retired_manragh

December

A wet and boggy ground greeted us when we played 3rd place Shrewsbury at the Butchers, and we definitely got use to the conditions quicker, the first ten minutes seen us dominate and we were unfortunate not to score, Carter coming the closest with a poster.
On the 20 minute mark though Carter made no mistake as placed a shot past their keeper to give us a well deserved 1 goal lead. Shrewsbury picked up the pace, and the game was getting sloppier as time went by, Shrewsbury equalised just before half time from a sloppy clearance and at the break it was 1-1. The second half wasn’t a pretty affair as the play was stifled by the bad conditions, but the shining light of the half was when Robert Hughes found an unmarked Carter on the far post with a magnificent ball from 35 yards away, Carter made no mistake and tucked the ball into the bottom left corner with a well placed volley. We held on to win the match 2-1.

4 days later and a trip to Bradford seen us walk away with 1-1 draw, in a game we should of won, but their keeper was brilliant and fully deserved the man of the match award.

Saturday, the 18th seen us taking on 10th place Rotherham at home, and the pitch looked a treat compared to last weeks game against Shrewsbury, unfortunately for us Somner went down in the training session a day before the game and would be out for 1-2 months with knee ligament damage, with him and Cryan both out it meant we had no natural right back player in the squad including the under 18’s. Young Andrew Haines put his hand up to take the spot so we gave him a go and too his credit he settled well and even set up the first goal for us on 15 minutes, a delightful ball found Okike’s head and he gave the keeper no chance as he powered it past into the back of the net. Murphy smashed in a piledriver from the edge of the box 5 minutes before the half and we were 2-0 up. After the break it was a bit more even but we had Rotherhams measure and Hughes converted a penalty before the end of the game and we were 3-0 winners, a great performance that the fans responded too with a standing ovation from the stands.

Even though Haines had a great game at right back, I decided to loan in Jon Bunce a 17 year old left and right fullback for cover.

Our injury woes continued with both keepers Duffy and Stewart going down injured and Plummer was still 5 or so days away till he arrived in the January transfer window, so it was youth keeper Miles Mustoe who got the nod to play in our Home game against 21st placed Chester on Boxing day. It took 8 seconds for Steve Kerr to get tackled and he left the game with a foot injury. It didn’t get any better as the first half seen us completely outplayed all over the park, Mustoe our saviour as he saved shots time and time again, the second half was a little better, but we didn’t deserve the point for the 0-0 draw, Chester can rightly feel aggrieved..

It’s the half way point of the season after the Chester game and we are currently sitting in 9th after 23 games.

We had to back up two days later to play Mansfield at their home, and it was a shocker of a day, -3 degrees with snow failing and visibility real bad, we had a good chance to go ahead after 14 minutes but their keeper made a good save from Hughes spot kick, after that it was all Mansfield, the end of the game came and I was glad to get back on the team bus, the 3-1 result was a bit flattering for us, which says something about Mansfield’s domination.

retired_manragh

January

January seen Marco Bresciano receive the Asian Player of the year while I managed to grab runner up in the Manager’s Stakes, it was an honour to get the award but I had more important things to worry about.

Plummer joined the squad, his 200K bill would be well worth it if he could reciprocate his form from his previous club for us, his first game was against Wrexham at our home, which turned out not to be the best of days, when at the end of the time we came in with a 1 goal deficit. We didn’t show any fire in the game and we were even a bit lethargic, injuries were also taking their toll on us.

Another home game for us seen 17th placed Notts County take us on, we had slipped to 13th place now and we needed to get some results so we didn’t slide into the relegation dogfight. We reduced the intensity of training hoping to fresh’n the players up bit and a few changes on the player front. Daly was back in the starting lineup Best back in at centre back, Fojut back out to Defensive Midfield, Cryan at his role of right fullback and Loanee Bunce was in the left full back slot.

It all seemed to work for us the players seemed a lot fresher and more enthuastic, and we took the lead through some great play involving Bunce, Tandy and Hughes who set up the goal for Okike. County equalised though around the hour mark, the draw did us no favours, but I was still pleased with the effort.

