retired_richcoble

Our Boxing Day fixture was against Thurrock who travelled down from Essex, crossing the QEII Bridge to do so, to play us at Marlowe Road. Thurrock were struggling in the Conference South, sitting 19th in the table with 14 points from 17 games and only one point above the relegation zone. I named a strong line-up for the game as I wanted to maintain a four point cushion that I had opened up at the top of the table, and given the level of opposition, I also wanted a convincing victory.


The game started off with Malmstrom, five minutes in, playing a ball to the edge of the area from the left which somehow found it way to Gitselov, he controlled it before firing a powerful shot at the goal which was flying for the bottom corner before it was parried by the Thurrock keeper who made a great save. After that the game meandered to an inevitable goalless half-time score line due to the dire nature of the play. I was disappointed at the level of effort the guys were displaying and told them to get back on the pitch and win the match, convincingly.


The team came out for the second half and the crowd of 1,178 roared their encouragement for the Bishops as they wanted a victory for their team. Fifteen minutes into the second half and Smith found himself with the ball on the right and crossed into the box where Teymur got his head to it, heading the ball across the penalty box to Malmstrom on the left hand side of the box, he controlled it with his chest and unleashed a half volley into the far corner of the goal and out of reach of the Thurrock keeper. 1-0 Canterbury!.

Five minutes from time and an excellent piece of play from Teymur saw him give the ball to Mitchell just before a defender could steal it, Mitchell unleashed a wicked strike first time which was magnificently stopped by the Thurrock shot-stopper, it then fell to Hejazi who took the ball forward and tried a low powerful shot at the near corner only for the Thurrock keeper to make a blinding save and the ball went out to the left of the pitch where Malmstrom had it, attempting a cross a Thurrock defender got in the way and it went out for a corner, from which nothing came about.

Two minutes left in the game and Hejazi played the ball to Harkness who rolled it down the line to Malmstrom. Malmstrom played it behind the defender for Hejazi to run onto and Hejazi got the ball, taking it into the penalty area from the left wing where he unleashed a right footed curling striker aimed for the far corner, the Thurrock keeper dived for it but his fingertips could not reach it and the ball bended round him before nestling in the corner of the goal and Canterbury were 2-0 up and the game was secured.


Canterbury City 2 Thurrock
Goals: Malmstrom 61, Hejazi 88;
MoM: Alexander Malmstrom


It wasn't as convincing a win as I had hoped for but it was a good win nonetheless and the lads responded to my half time team talk which was a good sign. Eastbourne Borough returned to winning ways by beating Dorchester 4-2 at home coming from behind twice before putting the game beyond doubt. Bishop's Stortford lost 3-0 away to Histon and Weymouth could only draw 0-0 with Eastleigh.


On the Monday Stockport County sacked Jim Gannon after finding themselves in 21st position in League Two which was unacceptable to the fans and the Chairman reacted to the overwhelming supporter pressure and sacked him. Nigel Clough and Alan Smith are amongst the favourites to take over. My personal assistant Victoria gave me a list of players I had on my shortlist of potential signings who's contracts were set to expire in six months time. Without her I don't think I'd of realised, she's doing great work for me and I thanked her and got myself busy before the New Year reviewing the list as we didn't have a game until the 2nd. I made a few offers to those I felt would improve the team and who we could afford.

retired_richcoble

Review of 2005

We have started our league campaign with a great start, winning the first five games and only losing two games in the league in 18 games. Our defence has been amazingly solid seeing as it was thrown together in the preseason and didn't have time to settle, conceding only 8 in the league. It's amazing what even a small bit of money can do for you as you can obtain players a lot easier if you are able to offer some money for them, I grabbed a lot of players of clubs for fees of under £10k, usually less than £5k.

We had a good run in the FA Cup and only got knocked out by a League Two side that we took to a replay after being the even of them when we played them at Marlowe Road. We are still in the FA Trophy and I have my eyes set on going deep into that competition but prioritising the league as there is after all only one automatic promotion place to escape this division and as long as it remained tight, the league would be my priority.

I had found it hard to settle on a pair of wingers who worked well and created goals for the team, playing four different left wingers and three different right wingers before finding my first choices of Malmstrom and Daniels, who I eventually managed to secure the signing of from Cambridge after meeting their demands. Gitselov and Lamos had been excellent in the attacking central midfield role while Mitchell was holding his own in the more defensive minded central midfield, ably supported by Yemane when needed.

Upfront and Appleby, Hejazi, and Teymur just keep banging the goals in. Teymur has been a revelation and a fantastic find by Matti Luimijarvi my Finnish scout. Teymur and Hejazi are likely to be my strike partnership for a long time and I hope to be able to hang on to both of them.

