon (a sport that he wasn't very good at due to his wiry frame and lack of strength) but had bunked school early to get home and pore over Ben Amponsah's personal e-mail on his computer. The season had now ended and Jake sat at his computer and surveyed the final league standings on the Sky website with some satisfaction:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Holders - Man Utd| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | ECC | Man Utd | | 38 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 71 | 25 | +46 | 82 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | ECC | Arsenal | | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 70 | 33 | +37 | 75 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | ECC | Tottenham | | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 56 | 31 | +25 | 75 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | ECC | Chelsea | | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 72 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | EC | Liverpool | | 38 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 52 | 36 | +16 | 66 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | EC | Aston Villa | | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 52 | 43 | +9 | 62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Blackburn | | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 56 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | EC | Bolton | | 38 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 54 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | EV | Charlton | | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 53 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Man City | | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 54 | -10 | 53 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | West Ham | | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 35 | 51 | -16 | 46 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Portsmouth | | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 47 | 54 | -7 | 45 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Newcastle | | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 32 | 38 | -6 | 44 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Middlesbrough | | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 34 | 45 | -11 | 41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Reading | | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 33 | 45 | -12 | 41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Fulham | | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 42 | -14 | 40 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | West Brom | | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 33 | 54 | -21 | 39 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Q.P.R. | | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 31 | 50 | -19 | 37 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | R | Wigan | | 38 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 35 | 54 | -19 | 36 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Leeds | | 38 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 23 | 69 | -46 | 18 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

It was only 'some' satisfaction because it was still 2nd and not 1st place. However there was the small matter, in just over a week, of the Champion's League Final in Rotterdam: it was Arsenal's 3rd Champion's League Final in 4 years: an unprecendented achievement-the only problem being that Arsenal had still never won this most coveted of Club prizes. Still, if anyone could win it then it was Ben Amponsah, Jake thought grimly.

Why was he grim? Because Arsenal had been undone at Stamford Bridge the previous Wednesday. It had actually been a superb effort by the Gunners who had gone all out to win on their great London rivals home turf in order to carry some momentum into the Champion's League Final. And for the whole of the 1st half the fight was carried to Chelsea. Henry opened Arsenal's account with a beautiful turn and volley in the box from a perfectly weighted Hleb pass. Amponsah had surprised everyone by restoring the Belarussian to the right wing and Tuncay to the left to once again shuffle the pack and keep his opponents off balance.

Unfortunately Buffon then made one of his all too customary errors passing to the grateful Shevchenko who returned the ball, with interest, into the back of the Arsenal net. What had pleased Seb, watching the game with his dad that balmy May evening, was how Arsenal then went straight back at Chelsea: they were first to every ball, harrying, chasing, tackling-Denilson and Richards in the centre were a tour de force. Sure enough ; on the 30th minute Hleb, who was having the game of his life, turned from provider to scorer: from a Chelsea corner the ball was cleared to Tuncay, who played an instant long cross field ball to the advancing right winger, out on his own on the flank. Hleb jinked and dribbled into the box, evaded the attentions of both Ashley Cole and Cambiasso and then lobbed the onrushing Cech for what would surely be a contender for goal of the season. Jake and Seb Patterson were both off their seats dancing around the living room for the sheer joy of it-what a goal! What a team! They were overpowering Chelsea in their own back yard. Amponsah was leaping around the touchline like a crazed marionnete-his infectious joy unbridled.

Of course it couldnt last and Chelsea, switching from 4-1-4-1 to a conventional 4-4-2, were like a new team in the 2nd half. First Gallas was tricked into a rash foul on Luca Toni in the box (who it must be said went down as if shot). Ashley Cole made no mistake: 2-2! Arsenal were having trouble keeping the ball and seemed to be struggling with Chelsea's switch to 2 strikers and 2 wingers-Richards also seemed to be injured. Henry went very close at the other end in the last 20 minutes-an effort that he really should have put in after receiving a perfect through ball from Richards just outside the 6 yard box. The striker held his head in his hands and was to feel even more gutted 5 minutes later when Shevchenko conjured up a goal from thin air, collecting the ball to the right of the Arsenal penalty box, turning in a flash and thrashing the ball into the opposite corner before either the defense or the pedestrian Buffon had registered what had happened. Jake and Seb sat in stunned silence. The last ten minutes saw Arsenal under the cosh as Chelsea twisted the screw with Buffon finally proving his pedigree by pulling out 2 world class saves. However, even the introduction of Rosicky for the struggling Richards and a move to a wholly more attacking footing didnt affect the outcome: Arsenal had been beaten for the first time since the beginning of April: they would now have to beat Charlton and hope that Spurs lost away to Liverpool on the last Saturday of the season to be sure of 2nd place behind United......