Panpardus

Setting : Taken on Droylsden who are a part-time in Conferance North nicknamed the Bloods
Ive Done a little research into the area, trying to get some information although some of it might not
be correct.

Database: I've changed the Database to fit with the Story, Dave Pace who is basically a legend as far as i can tell has taken on a challenge at Bournemouth in the English First Division, i've also made a Physio who is my wife and contracted her to Droylsden and also made a player who is my son. He has Decent stats and is definately better than those in the Conferenance North, but would struggle to be anything but a fringe player in the Perth Glory Team, in saying that he does have excellent potential and i might struggle to keep him in the side. I've also added another Physio into the database as my daughter, she's classified as unemployed with mediocre stats so ill see how that plays out, appart from that the Database is the same its a Large type with Australia, English, Italian, Spanish, German, and French leagues Selected, also all players for Australia and England have been loaded.

As far as me I've Selected myself as Australian Manager with English Nationalaties (Dual Citizen) just to help with pesky Work Permits I'm also a semi professional as it fits in best with the Story

Anyway here goes:

Chapter 1 -- The Proposition

It's Wednesday night around the 7 pm mark on the 31st of May 2006 which happens to be my Daughters 22nd Birthday, she's out the back with a couple of her friends having a few drinks and preparing to head out to the Burswood Casino which is just around the corner here in Perth Australia. I'll end up driving them there, but in the mean time i need to go over these Player Profiles. Im one of a few in charge of player of Development here at the WAIS (West Australian Institute of Sport) and we have the final squad try outs and week long camp starting on the 3rd of June we have 48 players coming and need to cut it down to 20 its a pretty intense time for these young under 17's, and a hectic one for the coaches and selection commitee.

So i'm sorting these players into groups of 3 basically 16 per group trying to keep it fairly equal Talent wise, alot harder than it looks, when the phone starts to ring, Nic (daughter) races in from the back to answer the phone, must be expecting a call.

" Dad, Daves on the phone for you " She yells out

" Coming " and i get out of my seat to get the call, Dave a fellow develepmont coach must be having a few problems aswell with sorting out the groups.

"Dave" I say "What's up ?"

"Not to much Matt, bit of this bit of that" the thick man with the English accent replies, which causes a moments shock.

"Pacey, Jeez i thought was Dave here from the Institute, you miss me that much pal, I've only been gone for two weeks[/I}"


((Besides from talking with a few clubs in England about our youngsters here in Australia, i always meet up with some old friends, one of them a guy called Dave Pace who is Chairman and Manager of a Non League club called Droylsden a team in the Conferance North League. I'd went and seen his team play in the final playoff game to get into the Conferance National, but they were beaten by Stafford 2-1 in the game so it was another year in the Non-League's for him. Around the beginning of July i'll back over with the players that get selected for Trials with the English clubs its usually a three week trip, while im there i always go down to Butcher's Arm Ground to do a bit of pre-season develepmont with his team, as they are Part-timers still, you need to maximise training so they get the most out of the training sessions that they do have. Basically i watch a few of their pre-season games and go to a few training sessions, i then give Dave some tips and help out with developing a training regime's to get the most out of them.))

"Well, I have a bit of dilemna on my hands" Pacey stated

"Oh"

"Yeah i've been offered a job as Manager for Bournemouth in the First Division and I've taken it, i owe it to myself to atleast give a higher Division ago"

a few moment of silence pass here i'm actually a bit shocked

"I dont know what to say Dave, I didn't think you would sell the Bloods, you've invested alot in them with time love and money, i hope your not going to lose to much with this deal" I paused for a second and wondered if its just the disappointment of not being promoted for the second year. "You know just cause you didn't get promoted" I started to say before he interupted me

"Matt, stop let me explain.... My love for the club hasn't changed at all, of course im disappointed by the result but life goes on. Bournemouth have approached me and are in tight spot and i think i can do the Job, I atleast want to give it a shot.... Now thats were you come in, I know your due over here in July, but im hoping you will make it a bit more Permanent"

"You want me to help with Bournemouth?" I asked

"Actually no i want you to Manage the Bloods for me, You know what the club means to me and i want someone who can show the same amount of passion, and i want them to do well, Promotion would be excellent, but more realistic would be playoffs again, I think your the man that can do it"

I was stunned, didnt know what to say at all, I've knocked back coaching jobs in England but id never seriously thought about Managing, sure ive got the paper qualifications, but i'd never actually contiplated it and thats what caught me by surprise.

"You there Matt.. Matt?"

"I'm not sure Dave, im tempted, but i have alot of responsabilities here, i have my Job at the WAIS to consider, Jo's Physio Centre is going real well at moment, not to mention a few other things"

"I realise this Matt" Dave stated "I don't expect you to sell up everything at the drop of a hat, try to get someone to manage the Centre, I've included Jo in the Package, we'll take her on as a Physio of the club and ill get her a location close by to do everything with no cost to her or yourself,... Look ill fax the offer over and later today my time and then you and Jo can work things out. Ill need an answer within a week though, Sooner would be better but I do realise its a big move, so ill give you that long... What do you say[/]?"

"Ok, ill talk to Jo about it when she gets home, we'll look over the offer and Ill get back to you Asap."

"Thats all i can ask" and with that we exchanged goodbyes and ended the conservation.