The JP cup Semi Final for the Northern Section was our next game and were taking on the League leaders in Division One, Hartlepool. Things didn’t go well for us, the effort was there, but injuries to Hughes in the 6th minute, Best at the Half and later on Daly didn’t help the cause, Hartlepool won the encounter 2-0 and ended our run in the cup.

Jon Bunce’s loan deal was about to end, and with our injuries, I decided to renew his loan, he was keen to keep playing here aswell so it was all sorted out and he would be here for another 3 months.

The Draw for the Asian Cup groups came out and we were in Group B with Bahrain, Jordan and Hosts U.A.E.

Another home game for us in the league seen Northampton come to the ground, Our endeavour was once again good and we took a lead on 40 minutes, but as the trend continues we were pegged back before the half time break. After the half Best pulled down one of their players in the box and they scored from the subsequent penalty. It took a solo effort from Carter to get us back to square, his goal was magnificent weaving past two players before slipping it under the keeper from 10 yards out. We were wasting our home games and if we didn’t start to get some results we could see ourselves in trouble later on down the track.

Wednesday the 19th seen us travel to Rushden, poor discipline, resulted in too many free kicks and a penalty, it was no surprise we left with a 3-0 loss, our form was getting real worrying now.

Further bad news this time for the Australian squad seen Captain Tim Cahill injured with an Achilles injury which would keep him sidelined for 3 months, atleast he would be back for the Asian Cup.

The long trip down to the South West to play Torqauy, was pleasant compared to the trip back and we succumbed to another loss, this time 2-1 Carter scored a late consolation goal for us in injury time, we were in 16th place now and had gone 7 games without a win.

Our scouts came back with a promising name and after some enquires and good negotiating West Ham reserves player Joe Liddle was the newest member of our squad a very promising Defensive Midfielder although he was still young he would bolster our defence.

A must win game agasint 24th placed Port Vale our last game for the month, training was great prior to the game and the inclusion of Liddle was a boost for the players, He didn’t disappoint in his first game but it was a great team performance that lead to our first win in 8 games, 3-0 was a fantastic result considering Murphy was sent off in the 5th minute.
Carter grabbed two goals, and Liddle put away a penalty.

The ladder after 30 games looked like this

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> | Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Torquay | | 30 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 55 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Grimsby | | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 54 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Shrewsbury | | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 55 | 35 | +20 | 53 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Walsall | | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 52 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Rushden | | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 51 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Huddersfield | | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 51 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Northampton | | 30 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 33 | 22 | +11 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Wrexham | | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 46 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Boston Utd | | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 44 | 45 | -1 | 44 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | MK Dons | | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 43 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Bournemouth | | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 23 | 20 | +3 | 40 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Accrington | | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 35 | 38 | -3 | 40 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Rochdale | | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 35 | 40 | -5 | 40 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Notts Co | | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 39 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Droylsden | | 30 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 38 | 39 | -1 | 38 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Mansfield | | 29 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 33 | 37 | -4 | 38 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Chester | | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 40 | -9 | 35 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Rotherham | | 30 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 32 | 33 | -1 | 34 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Morecambe | | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 40 | 44 | -4 | 33 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Bradford | | 30 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 36 | 40 | -4 | 32 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Grays | | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 28 | 34 | -6 | 31 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Chesterfield | | 29 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 26 | 38 | -12 | 30 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Port Vale | | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 28 | 56 | -28 | 23 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Bury | | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 27 | 56 | -29 | 23 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_manragh

February

More bad news for me in the start of February, Scott McDonald tore his calf playing for QPR, with a an estimated injury time of 4 months it didn’t look good having him in any sort of fit state for the July Asian Games.

On a club level Colin Cryan went down injured again which was becoming frustrating for both him and me, Robert Hughes has stepped into the captaincy role well though.


The Australian squad was a difficult one to pick, a lot of injuries had hampered selection, and we wanted a good performance against old foe England, the team announcement made world news for the wrong reasons.

February 2nd, Press conference Australian Squad Selection

[i]Me: “Thanks for coming everyone the Australian Squad will be Goalies: Coe and Juric Defenders: Emerton, Wilkshire, Cansdell-Sheriff, Neill, Timpano, Kisnorbo, McKain, McGowan. Midfielders: Wehrman, Park, Burnie, Carney, Brosque, Bresciano, Culina. Forwards: David Williams, Minniecon, Holman and Casey. Jacob Timpano and Adam Casey will both be making their debuts in the game…any questions… Yes Robbie”

“Hello again Matt, a couple big injuries before the clash how do you see the game going?”