If my 4-4-2 formation, with attacking wingers and a quick tempo philosophy, continues to pay dividends then I will continue with it as it is proving very fruitful. All in all it was a successful 2005 and I hope we can maintain our good form and secure promotion to the Conference National which will be much harder to both escape from and to survive in, of that I have no doubt.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts1st Canterbury City 18 14 2 2 38 8 442nd Eastbourne Boro 18 12 4 2 36 13 40 3rd Bishop's Stortford 18 11 3 4 28 22 364th Weymouth 18 9 8 1 33 17 355th Newport County 18 9 7 2 23 15 34</pre>

retired_richcoble

January 2006

It’s New Year’s Day today and after a drunken party with family and friends I came into work as there was a lot of important business to get to with the opening of the January transfer window. It was turntable day as many players left the club while new ones joined. I’ll give a summary of the players who left first:

Name – Age – Position – Games – Goals – Assists – MoM – Av Rating

Michael Ryan, 20, AMRLC - 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0.00 to Hailsham, free transfer
I signed him from amongst my amateur ranks but he never stood a chance of first team action once I brought in the players I wanted despite being versatile, I let him leave on a free transfer to Hailsham.

Andrew Driver, 18, AML, 5 – 1 – 2 – 0 – 7.00, to Rotherham for £5,000
Andrew was someone I signed with the idea of him being my starting left winger, despite good performances when he did play I felt I had better options on cheaper wages and he was someone I could do without which is why I sold him. Malmstrom had made the left wing position his own.

Matt Parker, 22, SC, 4 (1) – 3 – 1 – 0 – 7.20, to Chesterfield for £5,000
With Teymur, Hejazi, and Appleby banging in goals and better options than Parker, and with Yelcin developing in the youth team I could not justify a wage for someone who wasn’t part of my first team or a regular substitute.

I secured a deal to bring in Hector, a defender who can play in the centre or left back, he’s only 20 years old and I had been targeting him since the beginning of the season, after Victoria told me his contract was expiring I made him an offer and thankfully he accepted it. He’s a solid defender with great growth potential, a great work rate combines with excellent concentration, bravery and strength to make him a fantastic signing for Canterbury City. He’ll be joining us on July 1st when hopefully we’ll have secured promotion to the Conference National.

The first was also the day of my monthly board meeting, thankfully scheduled in the late afternoon. Once again I was informed the board were delighted with me but once again we had made a loss, of £84.81k, a more detailed study of the finances revealed that wages had stayed around £43k but gate receipts and income had taken a nosedive from the highs of November, as was to be expected. We had to escape the Conference South if we were to be a going concern (accounting speak for financially viable) as we were losing money fast. The summary graph of our balance was a downward trend since I started here. Our income had fallen back to October’s levels. Our next game was a home match in the Conference South against Maidenhead who are lying in 16th place in the table.

The game against Maidenhead starting with us exerting a great deal of pressure on the Maidenhead which eventually led to them conceding a penalty in the 28th minute, Hejazi stepped up to take it, a short run up he struck the ball to the keeper’s right and the keeper didn’t move as it nestled in the corner of the goal to put Canterbury 1-0 up in the game. A Smith throw in from the middle of the park was passed around by the defence and midfield before Mitchell on the left swung the ball back to Smith on the right, controlling with his chest he sent a ball deep into the box where Hejazi was to unleash a furious shot on goal but Wainwright made a fantastic save only for it to fall back to Hejazi, surely he wouldn’t miss twice, firing left (keeper’s right) it was going in, but Wainwright stuck a foot out for another great save and the ball went spinning to his left, where it fell to Teymur, with the keeper out of position Teymur just powered it into near post of the goal with velocity and it was 2-0 Canterbury.

At half-time I congratulated the lads and told them to go out and secure the victory, after we ran out onto the pitch for the second half the attendance was announced, 1207 people had turned up at Marlowe Road. A great bit of play from Maidenhead with some excellent passing between the midfield and good link up play with the forwards resulted in a good chance for Paul Tait who headed towards goal only to see Stiel make a good save and have it go out for a corner. Maidenhead took the corner and once again Tait got his head to it but sent the ball wide of goal. The match then drifted on for the last twenty minutes with neither side really threatening the other’s goal and the match ended 2-0 to Canterbury, a comfortable win for my side.