Jo got back a couple hours later and i told her what had transpired, I think she could see the excitement on my face, i didn't think i'd be this excited myself really after all its only a non league club, the coaching jobs i'd been offered before at higher profile clubs would probably be better, but the alure of Managing being the Man in charge was intoxicating, the more i thought about it the more it appealed. We decided to wait for the offer to come through, She wouldn't mind a change and with Nicole also being a Physio at the Centre and the other staff she felt she could leave it in good hands. My job at the WAIS would have to be sorted, aswell as the house, but we presumed Nicole and Zak would want to stay with their Ties here, but we'd talk to them about it when things are a bit clearer here.

Panpardus

Chapter 2 -- The Contract

June 1st 2006

I Slept bad that night tossing and turning, i was hoping for a deal that i couldn't say no too or atleast a deal i could say yes too, and so i was up around the 6 am and felt like i had been up all night, strolling over i checked the fax, nope nothing there, next to check was the Email and there it was, it was only a proposal basically an outline of what he could offer. Quickly looking it over it definately wasn't a contract that i couldn't refuse, actually after seeing it i wasn't sure i could say yes but i'd talk it over with Jo and then later with Dave.

Going over the deal with Jo most things seemed ok, We would be provided Accomodation in a 3 Bedroom House in Droylsden for the Entire length of my contract, if the contract was terminated we would get 4 weeks notice on the property and Airfares would be provided back to Australia, we both would get a Car each to use at our disposal for the first year of my Contract. Jo would be provided a venue for her business and the equipment required, Dave was great like this if the club needed it he would get it, he's invested alot in the club without the handouts that the other local sides have got, it's a real credit to him and Droylsden.

The real stumbling block came in the wages

110 pound each per week Part time contracts, we couldnt live on that, there was other incentives and bonuses, and a percentage of the takings if a profit was taken, also he had procured a Personal sponsorship for me but the amount was undisclosed. Jo would also keep the profits from the business whatever they might be if they were over the cost of lease of venue and equipment etc etc, but all costs would be incured by the club if a profit was not established.

We talked it over and unless we got more details on what sort of weekly wage we would get with incentives etc we decided to not commit it was an excellent oppurtunity and maybe a great stepping stone, but still i wasnt prepared to throw away everything we had as a family.

We gave Dave a ring about 8 pm our time which happens to be around 8 am his time and went over the proposed controct in more detail, we were happy with most of the deal and he sounded relieved, he was aware of the big but coming and knew what it would be, he thought we'd be worried about the wages and them on their own he agreed wouldnt be enough, he gave us a figure of what would get roughly a week for both of us and although it was alot less than both of earn now it was probably worth a shot, the personal sponsorship for me would be enough to get us by.

I told Dave it looked like he had a deal but we would finalise a decision in the next day or two, it was time to talk the family. We talked it over with Nicole our Eldest and she was happy to stay here and help look after the business, both her and Zak would stay at the house and things would flow by normally, except we wouldn't be there. Zak was a little subdued about the move, and a bit disappointed i wouldnt be here to see him play, there wasnt much i could say except apologise, I told him your welcome to come play at the Bloods but he definately wouldnt get a contract of the same calibre as the Perth Offer he had, he laughed and no more was really said about it, Truth be told if he did come over, he would probably be the best player on the team bar none, from what i seen in the conferance final.

June the 2nd

So it was decided we rang Dave and accepted the Offer, he was rapt but very busy tying off loose ends, I had a training camp to go to, a resignation to hand in and had to organise a few other things with the AIS, Jo organised the Centre and basically everything was good and tied up our end or so we thought. Dave arranged the tickets for the 17th June.

June the 17th
Everything was sorted, feeling nervous about the big move, I've had 2 weeks now to think about it and the more i think about it the more daunting it is, I've left a great job here and Australia Football is really taking off and some of the talent coming through will hold us in good sted for the future, Our ripping win versus Japan in the Cup a couple days ago just underlines how much better we are now, Timmy Cahill was awesome in the fightback and to take the game 3-1 in the end was a just result, we play Brazil tomorrow looking forward to seeing how that will go.

We left that day around 3pm and arrived in Manchester around 9am their time about a 30 hour trip with a stop off in Singapore and London Im happy to get on to solid land even with the stop off's it was still extremely cramped, I think i'll definately be pushing for First class or atleast Business class next time.

Panpardus

Chapter 3 -- England the Beginning

June 18th
So we got through Customs and everything was sorted real quickly, got to love having dual Citizenship, Dave was their personally waiting to pick us which was a nice touch, he'd organised our house already which was a nice little 3 bedroom Terrace House on Gloucester Drive which he took us strait there to get settled and rest up a bit after the flight, he said he would swing by later and see how we were going.

Basically when we got there we threw our bags down in the hallway had a quick look about, it wasnt anything flashy but it was nice and homely, one of the bedrooms was converted into a nice office, gee thanks Dave now i can take my work home with me, he had warned me though even though its a part time contract my first few months would be real hectic and maybe after that things would settle down.

First things first, take a power nap, zip down local we passed get a few beers for the big Game tonight Aussie v Brazil.

Dave turned up close to 4 we had a quick chat, but he said he had to run informed us that one car was in the Garage and gave us the keys and also gave me a new mobile phone, apparently the other car would be available around the 2nd of July. I settled back that night and watched the game, we went down 2-0 looked a little flat after the great game against Japan, well it would all come down to Croatia game now in a couple days.