Me: “I think we’ll go ok, we will be trying a few things, giving a few players different roles and both debutants will be getting some game time, but I expect us to be competitive… Next question, yes you over there”

“Sam Smith, here for the Australian Newspaper, Even with the all injuries how can you justify bringing in someone like Adam Casey?”

Me: “What do you mean justify?”

SS: “Well Adam Casey is 25 now not exactly a young player being blooded, and he doesn’t have the quality that we expect to grace the Australia side, so why pick him?”

Me: “Are you serious? Just cause he is 25 doesn’t mean crap, and while he might not have the qualities of some players he does have an overall package, If you had done your research you would see that he is the second best player rated in the Australian competition this year and is also the second highest goal scorer, so he obviously has something to bring to the Australian squad, If your not going to do your homework then don’t ask stupid bloody questions, what are you a bloody rugby reporter who has no idea about the game, because you sound like one of them critics who has no effing idea”

SS: “Well I thi…”
ME: “Don’t worry about answering, I don’t care what you have to say, you’re an idiot with no idea, seriously people like you wreck it for everyone with dumb arse questions, the interview is over. If anyone well respected journo’s have anymore questions you know how to reach me, goodbye”

I answered a few more questions to the more respected and knowledgeable journo’s later but me giving the young Australian Newspaper journalist made the backpage on a few newspapers and also made the television news in quite a few countries. The phones at the office were going off with reporters wanting to talk about it but I declined to comment further.

5th February

The away game against Rochdale was a good way to get away from the all the questions and interest in me lately, but it didn’t start out too well, Daniel Short landed heavily after contesting a header in the 5th minute and come off with a concussion, Daly also received a heavy knock but was able to continue. The first half our defence was simply brilliant, Rochdale had two first goals ruled offside which could of turned the game, after the half our defence was still a rock but we started to gain in momentum and with 10 minutes to go Palmer put us ahead with a great header, Daly seeled the win for us when he slotted a penalty in the net after he was pulled down in the box with a few minutes to play.

Australia vs England at Wembley

A day before the game Zak pulled out of the squad with a thigh injury, which meant Alex Brosque would start. England was tipped to cruise to victory but it was all us in the first half we had a number of chances to go ahead but just couldn’t find the goal, Minniecon was doing a lot of damage.

With the score at 0-0 at half time we brought on Casey, Williams, Timpano and Culina , I was particularly hoping for a good effort from Casey more so for him, but a little to justify the comments I made. The 70th minute was the turning point, we had been playing well and Casey had even had a few good chances, he was getting into good spots but couldn’t capitalise on the opportunities, but it was England who broke the deadlock, they had brought on Luke Moore a few minutes earlier when Rooney, Gerrard, Owen and Downing were all subbed and he scored the first, quickly followed by another in the 83rd minute. Still it was a respectable effort by the players and I was happy with Casey’s 45 minutes.

Droylsden

The rest of February was terrible for us as a club we suffered a 1-0 defeat to 21st placed Grays at home, Accrington Stanley thrashed us 4-1 away, we should of beaten 24th placed Bury at home but some crap defending and goalkeeping let them score two goals in injury time to grab a 3-3 draw, Stewart the main offender giving away a penalty in the dying seconds when he didn’t need to challenge as the ball was going out of play. Our last game seen us travel to Chesterfield who were struggling and in 22nd place, the first half was even, but in the second half we fell away and Chesterfield rammed 3 goals past us, it was a disappointing finish, and even our best player Fojut was struggling for form.

retired_manragh

March

The start of March seen us have a coaches meeting trying to stop the slide and resurrect our form, injuries were really hampering us, with players like Cryan, Tandy and Carter all injured. Unfortunately nothing worked.

The 5th of March seen Boston walk away from the Butchers Arms ground with 3 points, a promising start seen us take the lead, Hughes scoring from a Fitzharris assist, we were behind at the half though Boston equalised from a well worked goal in the 20th minute and went ahead just before the half when Ryan put in a screamer from distance. We started the second half well and Hughes grabbed his second when he pounced on the rebound when the keeper saved his penalty attempt. We ran out of puff towards the end of the game though and Boston received a penalty from a lazy tackle which they converted.

