retired_Brenniepooh

Summary for October

Gimnastic 1 - 3 Madrid
Valencia 1 - 2 Madrid
Shahktar 1 - 3 Madrid
Madrid 6 - 0 Racing
Ferrol 0 - 3 Madrid
Osasuna 1 - 1 Madrid
Madrid 2 - 0 Shahktar

League Position - 4th
Champions League Position - 1st

retired_Brenniepooh

The physio report was on Ashley’s desk when he arrived that morning. It was looking good. Reyes had recovered from his groin strain. With a few weeks playing in the reserves he hoped he could get him match fit. His pace was something that he had missed on the left wing and although Francia was playing he knew the presence of Reyes in the team was something to look forward to.

Raul was far from match fitness. He called up Jeronimo Vergara, the clubs fitness coach to arrange an intense schedule to get him fit and ready to play. He knew that he would have to play him in some of the reserve games and hoped it wouldn’t be to long before he was back to match fitness and ready for first team action.

The next match was four days away, a home game against Deportivo. They were topping the table but only by one point. Ashley knew this would be a tricky game but was confident that if his team showed the form they had recently then they might just be able to grab the win. He headed down to the training ground to go over the tactics for the match with the players.


The next day he met up with the clubs scouts. They had made him aware of a young Chilean striker by the name of Nicolas Millan. He was only 14 but the reports on him were good. He’d told them to arrange a trial with the club so he could see if it was worth pursuing a deal to get him to Spain. Ramon Calderon had got wind of this and made an unannounced visit to his office.

Ashley, I hear that we’ve been looking at this youngster Millan, I’m a bit uncertain as to why we would be interested in such a young player.

Well, as I said when I joined youth set up is very important to me. I believe that this kid has good potential. I’ve put motions in plan to get him over here for a few weeks to take a closer look.

I understand what your saying Ashley, but he is only 14, surely we should be looking for players that can come into the first team now?

Maybe so, but my transfer budget isn’t large, so looking at players that we can get for next to nothing and ensuring the future of the club via the youth team in my view is a good move.

Well, I’m not sure, I’ll leave the decision to you but please, don’t go out signing any young player that you see fit. We don’t want to overload the youth team with foreign youngsters. We have great talent here in Spain to you know.

With that he left Ashley’s office.

He was stunned but the conversation that he’d just had. He knew that they had good Spanish youth at the club, but when the opportunity to see what the rest of the World had to offer surely it wasn’t such a big deal bringing some in on trial to see how the compared to what they already had.

Ashley finalised the details of Millans arrival to Spain. If his club Colo Colo agreed it would see him come on trial for 2 weeks so he could get a closer look at him, see if he was up to the high standards that Madrid set.

retired_Brenniepooh

As match day arrived so did the news that Colo Colo had accepted the trial offer for Millan. Flights would be arranged to bring the youngster out to Madrid where he would begin his 2 weeks at the club.

Madrid v Deportivo

As the first half ended the players came into the dressing room 1-0. A forward run from central defender Ramos had resulted in a low shot the nestled in the back of the net that any forward would have been proud to have scored. So it seemed was Ramos, his first goal of the season sending the fans in roars of appreciation.

They would have been 2-0 but for an offside decision given against Ronaldo. He had looked to have been onside when he poked the ball past the keeper, but the referee’s assistant had raised his flag and goal was disallowed.

Ashley told the players he was happy with the first half performance but told the players to concentrate and not get complacent.

The second half went quickly. Even with Beckham and Robinho coming on for Cardenas and Nistelrooy Madrid failed to get the second goal that would have seen Ashley sitting more comfortable in his seat. They went close when Robinho hitting the post but the players held out and went away with the single goal victory. Ashley was pleased. They now sat top of the table, even if it was only going to be for 24 hours he knew that this was a confidence boost for both players and fans.