The next couple days went by without incident Dave came in and gave a tour of Droylsden, mainly for the Mrs (Jo's) benefit she'd only ever been over here once and that was 3 years ago, he showed her through her new workplace, it was all ready to go, later she told me its not the best equitment but would be fine, i think she was pleasantly surprised, she knew Droylsden had it hard. We went down to the Slaughter House (Butcher's Arms ground as some of the fans affectionally call it) had a look around and met the groundsman (Tony Durose) while we were there. The ground looked fairly good a nice covering of grass at moment, a bit dry and patchy in areas but wasnt to bad all. The players were still officially on Holiday and wasnt due to show up till the 26th, Aeon would be here for a meeting on the 24th he's been the assistant manager here since 2003 and has a part time contract till 2011 another man called Doug Smith would be joining us aswell on the 24th. Dave passed us our full contracts to look over, they would be signed officially on the 2nd of July which was a Saturday, he wanted all the fans to come and see the unveiling of the new manager officially, even though they would be told about it at the General Meeting scheduled the day before.

June the 24th
The 24th roled around another Saturday, the thing about a Part time club is that most people have stuff to do during the week to survive, so alot of things get scheduled for the weekend, The Aussies had a great draw a couple days earlier versus Croatia and know we would face Italy on the 26 the same day I got to meet the players in an un-Official Capacity as Manager.

As it turned out Doug Smith was an Investor and one of Dave's mates he would be the acting Chairman in Dave's Absence and basically all big Financial matters would be handled by him. Aeon was here i'd met him a few times before, he was a bit surprised Dave was going to name me the new Manager but was happy to serve still as an Assistant Manager. I said i'd offer him a mutual termination if he'd like, but he assured me he had no problem with my appointment to the position was just a bit shocked Dave was leaving but he was looking forward to the season. It was a short meeting us four went through general things like the player contracts, to the new staff who would all start at the same time as me.

Dave had hired a new scout a local by the name of Andy Davis and had given him a one year part time contract, he was to basically just scout the opposition had a good eye for fitness but not the best or most reliable scout out there but at a twenty per week plus a few minor expenses he was probably worth the cost. After a bit of discussion i got the green light to hire a new scout who would travel around the country to look for players who might be interested, he was only allowed to scout England though the club couldnt afford too many expenses. I asked Dave and Doug if he could do Wales as a joke just to see if i could slip a few other areas in, No was the unanimous reply, cause then you'll ask if he can travel to Scotland, and then it will oooo France its just through the tunnel what about there. heheh Dave knew me too well.

The new coach who would help both me and Aeon was a man named David Palmer he was 31 and kept a firm approach on the players, he was reasonably adaptable was good at getting to the Mental side of the players and had a decent tactical mind aswell, a relative unknown in the business by Pacey seemed happy with him and so i'd give him a shot.

The only other staff were Jo, Aeon and Myself, Jo would meet Aeon tomorrow when he came over to go through the squad list, we left the meeting there and organised a time to meet tomorrow that didnt interupt with then England - Ecuador game.

Panpardus

Chapter 4 --The Squad

[B} June 25th

Dave and Aeon turned up around lunch time at the house, after introducing Aeon and Jo and some idle conversation and we went through tp the study to go over the squad lists, i'd done a little revision on them the night before, basically going back over the information i already had researched we had 22 first team squad players one was a youth player though but he was included in the first squad, we had 2 keepers, 8 defenders, 6 midfielders and 6 strikers. Just by working on the numbers i could see we were real short on midfielders and heavy on the Forwards Lynch was our ownly Defensive Midfielder, Morris and Jagielka were able to play Central Roles then there Tandy a promising left sided attacking midfielder and Fitgerald a right sided attacking midfielder, and some young 16 y.o also who played out on the right, K williams.

I'd asked Aeon to get me a team report for some standard formations just to see the information he give me, i asked for strengths and weaknessses of the squad as a whole, and an estimate of the position we'd finish, Dave didnt want to bias any opinions so he was just going to oversee a few things and give general comments.

Aeon got a folder and gave me a couple reports, going through briefly all the players on the list

Paul Phillips was the obvious first choice in goal, Mark Westhead lacked the ability to even play at this level, he didnt have a iron clad contract and would be a person we should be thingking of get rid off, He'd go free no one would buy him, but we needed a back-up first.

3 possible right backs Carl Ruffer, Jimmy Williams and Neil Hall.

Carl was 31 Determined Centre Back excellent takling a good eye for a pass , can play down the right, but dont count on good delivery of crosses or movement, better as CB waste of time on the right
Jimmy was 23 a young determined right back average in most areas, decent crossing shows a bit of potential
Neil was 34 very similar in skill to Williams just older but wont get any better, Jimmy is a lot more determined and should get the nod ahead of Hall

2 possibles for left back Chris Adams and Danny Warner.
Chris 30 Great team player, works hard, good tackling and marking, fearless competitor
Danny 28 decent speed, good spread of passing crossing etc, can play in the left midfield aswell, valuable backup

4 Centre Backs Carl Ruffer, Gary Burke, Steve Halford and Chris Robinson

Ruffer 31 already discussed - alot better suited to the Centre role
Burke 33 slow great heading and good marking and tackling is way below par
Halford 25 Backbone of our defence, not the quickest but good alround and strong as an ox
Robinson 22 Average all round youngster, nothing outstanding, shows a bit of potential


Looking at the backs Phillips would sit in Goal have Adams out on the left, probably chuck young williams on the right and have Ruffer and Halford take Central roles with Robinson as a backup, Burke isn't getting any younger, but a good pre-season could bring him up to scratch, Warner is great cover for both left sided defence and wing.