Good new seen Tandy, Cryan and Carter all return for the Morecambe away clash, al be it as subs, but it still wasn’t enough as we went down 1-0, the effort was there the execution wasn’t.

Six games without a win now and we had slumped to 19th and only 6 points ahead of relegation candidates Port Vale who were in 23rd. With league leaders Grimsby paying us a visit at home we needed a win desperately.

I was strangely confident against Grimsby, we had beaten them twice so far this year but the confidence was shattered when Murphy’s shocking backpass was jumped on and we were down 1-0 early. A Tandy free kick in the 20th minute restored the balance, but once again the league leaders went ahead this time catching the defence napping. We were lucky not to be 3-1 down at the half when Murphy once again made a shocking backpass from exactly the same position that gifted them their first goal, luckily Duffy got there in time by mere centimetres to clear the ball. Needless to say Murphy copped an almighty spray at half time. The second half seen Carter come on as a sub and a nice ball from Hughes put him through on goal in the 66th minute, Carter made no mistake and we were level for the second time in the game, this time we managed to hold on for a draw.

Port Vale’s new manager Nigel Clough was doing wonders after 15 games in charge he had almost caught the pack and they realistically looked like climbing out of the relegation spot.

A great effort from our defence seen us walk away from 8th placed Huddersfield with a 0-0 draw, the draw seen us in 19th place, with 7 games to go we were 4 places and 7 points out of the relegation zone, Port Vale climbed out of the zone and put Grays in it thanks to their 4-1 win over 7th placed Mansfield.

Other news seen Boothroyd sacked from Wigan, last years Premier League Champions were only just above relegation this year and it was deemed unacceptable by their board.

retired_manragh

April

Contract talks started with Droylsden and with Doug Pace taking a back seat and being on holidays over seas I was doomed to negotiate with Doug Smith, it was no secret we didn’t get along, but the offer was less than par, and he wouldn’t budge, 4 years and 600 per week, I wanted a grand per week and a 2 year contract, I offered to take 750 per week but Doug wasn’t budging and I walked out of the his office rejecting the deal. Needless to say the press was all over it. I offered a short statement saying I was unhappy about not being able to negotiate a deal but would do my best to steer us clear of relegation, a few players voiced their support of me which was great, and the fans have nothing but well wishes for me and are disappointed that I will leaving the club. It’s a pretty disappointing day all in all.

A close first half against MK dons seen us 1 down at half time at home and with moral down and the fans subdued I didn’t think we could get back in the game, I tried to pump up the players but my moral is at a low aswell. I'm starting to think maybe this parting will be good for both of us. Needless to say the second half was close but we couldn’t find a spark, another goal to MK dons sealed the result, we did manage to score a late equaliser but 2-1 was the final result.

My wife Jo was great and very supportive in the next few days and when the Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday jobs became vacant she urged me to apply for them, so I did. The press got hold of the fact that I was looking elsewhere but I refused to comment, I was overlooked for the positions but what I didn’t expect was a scathing attack from Doug Smith about my loyalty to the club. In return I did make a few off the record remarks about the negotiations and the goings on at the club that mysteriously made it into the paper, when Doug was asked about them he refused to comment.

Shrewsbury away was our next game and the team was still down, no matter what we did as a coaching panel we couldn’t get the team to respond, Robert Hughes was doing a great job trying to lift the team though and his 3rd minute strike which resulted in a goal did seem to lift the team, if that didn’t his thunderbolt for 30 out that left the keeper no chance definitely did. Shrewsbury responded immediately clawing one back, but Carter placed one home to restore the 2 goal buffer a few minutes later. In the dying seconds before the half time Shrewsbury grabbed their second goal and at the break it was a 3-2 goalfest. It only took 15 minutes for Shrewsbury to equalise after the break but the goal was sheer class Zavon Hines the scorer. Morale took a slide when Hughes come off injured in the 75th minute, but when Fojut came off on with a broken toe there was a noticeable drop from the players, still we managed to hold on for a draw so it wasn’t all bad.