Madrid 1
Ramos (6)

Deportivo 0

The next days fixtures went in Madrid's favour and they found themselves sitting at the top of the table 2 points ahead of Deportivo. Ashley was pleased. He players had shown great spirit, they were playing like a team as opposed to individual superstars.

retired_Brenniepooh

Monday arrived along with bad news. During the days training session Ronaldo strained for a ball and inadvertently damaged his heal. The early diagnosis would be that he would miss the next two weeks out. With only 2 recognised strikers fully fit he was facing a bit of a crisis upfront. At this moment he longed to be one of those past managers that had been given unlimited funds to go out and sign a new “Galactico”.

With the return 2nd leg match against Ferrol coming up he decided that he would rest some players, bring in some from the B team to ensure any needless injuries would be avoided. With the match being at the Bernabeu he was confident that any squad he put out wouldn’t squander the 3-0 lead they had from the first match. It would also give him a chance to look at some of the youngsters in the ranks.

Real Madrid 2
Robinho (10)
Raul Bravo (55)

Ferrol 0

A comfortable win for Madrid as they ran out 2-0 winners. It was left to two of the clubs senior players to get the goals that saw them go throught 5-0 on aggregate. Robinho’s coming from a delightful bit of individual skill as he put the ball through the defenders legs before rounding the keeper. The 2nd was converted by Raul Bravo from a corner, knocking in a free header after not being picked up from his late run into the box.

retired_Brenniepooh

The next day 13 players were called up for midweek internationals. Ashley had controversially withdrawn both Ronaldo and Raul from their respective nations, stating that if they weren’t fit enough for their club then they certainly weren’t fit enough to play for their national teams. This didn’t go down to well with the coaches of both Brazil and Spain, but Ashley held firm in his decision.
The draw for the 5th round of the Spanish cup was also drawn. Madrid were drawn against Valencia with the first match to be played at the Bernabeu. He was confident that could overcome Valencia as long as the team played well.

With the International break Ashley used the opportunity to invite Charlotte out to Spain and go house hunting. They had similar taste and he knew he could get an honest opinion from her.

He arrived at the Airport 30 minutes before Charlotte's plane touched down. He sat down with a coffee, management was the last thing on his mind. He finished his drink and walked to the arrivals gate to meet Charlotte. He was looking forward to seeing her.

She walked through the doors and after a brief glimpse around to see where he was she spotted him. A friendly hug was exchanged and Ashley picked up her bag.

“Ever the gentleman”

“You know me ***, how was the trip”

“Not bad, bit of a delay getting out of Gatwick”

“Well, you’re here now and that’s the main thing”

“So, what’s the plan then?”

“Well, I thought we’d grab something for lunch, then go look at a few places I’ve got on my list”

“Sounds like a plan Mr”

With that they left the Airport and headed for a little restaurant on the outskirts of Madrid.

“Very nice, do you bring all your lady friends here” she said with a smile on here face.

“Only the ugly ones I don’t want to be seen with” he said sarcastically. With that she game him a playful punch on the arm.

“Cheeky b*****d”

The chatted over lunch. Mainly about how things were going back in England, how the family meal for her mums birthday went.

“So, shall we go look at some of these apartments”

“Why are you not looking for a house” she asked.

“Well, as it’s only me out here in all honesty a house would be a bit to big , so thought an apartment would be the best option”

“Fair enough, well, you’ll have to make sure it’s big enough for visitors though”

“Of course, I plan for it to be the main place for group orgy’s in Spain” he joked.

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon looking at various apartments, but not being able to come to a decision as to which was the nicest. Either the kitchen was to small, or the sitting room wasn’t big enough. Ashley was fussy but there were some things that were important to him when it came to looking for a place to live. He wanted to feel comfortable, he wanted it to feel like a home from home.

“Perhaps you should be looking to rent rather than buy” she said.

She was always full of good advice, it would make more sense to rent somewhere rather than buy. Then, if things did go wrong with Real he wouldn’t be out of pocket by buying somewhere.

“Good idea, we can take a trip to the agency tomorrow then, see what they have to offer”

With that they headed back to the hotel for a rest. It had been a long day and the two of them were tired.

Ashley made a call to the club’s secretary, asking for advise on where would be nice to rent a place. She suggested a few places, and gave him a few numbers to call.