Midfield

2 possibles on the left Jamie Tandy and Danny Warner
Tandy 21 a decent left sided player with potential needed to improve, but reasonable in all areas
Danny 28 great backup on the defence, but a possible starter on the left if Tandy doesnt cut it.

2 on the right Ian Fitzpatrick and Kevin Williams
Fitzpatrick 25 the only real option on the right average technical abilities and a bit lacking but he's better than Kev 16 young and very creative, decent speed just lacks the ability to pull of alot of things he tries

3 for the Centre Kevin Lynch, Gareth Morris and Steve Jagielka
This is our Strength along with our Attack
Lynch 31 good defensive Midfielder average allround ability fairly solid playing in front of the backs
Morris 31 Great allround player in this league, good finisher and general techincal abilities can get forward a score goal, a possible leader for the club
Jagielka 28 Same mould as Morris lacks a bit in the technical areas but is quicker and a definate dangerman, also a possible leader at the club.

Unsure really about midfield maybe play a Lynch just in front of the Defenders with Jags and Morris to head up the central midfielder, problem with this is we'll lack width maybe have Tandy on the left getting forward and lets Jags roam out to the right aswell.

Attack by far our strongpoint, we can score with these players and are always dangerous the pick of the crop is Fearns 28 great finisher, good composure and always knows where the goals are, fairly determined but his laziness can hinder his performances.
Banim 28 is balanced attacked fairly solid and reliable, always leads from the front.
Daly 24 Young Determined and talented, needs to work on a few things but maybe just ahead of Banim.
Denham 23 Good linkman has flair and is creative, and always manages to get in good positions, just has trouble finishing off, and is a bit slow, maybe turn into a midfielder would be a valuable asset to have there.
Rapley 28 Determined alround ability nothing flashy workmanlike, good backup
Talbot 26 Sound, allround type very determined also good back-up

So there it was the squad i had to work with and reading through the list we strikers in abundance, could maybe have a three pronged attack with Fearns, Banim and Daly or maybe work in Denham as a link man

Basically my thoughts from talking with Aeon and Dave, what they were telling me were looking at 4 in the back, the defence was often suspect last year so sitting a defensive midflieder in front of them might be a good idea, unless we can recruit someone better defenceman. The right side is weak and a potential problem with young Williams and Fitzgerald there, so maybe playing three Central midfielders with them making runs to wings. then either having two Forwards or maybe 3 if we only play two in central midfield.

I'd need to do some trials to get an idea for myself, I'd worked with decent talent for the last 8 odd years but prone to mistakes as all young players are, but playing with an older group would take getting used to and its hard to change fundamental things in a players game when theyre older and more set in thier ways i'd be better off setting up something that they can play to already. So first order of business would be to get some competative action going in training just to see what i had for sure but from these preliminaries talks were definately need strengthening in the midfield and defence, any sort of injury there would leave us very exposed.

Settling back into my seat i pondered a few questions

"Aeon, with the squad we have where do you think we'll end up?"

Rubbing his chin Aeon replied "Honestly i think 8th to 12th, with a good run we could push for a playoff spot but we need alot of things going our way, any injuries and were screwed really the backup isnt that great, except in attack where you could rotate them easily

"Hmmmm, well from what i understand this wont be an acceptable result for the year" Dave nodded his head in agreement to my statement "So basically we need backup in the midfield for starters, and maybe a right sided midfielder.... Also we need another good centre back to put some pressure on those there and a starting right back cause you dont think Jimmy or Neil or Carl could hold the position comfortably,... Correct so far?" I asked Aeon

"Well Carl could play right back and probably hold it down ok, but you wont see to much drive, if he plays right your going to need a more talented right sided player, I dont think Ian or Kevin could provide what we need for 90 minutes. We need a backup Centre Midfielder incase of injury, or would can sign someone mid season if we get in trouble."

"Aslong as they're free and fit under the wage bill" Dave joked, but i knew he was serious.

"A good centre back would come in handy, but dont forget getting a new keeper, Philo is great as this level but does drop a few a make a couple errors, but if you think thats bad your not gonna like Mark at all

It was then the phone rang and my first stroke of luck came, It was Zak, he'd turned down the offer and was wondering if he could come over to England to try his luck here, he said needed a change and thought it might be fun to play over in England for a bit, I really dont know his reasons but i didnt ask, why would a 17 year old kid need a change?, especially when coming here could ruin his career or atleast set it back, a couple years in the A-League could set him up for a decent career. I told him i'd ring him back later on that night.

Dave could see me grinning, i was happy he could play here with me and he would be a huge boost to the team a real promising midfielder who could play centre or left and move into more attacking positions, he was fleet of foot, his passing was solid, he hits a ferocious ball, only set back though was that he was a bit of smart arse though, although he does get the crowd going, and his movement of the ball would be good at this level. He could be the difference.

I told Dave, he was obviously rapt he'd seen him play, "[I}I'll have the papers drawn asap and get the airfares organised[/I]" , My first signing for the club was my son a possible Australian Player of the future (well hoping so anyway).

Aeon didnt know much about Zak, so i gave him a few of the games that we'd taped to look over as he left
We concluded business for the day, I was happy that we solved a possible midfield problem and I would manage my son in his first professional contract, a bit unhappy that Zak hadn't signed for Perth a higher profile club but things work out in Mysterious ways.