It looked like Hughes would be available for the next game, but it was confirmed that Fojut would be out for the rest of the season, spending atleast 2 months on the sidelines.
The table looked like this with 5 games to go

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Grimsby | | 41 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 58 | 45 | +13 | 73 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Torquay | | 41 | 20 | 12 | 9 | 57 | 35 | +22 | 72 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Northampton | | 41 | 17 | 18 | 6 | 48 | 30 | +18 | 69 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Rushden | | 41 | 20 | 8 | 13 | 50 | 40 | +10 | 68 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Walsall | | 41 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 66 | 46 | +20 | 66 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Shrewsbury | | 41 | 18 | 10 | 13 | 73 | 52 | +21 | 64 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Huddersfield | | 41 | 19 | 7 | 15 | 50 | 47 | +3 | 64 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | MK Dons | | 41 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 62 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Wrexham | | 41 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 46 | 39 | +7 | 62 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Mansfield | | 41 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 61 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Accrington | | 41 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 58 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Bournemouth | | 41 | 13 | 18 | 10 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 57 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Boston Utd | | 41 | 17 | 6 | 18 | 57 | 62 | -5 | 57 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Notts Co | | 41 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 54 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Bradford | | 41 | 14 | 10 | 17 | 59 | 61 | -2 | 52 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Rochdale | | 41 | 14 | 9 | 18 | 51 | 59 | -8 | 51 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Rotherham | | 41 | 11 | 17 | 13 | 51 | 48 | +3 | 50 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Morecambe | | 41 | 13 | 9 | 19 | 54 | 60 | -6 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Chester | | 41 | 12 | 11 | 18 | 46 | 62 | -16 | 47 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Droylsden | | 41 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 52 | 62 | -10 | 45 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | | Port Vale | | 41 | 11 | 10 | 20 | 45 | 69 | -24 | 43 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | | Grays | | 41 | 10 | 12 | 19 | 36 | 46 | -10 | 42 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | | Chesterfield | | 41 | 10 | 12 | 19 | 36 | 55 | -19 | 42 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | | Bury | | 41 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 36 | 81 | -45 | 29 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Our April 16 away game against Walsall seen them being too good, and yet another loss for us, this time going down 1-0, a week later though seen us break a club record a home game against Bournemouth ended in a 1-1 draw and we had gone 12 games without a win, our last one was Feb the 5th against Rochdale.

2 days after the Bournemouth game seen us play our last home game for the year and we desperately needed a win, our opponent was 17th placed Bradford.

I gave probably my best team talk of the year and the players looked inspired, a win here would more or less guarantee survival and it would give the fans something as well, every player looked fired up and it showed as we came out a different team. The fans were great as well at the start a resounding roar for the team as they came out from the change rooms.

Some great passing at the start and a decent chance had the fans continuing there jovial singing, and the roars were enormous for a 3000 strong crowd when Okike slipped his marker to open the account in the 14th minute. We did something we hadn’t done for awhile on the restart as well we continued to pressure 37 minutes into the half seen Carter break for goal a good pass had him running towards goal with just the keeper to beat but just outside the box he was brought down with a professional foul that seen the ref immediately show the red. Tandy stepped up and the crowd gave a defining cheer as the freekick went in the top left corner, 2-0 up and a 1 man advantage. We harassed again from the restart and once again we were rewarded Hughes this time grabbing a goal and at half time we were 3 up. The crowd were on their feet, a standing ovation at half time.
The talk was all positive at the half, be wary but continue to harass them, don’t let them in with a chance, and the when we back out we were unlucky not to be 4 up Carter hitting the upright in the first few minutes.

A counter attack though stunned the crowd as the 10 men Bradford grabbed a goal in the 50th minute and I started to feel something, it wasn’t a good feeling. The players started second guessing themselves, decisions were poor, and we were getting shown up by a side with only 10 men, the hour mark seen Bradford score again, I made a few changes but you could see the players on the pitch had lost all confidence, the crowd was stunned and it didn’t look good. We were run ragged in the final minutes and the inevitable happened with a minute of regular time to go, McGoldrick grabbed the equaliser.