Canterbury City 2 Maidenhead 0

Goals: Hejazi pen 28, Teymur 43;
MoM: Mahmod Hejazi

It was a good performance from my side and made it four straight victories for the Bishops. Eastbourne Boro got back to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Hayes while Weymouth capitalised on Bishop’s Stortford’s goalless draw with Welling by winning 1-0 against Dorchester and moving up to third in the table. The press lauded the better use of the ball by my team as the vital factor in our victory, I think a mean defence and clinical finishing was the main factor to be honest as Maidenhead never really threatened. Our next game is away to Dorchester at the Avenue Stadium.

retired_richcoble

Games against Dorchester and Hayes

After a rather lifeless start to the match it took 22 minutes before Maddison found Malmstrom down the left and his cross almost saw Appleby score at the near post but the ball went wide. 10 minutes later and only a fine save from the Dorchester keeper denied Teymur a goal, their keeper made another cracker of a save from a viciously curling Maddison free kick; his save put the ball out for a corner. A corner taken by Blomkvist which was swung to the penalty spot where Lemos rose to meet it and headed it towards the far corner where it beat the man on the post and nestled in the goal, 1-0 Canterbury.

In injury time Griffin intercepted a pass for Malmstrom,, hitting along ball first time which soared over my defence and was picked up by Griffin who controlled it, took it round Baker in the Canterbury goal and passed it into the goal from an acute angle, it was a superbly taken goal and one deserving of being an equaliser for a mid-table team. We went into half time with the game level at 1-1. Dorchester were threatening again just after half-time with Groves sending in a dangerous looking cross, well dangerous if any of their players had been in the box, Baker plucked the ball out the air and launched it to Malmstrom who took it down the left wing and passed it in for Appleby who again went close at the near post.

My team were soaking up pressure again from Dorchester in the 74th minute when Lemos intercepted a Dorchester pass and played a superb ball behind the Dorchester defence for Teymur, Johan didn’t show any hesitation when he was one on one with the keeper and slotted it home for a deserved Canterbury lead. Johan almost turned provider with a terrific ball from the right which Appleby was only just unable to get his foot to and Malmstrom couldn’t stop it going behind for a goal kick.

Two minutes into injury time and Dorchester’s right winger got a ball into the box which fell to Wonnacott, but his shot was saved by Baker. Just a minute later and Smith puts through Wonnacott one on one with Baker, this time Wonnacott made no mistake and applied the finish to make the game 2-2 with barely any time left. Just as we kicked off, the whistle was blown for full-time. We had conceded a goal with virtually the last kick of the game, how frustrating!

Dorchester 2 Canterbury City 2

Goals: Groves 45, Wonnacott 90; Lemos 37, Teymur 74;
MoM: Alexander Malmstrom

That draw was very disappointing for the lads, especially as Eastbourne Borough hammered Maidenhead 3-0. Roles reversed for Weymouth as they were held to a draw by Thurrock while Bishop’s Stortford beat Sutton Utd 2-0. We were now only two points clear at the top, and a further six points clear of Bishop’s Stortford. We were clear of 6th place, which was out of playoff contention, by 17 points. Teymur’s goal in the game against Dorchester took his tally for the season in all competitions to 20, he could feel rightly proud.

We were off to face Middlesex to play Hayes

A terrific header from Hejazi from a Lee-Matthews cross put us 1-0 up after only 3 minutes, as the radio commentator said at the end of half-time, surely the second half can only be better as the rest of the first half was completely flat without much happening at all! Lee-Matthews turned provider again as a free kick taken just in front of the half-way line found its way to Hejazi in the box and a drilled shot low into the bottom corner was enough to put Canterbury 2-0 up with only 10 minutes gone in the second half. Five minutes later and a Lee-Matthews header went all the way to Hejazi upfront, but a Hayes defender tackled him, putting the ball in the path of Teymur who took it forward and put it past Davies in the Hayes goal for a 3-0 Canterbury lead, which was how it finished in front of the 407 fans who had turned up at Church Road on a wet and cold Saturday afternoon.

Hayes 0 Canterbury City 3

Goals: Hejazi 3, 53, Teymur 60;
MoM: Bruno Lemos

With Eastbourne Borough drawing 0-0 at Bishop’s Stortford both my team and Weymouth capitalised thanks to our victories as we opened up a four point lead again while Weymouth went ahead of Bishop’s Stortford by a point. A draw for Weston-super-mare meant I was now 19 points clear of being out of the play-off zone. The day after the game Matty Collins of Fulham put pen to paper on a deal that would bring him to the club after his contract expires at the end of June, a tenacious centre midfielder he should provide good competition for Scottie Mitchell in the centre of the park.

retired_richcoble

Game against Bishop's Stortford

Our very similar fixture list to Eastbourne Borough continues as we now travel to face Bishop’s Stortford and with our next game against St Albans, sure enough Eastbourne was playing them as we played Bishop’s Stortford. We travelled up the M2, round the M25, over the QEII bridge and up the M11 to Bishop’s Stortford for a game at the 4,000 capacity Woodside Park to play the 4th placed team in the league.