I told Jo the news, she was happy her baby was coming over, she didnt really care that he was not joining Perth, truth be told she's a big AFL fan and was a bit disappointed that he'd chosen football over Aussie rules, but all the same she was real proud of his efforts.

I rang back Zak and told him everything was organised i'd ring him later on when the ticket details were through, and Dave was already getting the papers drawn up.

"[I}But dad[/I]" he said "I only want the tickets to come over so i can trial for some of the bigger clubs"

My mouth droped, went all dry, and i swear i near had a heart attack there and then, i'd never thought about the possibility of him not playing with the Bloods, going over our previous conversation quickly in my mind he never actually said he wanted to play for us either, just come over to England and try his luck

He burst out laughing on the other end of the phone "Im joking dad, i'd be happy to come and play at Droylsden"

I felt a Homer Simpson moment coming, if he was here i would of wraped my hands around his neck

"Why you f***cking little s**t, I near had a f***cking heart attack"

He was still laughing on the end of the phone a mumbled something about giving him a ring with the details.
Just for that i'd make sure he got a little bit less in his contract, that will teach him.

Panpardus

[b] Chapter 5 -- Meeting the Players and Fans

June 26th, Monday

The big day arrived where i'd finally meet the players and few of the more hardcore fans, a players meeting would start around 4 and we'd go over a schedule, a few general things and Dave would drop the bombshell, i was a bit toey, all the staff would be there aswell.

The players turned up by 4, Dave sat them down and told them the news, a few were shocked, others had heard varying rumours but there's always rumours around a small club like this especially concerning Dave. A couple openly questioned the future of the club, was he pulling out, Dave quelled the unrest quickly stating that he was not pulling out of the club and he would still be owner and the money wouldn't be a problem. He introduced them to Doug who would be the acting Chairman in his absence and then he introduced me to them, I'd already met a few of them before on previous trips. But two to three weeks stints at a club dont mean too much.

I tryed to start out confident you dont want players thinking you lack confidence, especially the younger types, so I told them a bit about my background.

"My career has a bit of a funny start to it really, I began in Australia playing Juniors made a few representative sides and was considered a good talent, I was picked up pretty quickly to a Scottish Team when i was 16 thanks to my Dad, he was a good scout back in his day, and I thought i was pretty good back then aswell, especially to get noticed by Scottish Team, but as i later found out, good ol dad had got me out of the country through his own pocket and a mate of his took me on at their club as a personal favour to him as the father of a girl i was seeing told my dad he was going to break my kneecaps for knocking up his daughter, something i was quite unaware of at the time."

This brought some laughter from the players, the talk was starting well.

'Anyway i played there for a few years and got noticed by a English Team who wanted to sign me they were second Division at the time or Championship as it's called now, negociations went well and i signed for them at the around the start of the season. Over the break I traveled back to Australia and thats when i found out about my young daughter Nicole, anyway to cut a long story short they both flew back to England with me, her father hadn't forgot me and wanted to keep the promise he made to me father, luckily he didnt, and the girl in question is now my wife and your new Physio."

Scanning across the room the players still seem interested so i went on to a bit of my playing days in England

"I played at Swindon from 87 through to 96 amassed just over a 100 games, before I had an injury that pretty much ended my career, one of the highlights for me and probably the club was the 92/93 season, the same year the Premier League was formed actually, we won promotion to it through the playoffs, at the time I was attracting a fair bit of attention aswell from a few top flight clubs, When preseason started for the 93/94 I was eager to try my skill in the top level unfortunately i blew out my left knee and never played again that season, the season after i came back midway through but i after a year and half out i wasn't anywhere near the standard i use to be, i went out on loan to a few Lower league clubs and was half decent, but nothing spectacular. Swindon and I decided to part ways then in May, they were rebuilding and had a solid side and i didnt really fit in with their plans anymore."

From there i had a few offers in the Lower Leagues to come down as a player/assistant manager everyone was a bit wary though as knee injury's back then weren't as easy to fix, but i knew it was time for me to come home, I had a young family, Nicole was 11 i think and Zak was 7, and Australia felt like the right place to be. I took an player/Assistant Job at a local club until a minor re-accurance of my old injury forced me to quit in my second year, I finished my assistant's job that year and took a Job at WAIS where i've been ever since, developing young Talent, I also work for the AIS as a Laison to some clubs over here when our Youngsters come on trial and work experience, I've had quite a few coaching jobs offered to me over the years but this will be my first Managerial Position and i want it to be a successful one."

A few cheers and nods of acknowledgement at my last statement, So far so good, now to goals

My goals for the club is to turn you guys into a more professional unit, I am going to be giving a few of you an offer of a full time contract depending on training and the friendlies, I've already acquired a new player he would be joining the squad in early July, he's young Australian Midfielder with considerable talent he will be getting a full time contract. I'm also chasing down a few extra signings to make the fighting for positions on the pitch more competative, no ones position will be safe.. I have also been in contact with a few specialist coaches aswell and am looking to expand our Staff so Training will be more beneficial. I want to get promoted this year as im sure all you do aswell."