They had dinner at the hotel, stopping in the bar for a few rinks before the two of them headed to their separate rooms. It had been a nice day, Ashley always enjoyed her company. Thoughts of the day run through his head as he lay down, he had thought about asking her out on a “proper” date before, but the risk of knock back and crossing the line of friendship/relationship had always been a worry that he had. He’d always thought that if it was going to happen then it would, and he didn’t want to press the matter.

The next few days were spent looking at various apartments to rent, there were a few that took his fancy and he thought that anything was better than being holed up in the hotel. By the end of the week he had decided on a nice 2 bed roomed apartment just outside of Madrid. It was an hours drive from the stadium and secluded enough for him not to worry about the hustle and bustle of the city. Now all he needed to do was move in. And with Charlotte having to leave that night he knew he would have to arrange it by himself.

Ashley drove Charlotte to the Airport, waiting with her before she had to leave.

“Thanks for a nice week” she said, I’ve really enjoyed it”

“Me to, we’ll have to make sure it’s not such a long time before you come out here again, and now we’ve got the place sorted you more than welcome to stay there”

“That would be nice. Make sure it’s soon then, I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with the place”

The hugged each other and he gave her a kiss on the cheek

take care of yourself ***, give me a call when you get back so I know your safe”

“Will do”

With that he watched her walked through to the departure lounge. He wanted her to stay a little longer, they had gotten a little closer in the time she had spent out in Spain and he was sad to see her leave. He wanted to call her, to tell her how he felt about her, but the fear of rejection was playing in the back of his mind. He decided to leave it for now.

On the drive back to the hotel he had picked up his mobile, dialing her number but never pressing the call button. He had what he wanted to say in is head, but his voice wouldn’t say it. With that he put his phone on the seat next to him and continued back to the hotel.

retired_jgirl87

It's good to see that you have continued with your story - so many first-timers give up after a week or two. I'm very impressed with the way that both the on-field ond off-field writing has been handled. Congratulations on a fine effort so far. :thup:

retired_Brenniepooh

thanks for the vote of confidence fella. At no point have I thought about not continuing. I've got another 8 pages of updates at the moment so plenty more to come.

retired_Brenniepooh

With the international break over Madrid faced a trip to play Sociedad. The good news was that both Reyes and Raul were back to fitness, they had been playing in the B team and although short of full match fitness the two of them were picked for the match with Raul starting out on the bench. An impressive display by Beckham for England meant he was picked for the match as well.

As the players entered the dressing room at half time Madrid were 1-0 up. They had looked comfortable from the off and on the 33rd minute Nistelrooy played a one-two with Beckham to put the ball in the back of the net Madrid were coasting. The hosts had been reduced to 10 men when in the 36th Sociedad midfielder Gari Uranga kicked out at Guti. Although no contact was made the referee sent the player off for intent and violent conduct.

Ashley told the players not to get complacent, to keep hold of he ball and that another goal would kill their opponents off.

On the 67th minute the second goal came. A shot from Guti was parried by the keeper and Robinho was on hand to slot home the rebound. With game seemingly over Smith thought this was a good time to get Raul on to give him much needed match practice. In the 88th minute a low cross into the box from winger Alonso resulted in Labaka putting the ball in the back of the net for what looked to be a consolation goal. Ashley shouted out to the players to keep the ball and run the clock down. He was furious when Beckham miss-controlled a pass which fell to winger Alonso who played the ball through the Madrid defence. The players stood still, waiting for the ref’s whistle, believing Skouba to be offside. However, the whistle didn’t come and he calmly placed the ball past the rushing Casillas. The players were furious. Replays showed he was a least 5 yards offside when the ball was played and Ashley was up in arms, running to the sidelines, shouting in anger. Just 2 minutes earlier they had been 2-0 up and looking good for the win. When the final whistle was blown Ashley walked onto the pitch to confront the referee. He got 5 yards in front of him before the 4th official pulled him back. He was enraged, shouting at the ref as they walked towards the tunnel.

In the post match press conference he made his feelings clear, stating that the poor decision had cost his team the 3 points. With that he refused to answer any more questions and left the room.