The players walked off and into the change rooms a dejected bunch, but I had no soothing words for them, I looked them all in the eye and told them they didn’t deserve to have fans like ours, you have robbed them today with that performance, and we definitely didn’t deserve to be in the Division with our efforts in the latter half of the year.

Training was increased both in time and workload in the 5 day break between the Bradford game and our game coming against Rotherham they were made to train everyday and an hour longer, there was no complaints.

The Rotherham game was another disappointment leading at the half we succumbed once more to late goals, stupid free kicks and bad decision making, we left their ground 2-1 losers but with the other league results it looked like only a miracle would see us go down we were 3 points clear of 23rd spot and had a plus 9 better goal difference.

Training was kept at a maximum for the 7 days before the Wrexham game and too their credit the players didn’t once complain.

retired_heyrocky

You cant leave Droylsden!

retired_heyrocky

Oh yeah, great story :thup:

retired_manragh

May and the End of Season wrap up

Our last game for the year was against Wrexham at their home, a draw or win would definitely seal our stay in Division 2 only a loss of the calibre of a 5 goal loss and Chesterfield wining by that much in their game could seriously put us in doubt.

It wasn’t a high quality game, very scrappy and mainly played in the middle third, Wrexham looked the more likely to score, but it was against the run of the play when we took the lead, Okike dispossessed the centreback and ran into a one on one with the keeper that he won. It was the 44th minute and we only had to hold of for a few minutes to the half, I was pleased that we managed to do this for once.

The Half time break was up beat everyone wanted to finish the season on a high note, Plummer had taken a knock and he had to come off at the break, Bunce was also brought on as we decided on a defensive set up. Our tackling was ferocious after the break we received a few yellows but it was one of theirs that was sent of for a two footed challenge that left Carter on the ground for a minute or two in the 55th minute. A one man advantage lately didn’t mean much for us we’d given up a 3 goal lead with an extra player. The player’s were full of resolve though and at the end of game we went in with a 1-0 win our first in quite some time.

We had a big night back at the club that went on well into the morning, The fan appreciation day was definitely one I won’t forget easily, the whole community turned up at the ground and cheered the players, when I got to thank them all there was a deafing roar of approval that went on forever. It was a different story when Doug got up to speak, a chanting went up ‘We want Matt as Manager’ was repeated over, When he got a word in, he said he would try his best to get me back which was greeted with a chorus of cheers.

I didn’t know what to make of the situation but the next day Doug called me into his office and asked what I wanted to stay, 750 and 2 year contract, he agreed to the 2 year contract strait away but asked if I could stay on for 600 a week, he showed me the books and going over them we had lost ½ a million pounds this year, with upgrades and all sorts of things had hit the club hard and the last half of the year had seen us lose money could of the bad results, He showed me the projections for next year I would still have a transfer budget of around 180K pounds and the wage budget would be increased by 20% aswell. I agreed to the deal when it was written into my contract that if we turned a profit for the year I would receive the equivalent of 800 p/week for the year or 42000 pounds.
I was signed up to Droylsden until 2013.

At the awards the announcement was made, and it definitely a good feeling to be in the helm for another few years, Ashley Carter broke Tandy’s strangle hold on the Fans player of the year award which was well deserved, Joe Liddle won the best first year player for half a season’s work he was definitely our best player in the last half of the year. In a result that I didn’t think would happen Jamie Tandy picked up his third Best player award in a season where he was injured here and there, he beat Robert Hughes who was captain for most of the year by 2 votes and then it Ashley Carter 1 vote behind him with 34 Votes. Ashley also picked up his hatrick of golden boots with 20 goals this year. Jamie Tandy and Ashley Carter were both included in the Players Select Division 2 Team of the year which was a great result considering we finished just outside relegation.

The offseason goes so quickly especially when you have National Duties to attend, Ian Griffith was magnificent in his role as assistant and his value cannot be stated enough, all the coaches really have done a magnificent job. Going through the player lists it was time to let some people go Dennis Taylor, Daniel Short, Liam Hook, Ayden Duffy, Adam Fielding, Rob Carey, Jason Hodges, Steve Daly, Aaron Allanson and Scott Sampson were all told they wouldn’t be required next season, some we were placing on the market other we were releasing at the end of the contract. The scouts went out with instructions that we needed a strong centre forward, and possibly some cover down the back and on the wings.