Again i noticed a few nods in the crowd

I also went on to speak about the player interviews that would be taking place from Tomorrow as i wanted to speak to each player individually, they'd take no longer than half hour but i wanted them over before pre-season training started on Thursday night. I gave an outline of what pre-season training would consist of to the collective groan of the players, pre-season was going to be Hard and anyone that didnt give their all would not play in the first friendlies, we have an intraclub game organised for the 7th to see where were at, and then 5 friendlies starting with Burton on the 12th.

"Any questions?" I asked scanning the room

Jags poped up (Jagielka) and yelled out "Yeah can we grab a beer now"

"[I}oh thats right, I knew i forgot something, thanks Steven for reminding me, were going to be a more professional unit this year there will be no drinking alcohol during the pre-season or the season proper[/I]."

Well you should of heard the outcry, like effing hell was the general consensus, when i started laughing they settled down and realised i was Joking, i've never seen so many relieved faces in my life.

"First shouts on Dave, we all know he can afford it" as I made my way for the bar.

About 7pm a fair amount of supporters arrived, Dave made the announcement, and generalities were explained, they took it pretty well over a few pints, they were told to turn up at the Meeting planned for the 31st where all the details would be explained, I mingled through the crowd and seemed to get a pretty good vibe, met a few of the Supporters Club people aswell, these guys are the heart and soul behind the club, Steve who does the programmes seemed great, a lady called Helen who does the website design and maintenance for the supporters, Carl Flaherty was there aswell, he goes to all the games and takes the photographs and then makes them accessible through the web. Overall had a great time and meeting everyone makes it all the more real.
Left around 10 pm and was glad to get home a bit tipsy but nothing too bad.


27th through to the 29th flew by, i was studying the transfer and free markets pretty Hard and I had the list that Dave gave me a couple on there looked promising, and i pulled a few strings to get some basic scout reports done, they'd hopefully be in before the next month, but i was to be informed if any players were being moved for.

The Local press caught wind and wanted an Interview but i told them that it was to be official on the 2nd so they'd have to wait till then, I didnt need any distractions. The player interviews went well, no problems, answered a few questions here and there but generally the players all seem a good bunch.


Part time contract...Bah ive been working more than a fulltime job since i got here, especially these last couple days, and im not even officially a manager yet.

Panpardus

Anyone have any thoughts, just trying to provide a bit of background information, Its pretty long winded so far and my style of writing changes Day to Day.

The matches will start soon, im interested what everyone would like to see, concentrate on the matches or more behind the scenes or a bit of both, or alot of both.

Any sort of feedback is appreciated

Panpardus

Chapter 5.5 -- The big game

Very late on the 26th or very early on the 27th

The Big Game

Still monday the 26th

So i get home and realise i've missed the big Aussie game versus Italy, can't believe that slipped my mind, flick through all the sports channels and thankfully there's a replay on soon, so i grab a quick bite and grab a beer from the fridge, Jo heads off to bed and I settle back and enjoy the show...well maybe not.

It's a gripping game, ive knocked back a few more beers than i should of, but we look the better team overall in the first half although Italy have had the better of the clear cut chances but its all square at the end of the first half and things look promising

5 minutes after the restart Materazzi sent off, ooo this is good, knock back another beer, were pressing pressing pressing all through the half but just cant get the goal, Buffon playing out of his butt and Italy doing what the do best, Its nerve racking sitting here just guzzling the beers. It's getting up towards the end of 90 now and Aloisi has been on for about 10 now and were still pressing for the elusive goal, Gus will probably ring a few changes at the start of extra time.

Here they come at us, christ ref just blow the whistle im thinking, Lucas slides oh god dont slide, Grosso dives, hehe the ref won't fall for that.

"What.... What the f***... oh your f***ing kidding me, oh this is just f***king bulls**t, you refs have shafted us all the way through this tournament and you give that you f***ing piece of s**t diving twat a penalty oh where is the justice" I scream at the TV, throwing a few more choice comments aswell to follow.

Jo must of heard me going off and runs into the room asking whats going on.

"Oh not much were being bent over and copping it from the refs again" I say just as Totti cooly slot it the penalty home

"*****, oh this is just f***ed" I mutter then the ref blows for fulltime, im so disgusted at that and without thinking i pick one of the empty beer bottles or so i thought, it still had a bit left in it and heave it at the tv. *Smash* oh s**t im thinking great now i have to clean that up.

The bottle has exploded, for such a little amount of beer it seems to have gone everywhere, I get up from my seat to investigate, and stagger a bit, hmmm i am a bit drunk, looking down there's more than a few empties littering the floor next to my seat. Getting over to the TV i see it's got a nice healthy coating of beer, and damn it a small chip in the screen aswell, thats gonna cost me. I bend down to the power point and before i can turn it off all hell breaks loose inside the TV, there's arcing and strange noises coming from it, I hear a bit of bang, then woooooof i hear, The inside of the TV is on fire, could this get anyworse.... yep there goes the lights, Circuit breaker is down. "Oh this keeps getting better and better" I rant, Jo heads off to switch the power back on, I reach down to unplug the TV there's a decent glow coming from inside the TV now, but the putrid smell coming from it is worse, I move out of the way and step on a bit of glass that instantly sends shockwaves through my foot, Now i was going to town with the swearing and cursing, its near pitch black, ive got blood p*ssing out of my foot, probably glass still in it, so i decide to limp across the floor to get to the bathroom so i can look at this cut in my foot, i get to the doorway when the lights come back on , i have a quick glance back, the glow from the TV has faded out, but the smoke is still wofting out from the back of it, theres a broken bottle on the ground in front of the Tv and now's there trail of blood leading to the doorway where im standing, I look down at my foot, the cuts not to bad its deep but there doesn't appear to be any glass stuck in it from what i can see, its just bleeding alot.