R.Sociedad 2
Labaka (88)
Skouba (91)
Urange s/o (36)

Real Madrid 2
Nistelrooy (33)
Robinho (67)


The next day, the Spanish FA were silent over the matter, the controversial goal was clearly offside as replays had shown but as the match had ended there wasn’t anything anyone could do. Ashley just had to accept the decision and get on with things.

retired_Brenniepooh

With the visit of Steau in the European midweek match Ashley had the luxury of a fully fit squad. Madrid were already through, the first team in the competition to qualify. He wanted to maintain the 100% record that they had but didn’t want to risk any injuries. He decided to start Beckham on the right and give Raul the nod from the start. Casillas was dropped to the bench to give Diego Lopez a chance between the sticks.

Before the match Ashley told the players the pressure was off of them, but he still wanted them to go out there and win the match. He told them it was a great achievement remaining unbeaten in Europe so far and to continue that would send out a message that Real were not going to be pushovers this year.

Madrid v Steau

The rain was lashing down that evening which had made the pitch surface very greasy. The ball skipped across the surface making it hard to control. This played a part in Madrid’s first goal on the 35th minute when Nistelrooy shot from outside of the box. The ball skipped over the keepers hands as he went down to collect and the Dutchman scored a rare goal from outside of the penalty area. His second was more down to his individual skill as he slotted past the keeper on the stroke of half time to get his second of the game.

Whilst Steau were organising themselves they lost possession deep in their own half and Emerson fired from 20 yards, with the ball flying past the diving keeper for the Brazilian to score his first goal for the club.

At half time with a 3-0 lead Smith told the players he was happy with their performance. He took the precaution of bringing of both Reyes and Raul as both players had picked up slight knocks in the first half due to timed-timed tackles from the opposition. On game Guti in the center of midfield with Cassano being pushed out to the left, and Robinho came on for Raul. As the players ran out of onto the pitch for the second half Ashley gave a brief interview with the reporter from ITV. Telling him that he was happy with the way they were playing, and explaining his decisions to take off Raul and Reyes.

The 2nd half was fairly quiet until the 73rd minute when after a horrific collision between Beckham and Steau central defender Dorin Goian left the former England Captain writhing around in agony in the box clutching his face. As the stretcher carried Beckham off Ashley brought Cardenas on to replace him. It had been a shame as the Englishman was having one of his better matches for Madrid until the incident.

The goal of the game was scored in in the 89th minute. Robinho dribbled his was past 3 Steau players before calmly chipping the ball over the keeper.

Real Madrid 4
Nistelrooy (35,45)
Emerson (45+2)
Robinho (89)

Steau 0


Ashley was happy, apart from the injury to Beckham Madrid had shown they meant business. With 5 wins from 5 in the Champions League they were the only team with a 100% record.

He headed to the conference room to conduct the post match interviews.

Ashley, with Madrid winning 5 from 5 so far do you see yourself as contenders for the European Cup this year

I can’t see why not. We’ve proved so far that we can do the business in Europe, and as long as we steer clear of injuries and the players concentrate during matches then there should be no reason why we can’t progress further.

On the subject of injuries can you tell us any more about David Beckham’s condition

Well, David has been taken to the local hospital for x-rays but at the moment it looks as if he may have broken his jaw.

Do you see this as a problem as recent matches have seen him playing some of his best football this season.

Well, I feel sorry for the lad. Its true that the recent games have shown me that David wants to be included in the first team, but I feel whilst he is out of action we have the players to cover for him.

You’ve scored 13 goals in the 5 matches, and only conceded one. Do you feel this is an important fact in your position on top of the table.

Well, of course it is. To have only conceded one goal in Europe so far is a great achievement. It’s important that we keep the opposition’s chances to a minimum and then the strikers can do what they need to do to get us the win

With that he left the press room. He rang the club doctor who had gone with Beckham to the hospital to check on his condition. It was confirmed that he had broken his jaw and would be out of action for at least 4 weeks. It was a blow but he had young Cardenas who had proved he was more than capable of doing the job on the right side of midfield.