During the offseason while the players were on Holiday deals were struck Dennis Taylor went to Buxton, Daniel Short to Frickley and a part exchange with Tranmere seen Liam Hooked swapped for Glen Hamilton and some cash, Hamilton was a right back and winger and would provide competition for Cryan for his spot or if we went to a conventional 442 setup.

retired_manragh

Season 6 – Preseason

By time July came around everything was running pretty smoothly, I had done most of what I had too before the players came back on holiday and I was now concentrating on the Australian Squad for the 2011 Asian Cup.

Jon Bunce a good young fullback who could play left or right had his move permanent for 14K, but the real exciting prospect was getting the signature of Joshua Ferran from MK Dons a strong centre forward who could hold up play for us, he would add a new dimension for the team and with the likes of Carter and Okike who were lightning quick across the ground we were hoping for good things, a 70K fee was all that was required which was suprising. Geoff Proctor was also signed as a free agent, the former S****horpe centre back never got a chance their and was delisted. The other signing was Glen Hamilton in the part exchange for Liam Hook.

Taylor, Short and Hook all left the club to go to their new ones, but Duffy, Fielding, Carey, Hodges were all released into the free agents list. Gareth Stewart was kept on a month by month contract, we would probably offer him a one year deal, depending on things. Steve Daly, Aaron Allanson and Scott Sampson were all still available on the transfer list we had a few nibbles here and there but so far no one was willing to put in a firm offer, even when we offered them for nothing.

I put Ian Griffin in charge of the friendly games as I was to leave to the United Arab Emirates where the Asian Cup was being held this year, The 22 man squad was announced on the 3rd of July and we went over for two week camp to get acclimatised to the conditions. The squad was:
GK: Nathan Coe (PSV), Brad Jones (Oxford)
Def: Luke Wilkshire (Doncaster), Ryan McGowan (Newcastle Jets), Shane Cansdell-Sheriff (Hull), Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Shane Lowry (Livorno), Patrick Kisnorbo (Crewe) and Ljubo Milicevic (Hertha BSC)
Mid: Marco Bresciano (Palermo), Zak Burnie (Milan), Harry Kewell (No Club), Tim Cahill (Everton), Jason Culina (Heerenveen), Vinnie Grella (Brescia), Matthew Park (Hearts) and David Carney (Wolves).
For: Brett Holman (NEC), Scott McDonald (QPR), Tahj Minniecon (Sampdoria), David Williams (Charlton).

A few names were unlucky to miss out Kasey Wehrman was one and he announced his retirement after the squad was named, others were unavailable through injury but I felt this squad had what it took to win the Cup.

Training went well and the Aussie team was bonding well, I had been keeping in touch at regular intervals with Ian back at Droyslden and in their first practice game they beat Div 1 side Carlisle 1-0 with new recruit Glen Hamilton scoring the winner. The day after forced my return back to England, Ian rang me and said Crystal Palace had approached him for a coaching position.

When I was back in England I met with Ian and he was pretty keen to give it a whirl in the Premier League, I didn’t want to stand in his way and wished him all the best we’d be compensated 50K which wasn’t too bad, but Ian’s shoes were going to be big ones to fill. Adverts went out, I couldn’t stay long a day at the most so I appointed Dean Blackwell to take care of the friendlies for me. Flying back to meet up with the Australian team had me thinking, coaching two teams was getting difficult, I should be at Droylsden now but this tournament was important for Australia and I had to give it my all, decisions would have to made sooner or later.

Two more friendly games were played for Droylsden before the start of the Asian Cup, we easily dispatched Conference North side Hucknall 4-1 new recruit Ferran grabbing two goals and a man of the match performance, but we went down 2-1 at home to Gillingham, Dean said we were unlucky, Fojut grabbed two goals one for us and and an own goal for them.

The Asian Cup was about to start the first game Japan versus Uzbekistan on the 16th.

retired_manragh

Thanks Sean glad someone likes it.

It was bloody hard to reject the contract, and then when i started applying for other jobs and kept getting rejected i wimped out and tryed to renogiate, lucky i had the option in the confidence report.

So here i am another 2 years to go.