"Jesus Christ, Matt was all this necessary over a game on telly, look at the blood on the floor that wont come out. Seriously I hope to dear god that you dont loose a game in the season, if your gonna act like that " with a slight pause and a pleeding sort of look at me she started again "Well lost for words are we?"

One thing sprang to mind, I probably shouldn't of said it, I knew she wouldn't see the funny side of it

"Well, we better not have any bloody Italians in the squad or they'll be out on the arse before training starts on Thursday"

As i guessed she definately didn't see the funny side to the comment
She walked off in a huff and went and got me a towel so i didnt wreck any more of the carpet, I managed to get to the bathroom and Jo fixed up my foot, in which she wasn't particularly gentle, there wasn't any glass in it as far as she could tell. She left the same way she came in and went and cleaned the Loungeroom, I hobbled up stairs and got ready for bed.

Jo came in about half and hour later, I gave her my best druken smile, with which she returned another look of disgust and start shaking her head at me, I rolled over and turned off the lamp and tried to get some sleep, there was a snowballs chance in hell i'd be getting any tonight.

Rarebit Nutter

My advice, write for yourself and don't worry what other people think. As long as your writing style is comfortable for you keep with it. Although don't flit between 1st and 3rd person (not that you are). Try and have good grammar ie. capital letters in the right place etc, makes it better to read. Finally don't ask for people to comment, they will comment when and if they feel it is needed/deserved.

Keep going

Panpardus

Chapter 6 -- Pre Season Training

29th June Thursday to 2nd July Sunday

Extremely busy through this period of time Names coming from everywhere, people to see places to go and of course our infamous first training run, run being the key word. Everyone turned up full of spirit and eager to please, everyone left completely knackered with a few leaving the contents of their stomachs in varying places around the ground, it was a hard running night designed to test endurance, speed, agility, acceleration and get an overall fitness level.

On the Transfer front things were looking promising, Zak was due in on the 4th, preliminary talks with Ashley Fickling had gone well and we was hoping he would sign he wasn't a big imposing centreback but he had the skills and looked the part. Durham had given us permision to approach player/coach Richard Ord, no price has been arranged with them and none would be if he didnt come free he wouldnt come at all. Jason Kearton an ex Aussie keeper seemed interested in taking a part time role as our goalkeeping coach if he could feasably fit it in with his Business commitments. Aeon Little told me that Dean Blackwell the ex Wimbledon champ was looking for some work aswell, we jumped at the chance to get him to the club and offered him a contract strait away. A couple other players were being looked at mainly defenders and a midfielder, but we were struggling to find anyone decent that could play down the right either in midfield or defence that we thought would want to come to the club.

The General meeting went smooth, Dave spoke his piece, wished the club well, it was a boring night full of mumbo jumbo that i didnt need to here, by this time Kearton had all but signed, Blackwell looked promising aswell. A few scout reports that i pulled strings for come back as a waste of time, which was disappointing, and finding someone to play on the right was still eluding us. Training was going well the players settling into a groove and there wasnt too many stomach contents being left around the pitch now.


The 2nd of July rolls in, it's a big day down at the Butchers arms, a decent fanbase has turned up, all the players are on hand, the local press is there aswell. I sign my contract infront of the masses a few photo's are taken and i give my first interview to a local from the Tameside Advertiser. All the questions you expect whats your plans, where do you think you'll finish, how am i finding coming back to England, etc etc. A few questions about having the wife aswell that i didnt expect but were easy enough to answer, I also told them that my son was due get here around the 4th so then they're be 3 of us here. A few more brief questions ensued.

After the interview Doug approaches me and reminds me about the meeting when all this is finished, the event winds down late in the afternoon and people start to leave, and Doug and myself head into his office to go over a few things.

The meeting goes well but he's concerned about the amount of coaches ive approached, i explain theyre all essential to the success of the club, he's a bit wary of having more than one coach, if Ord, Keaton and Blackwell all sign that will be 4 with Aeon as Assistant and me Managing thats 6 coaches, things are looking up if we can get these people to the club i tell him. The squad list gets mentioned and i tell him that there's maybe 3-5 that are possible to get rid off, but i'd like to see them in action in the Intra club before i make any firm decisions, he seemed a bit shocked that I had so many earmarked. We discussed getting a parent club, it would provide an injection of funds and the possibilities of getting some quality loanees. I had to agree and he said he'd look into it and get back to me, I recommended trying to get a championship club as I think getting anyone from the premiership to play here at a part time club will be nigh on impossible. We go over finances which all seem good at moment, the wage budget is still under and even if with the signing of Zak and Fickling if he accepts we'll still more than enough to sign the coaches aswell.

A knock at the door stoped the meeting and Doug introduced me to Dave Colley, a local scout with some talent at unearthing good youngsters, talking with him I was very impressed and told him what i was looking for player wise, he seemed to think he could get something along the lines of what i wanted, He was offered a contract on the spot and said he'd get back to us in the next couple of days.