A beautiful run from Malmstrom followed by a well weighted pass to Hejazi in the box led to the first goal of the game with 34 minutes gone as Hejazi put the ball into the back of the net. Daniels created a great opportunity for Appleby by beating his man before playing it to Appleby in the box at the near post in injury time of the first half, Appleby controlled it with his left foot before burying it in the near post to make it two nil to Canterbury. We had played a terrific first half against the fourth placed team and were looking good for a win which would be a real confidence booster and a key victory in our season considering Eastbourne slipped up against them.

I’d of said the second half was uneventful but for this passage of play. Jones headed down for Mitchell who beat his man, dribbled past another before playing it into the feet of Hejazi, with a juking move he beat one man, a shimmy and a sidestep and he was around another, on the edge of the area with another man to beat he changed direction in a flash and unleashed a ferocious shot into the top corner of the goal that was simply unstoppable, the best goal of the game, the month and in my opinion the season, if it doesn’t win goal of the month then the judges must be blind such was the quality of the goal.

Bishop’s Stortford 0 Canterbury City 3

Goals: Hejazi 34, 73, Appleby 45;
MoM: Alexander Malmstrom

St Albans held Eastbourne Borough to a 2-2 draw while Weymouth hammered Hayes 6 goals to nil for a convincing victory that stretched their unbeaten record to fourteen league games. They were four nil up after 21 minutes and five after 35. A stunning victory which, combined with my win over their rivals saw them go four points clear of Bishop’s Stortford and only 3 points off of Eastbourne Borough while my team sat six points clear at the top of the table. Bishop’s Stortford needed a return to winning ways in their crucial league game against Weymouth to maintain a playoff push and not drop below Newport County who were only 1 point behind them and in fifth position. The gap to sixth place and a place outside the playoff zone was now 7 points due to Weston-super-mare only managing a draw against lowly Basingstoke.

retired_richcoble

It’s Saturday the 14th January and we have one of the biggest games of the season for us thus far as we face high flying Hereford United in second round of the FA Trophy. Hereford were first in the Conference National, level on points with Stevenage Borough and had only lost four games all season, one of those against my old local team Southend United in the FA Cup. We were listed as distinct second favourites to win the match by the bookies who said we’d face a tough encounter, I expected nothing less and hoped we’d prevail in what was bound to be a tight and tough game against higher level opposition.

Due to the nature of the opposition I switched my tactical formation from the aggressive 4-4-2 attacking with flying wingers to a more conservative 4-4-2 with the wingers dropping back and neither of my central midfielders having an attacking role, I also put it into a counter attacking mode as I sought to capitalise on any mistakes they made. I named my strongest squad, bringing back Teymur from his rest and playing Jones in midfield next to Mitchell instead of Gitselov as I wanted to tenacious midfielders in the centre of the park.

The preparation almost came undone when two minutes in Stansfield had an opportunity just outside the six yard box from a superb cross but Baker made the save and it went out for a corner. Teymur was then put through seven minutes later but in an uncharacteristic move he was caught by a defender and prevented from getting a shot in on goal. Twenty two minutes into the game and Smith sent a long ranging ball down the right wing onto which Teymur latched having run behind the Hereford left back, taking it towards the penalty area he crossed it in going over the keeper where Hejazi was and he made sure of the finish with a terrific header into the empty net and Canterbury were up 1-0 against the top of the Conference National! Malmstrom’s silky running in the 44th minute saw a cut back from the byline for Teymur who hit the ball first time with his left foot but the effort was blocked by a Hereford defender and then cleared to safety. We went in at half-time 1-0 up with all to play for as if we held on we’d be through to the third round having knocked out higher league opposition.

Ten minutes into the second half and Nicolau, the Hereford left winger beat Smith down the left wing with a nice stepover before whipping a ball into the box for waiting Stansfield, an open goal beckoned for Stansfield and he side footed the ball with his right boot and it was heading for the far corner for an easy tap in. Baker had other ideas as he launched himself across the goal from being out of position and made a terrific diving save to tip it round the post for a corner to Hereford. It was a truly remarkable save given the ground he had to make up and Stansfield must have been kicking himself at missing the opportunity, especially as nothing came from the corner. Barely two minutes later and Nicolau unleashed a powerful volley at goal which just dipped over the crossbar, a lucky escape for Canterbury as Baker was off his line and would not of been able to reach it.