He went to his office to check the nights results. Ajax had beaten Shahktar to take 2nd and qualify from the group. Their final match was away to them and he was relieved that neither team had to get a result. Although he still wanted to win to maintain their unbeaten record.

Smith checked the other groups. Group A saw the team he had supported all his life Manchester United qualifying for the next stage with Hearts and Roma battling it out for 2nd.

Group C was an open group still with Valencia, Bayern and Benfica all in contention to qualify.

Group D saw Chelsea and Milan qualified for the next stage.

Arsenal had progressed to the next stage from Group E but with 2nd spot up for grabs it would be either PSV or Olympiakos joining them.

Group F was an interesting one. Last seasons winners Barcelona were topping the table with Galatasaray second. Lyon were still in contention to take a place so the final group matches would be an interesting one.

Group G was again another open group. Inter had taken top spot but Bremen, Osasuna and Porto all had the chance to nab second spot.

The final Group, Group H was already decided with Liverpool taking 1st spot and Sporting Lisbon in second.


Ashley left the office and was on his way to his car when his phone beeped. He had a voice mail. He dialled the number to listen to it.

Hi Ash, It’s Charlotte. Just wanted to say I really enjoyed last week. It was really nice spending time out there with you. Looking forward to coming out and visiting again soon.

He was happy, not only had he won that night but to get a message like that had made it even better. It was to late to call her back so he decided he would do it tomorrow.

retired_Brenniepooh

The next morning Ashley left his hotel, he was staying there until the furniture was due to be delivered at his new apartment.

He picked up his mobile and dialled the number.

The phone diverted straight to voicemail

[i]Hi Char, it’s Ashley here. Got your message last night. Was a bit to late to give you a call back so am doing it now. Thanks for the message. I really enjoyed last week too, was nice having you out here. Looking forward to your next visit. Anyway, give me a call back when you get this. Speak soon{/i]

He ended the call.

He had decided to go watch one of Madrid’s youth team matches as he wanted to check out Nicolas Millan in action. The youngster had joined up with Madrid in the middle of last week. He was due a few weeks earlier but a slight calf strain had delayed his arrival.

He arrived at the clubs training ground and immediately met up with youth team coach Massimo Neri. The Italian was a World Class coach who had been at Madrid before Smith had arrived and he trusted his judgement when it came to looking at promising youngsters.

After a short conversation with Neri who advised him that Millan had looked sharp and impressive in training they made their way to the pitch.

Ashley’s presence seemed to have an affect on not only Millan but the rest of the youngsters as they ran out 6-0 winners against one of the local youth teams. Millan looked impressive, scoring 2 and setting up 2 of the goals. He liked what he saw. The youngster would be with Madrid for another week before Ashley would make and decisions as to make the move a permanent one.

After the match Ashley walked over to the main training ground to conduct the days training. Everything was ok until a timed-timed challenge on Raul by Ramos left the forward with a nasty gash down the side of his calf. Great, now he’s out of contention again for the next match he thought to himself. Raul had only made 3 appearances for the club this season, spending more time on the physio’s table than on the pitch.

As the training session finished and he made his way to his office to check out their next opponents previous match his phone rang

Hello

Hi Ash, it’s Charlotte. Sorry I couldn’t take your call earlier, been in meetings all day.

That’s ok honey, so, how are you?

I’m good thanks, apart from working my bum off everything’s going ok over here, got myself a few new clients lined up so that’s looking good.

Ah, that’s not fair, now I won’t have you exclusively to myself he joked

You’ll always be my number one she said to him

He liked the sound of that, always be her number one he thought to himself.

Listen Char, I was wondering if you fancied coming back out here for a visit soon

Sure, that would be nice, when were you thinking.

Well, I’ll have to check the schedule but I can give you a call at the weekend if you want

Sure, Look forward to your call

After they’d said their goodbyes the comments that she had made were still in his thoughts

Always her number one - he didn’t know whether this was her speaking on business terms, or something else. Confusion was something that Ashley didn’t get on to well with.

He continued to his office to prepare his tactics for the upcoming visit of Sevilla.