Panpardus

Chapter 6 continued -- Intraclub match

Monday 3rd July to Wednesday the 12th

It was great to get through Yesterday with the signing and interview but now I was officially the Manager and I must admit it felt great to sit at my desk at home and think about it, but work needed to be done, checking the emails of which there were a several, a couple disappointing and couple great ones aswell. Scanning through the scout reports that came back were fairly negative one even suggested it might be better to play with 10 men instead of signing the player in question, brought a chuckle but disappointment aswell, Dave sent one wishing me all the best now its all official and threatened unpleasent things if i wrecked his team. Nothing of note on the transfer market, no one wanted to come here on loan, not even a few of the aussies that i'd been in contact with. Kearton sent one that he'd be in sometime today to sign the contract that was a huge bonus, Also Durham had accepted an offer of zip for Ord and we were free to discuss contracts.

I ring up Doug who's down at the club going over a few things, and tell him Kearton will be sometime today to sign a contract, and that Durham have accepted and were free to discuss terms, he tells me i better come down the club as there's a message waiting for me on the answering machine down here.

Jumping in the car i zip down the club and exchange some idle chat with Doug before he plays the message for me

'Listen ere you convict, we sent your kind down there for a reason, we don't want you over ere, get it
your destined to repeat your predecessors achievements of not getting promoted anyway so why bother, your team's crap your crap, we're the best side here in Tameside, so just go p*ss off home where ya belong' *beeep*

I couldn't help but laugh, Doug casually explains that Dave use to get similar messages about the team, it's someone from Altrincham they hate us with a passion even though were apparantly not even worthy as rivals, if it's not leaving messages here they plaster crap on the message boards of the supporters club website. Just thought i'd let you here the first one before it gets deleted.

The days flow by reasonably smoothly Zak arrived on the 4th, both Dave Colley and Dean Blackwell sign up that day aswell, I send Colley out strait away to find me a right back, Training is going great you can see the sessions are getting easier for them even with just the few running sessions we've had, David Palmer had a run in with Jody in one session, and know its Fearnsy who isnt too happy. This isnt the harmony i wanted to see.
Thursday night training there's a huge blowout between half the squad and Palmer apparantly they dont appreciate they way he talks to them, later on that night a few of the players talk to me privately about Palmer.

The day of the first hit out, its only a intraclub match, but i've got in a professional ref and we'll treat it as a fair dinkum hit out, just without any bone shattering tactics. Have a quick talk to Doug about David Palmer and we both decide he's got to go, Doug offers him a round 1K for his troubles and the decision is a mutually terminated contract, Wow he didnt even get through a week.

Intraclub game

Me and Aeon have split the main squad into reasonably equal teams going through the tactics Im gonna play a standard 4 at the back sit a midfielder infront of the defence, 3 central midfielders but with the outsiders making runs to the wings and i'll just play the 2 upfront. Aeon just goes with the Standard 442 so we can see how it plays.

Game kicks off at 7.30 its a nice night, but the crowd is way lower than i hoped.

Both sides get into some good flowing moves with a great chance for us around the 6th minute Lynchy smashes a through ball through the midfield and into the penalty zone for Zak to run onto, Rutter just manages to get there in time to clear, otherwise Zak would of had a chance against Westhead to open the scoring, except Westheads sitting on the bench and Aeon has the local youth keeper in. I'll have to have a word to him about this.

About 15 minutes into the game i see something that amazes me at this level Lynchy once again threads the needle this time he's found Jags sitting just outside the zone, Jags controls it beautifully, pushes it out to his right and drives one home into the top right. I can't help but be impressed his training and general attitude will get him the first full time contract offer of the existing players.

Aeon's side get a few chances and move the ball around well as they try for a equaliser, but Lynchy is playing well infront of the defenders and they're not getting any real good opportunities. Tandy's made a few runs, but been very quiet and his crosses haven't hit the target. Fitzy on the right is much the same. Morris is working hard with the strikers but our defence is holding it together.

At the end of 45 were still 1-0 up with the majority of possession, Lynchy is dominating for us and Zak and Jags are also reaking havoc through the midfield, Daly and Banim are doing just enough up front but dont look as dangerous as the midfield which is a bit disappointing. The defence has been solid aswell Halford playing well and Adams has cut out Fitzy all together.

Aeon's side is struggling to cope with Lynchy, mainly because Tandy and Fitzy aren't doing enough on the wings, Fearnsy and Rapley are getting fed well by Morris but cant get into decent positions. Atleast theyre working and moving around which is pleasing.

The second half starts and i've convinced Aeon to give Westhead a go a few chances here and there but basically not much action from both teams, a few changes were made giving some time to the youth team but the second half wasn't much of spectacle my team ran out 1-0 winners, a few promising signs was Zak roaming around the midfield making some great runs down the left, Jags was great, for Aeons side Morris was solid all day and Fearns tried hard aswell, but the Man of Match and 20 pound bar tab went to Lynchy for a great performance. A few disappointments was Tandy on the left who never got going on Fitzy on the who was kept quiet by a good performance for Adams.

All in all not to bad of a hitout and know i have a few things to work on for the first friendly.

Saturday 8th to Tuesday 11th

Training is good through the period, Fickling signs for us, we recruit Steve Thornber to take over Palmer's coaching position, Richard Ord also signs and his Tactical knowledge has been great for us and the transition from changing formation has gone over alot smoother, we've changed from the previous 442 to a 4132 with 3 central midfielders. Still struggling to find a noteworthy rightback but Colley says he's got a few he's watching and will get back me to soon. Also looking for a keeper but will try to get a decent loanee, although no one is willing to come down at the moment.