Twenty five minutes left in the game and we were hanging on for dear life against a relentless torrent of Hereford attacks, some solid defending and teamwork was keeping them at bay and did so for a further twenty minutes before Daniels had a crack from far out at goal which unfortunately went wide of the Hereford goal. A quick counter attack in the 85th minute won us a corner as Malmstrom tried to get the ball in the box, the corner was cleared after a frantic scramble in the Hereford box. Two minutes from time and we were applying pressure as a cross from Malmstrom found Hejazi at the near post, his darting header was saved by the Hereford keeper and we were still 1-0 up. Clarke for Hereford found himself with plenty of the space near our penalty area before a cracking tackle from Blomkvist stopped the Hereford’s attack in its tracks and put the ball out for a throw.

Four minutes into injury time and Teymur and Hejazi were 2 on 1 with the lone Hereford defender, but somehow unbeknown to me they lost the ball and Hereford were launching a final attack on our goal when the referee, Nigel Miller, called time on the game. We had won! A victory against the top of the Conference National and we were through to the next round after a deserved victory in front of the 1,566 fans at Marlowe Road. Hejazi walked off with the man of the match honours when I think Blomkvist or Mitchell were equally deserving, a cracking performance from my team and some stout defending won us the game and I couldn’t of been happier.

Canterbury City 1 Hereford United 0

Goals: Hejazi 23;
MoM: Mahmod Hejazi

The price of our victory was £5,000 in prize money and losing Alexander Malmstrom for 2 to 4 weeks with a pulled hamstring, a real sucker punch as he has become a key member of my team. The Tuesday after the game and I completed the signing of Anders Sorensen, an exciting prospect at left back who can also move forward and play on the left side of midfield which may come in useful, my Finnish scout has his rated very highly so I hope he pays off as he has put me closer to my wage budget just as I had come under it for the first time in a long while.

Anders Sorensen, DL/ML, 20, £10k

An exciting left back prospect, and I emphasise prospect, he has good concentration, teamwork and stamina but needs to work on his marking, heading and tackling, he is blisteringly fast and has great acceleration, we’ll see if he develops.

retired_richcoble

Game against St Albans City

I made the signing on the same day as the draw for the Third Round of the FA Trophy and there were only sixteen teams in the hat, a lot of big teams went before it was revealed we’d travel to either Worthing or Aldershot. As I was reading the paper during the draw I saw comments from Martin Hayes, the manager of Bishop’s Stortford declaring “We will beat Weymouth”, ‘they had to’ I thought. On the Wednesday I received a most unexpected offer. Remember Blackburn had been scouting three of my players, well that died down and the Blackburn scout stopped attending games, that matter over I thought. Well no, Blackburn had now made an offer for Bruno Lemos, not one of those they were apparently scouting and it comes completely out of the blue. They were not offering any cash just a 25% next sale clause and a friendly game I wasn’t having that and declared an acceptable value, demanding £30,000 upfront, £20,000 after 10 league games and the same clauses, I hope they offered it as I’d take it instantly despite how well Lemos had been playing.

We were entertaining St Albans at Marlowe Road tonight and I decided to give Sorensen his first start while I also reverted to my normal attacking 4-4-2 formation with Gitselov going back into the midfield and Jones back in central defence. In the 9th minute of the game Gitselov passed the ball out to Blomkvist who was playing at right back for the first time after I’d retrained him and he sent a terrific looping ball into the box where Teymur rose above his marker and lobbed a header over the outcoming keeper and into the St Albans goal for a 1-0 lead for Canterbury. The game remained like that for a long time with periods of good play from both sides.

In the 44th minute Lemos intercepted a St Albans pass and sent the ball into Hejazi’s feet on the edge of the area, he turned his marker inside out and was skipping into the box where he was met by the keeper, with the outside of his right foot he knocked the ball across the face of the six yard box where Teymur was waiting and it was an easy half volley for Johan to make the game 2-0 to Canterbury, and he did not disappoint as the ball crashed into the back of the net.

15 minutes into the second half and a massive clearance from Jones in the centre of defence is latched onto Hejazi who is clear on goal and as the keeper comes out he slots it home at the near post with his left foot to make the game 3-0 and there was no coming back now for St Albans. 77 minutes into the game and Daniels floats a corner into the box where Teymur, at the near post, gets a glancing header to that was at an easy height and position for the keeper, had he not come out to claim the ball, as it happens, the ball just floated into the back of the net to make it a hat-trick for Teymur and a 4-0 Canterbury lead.

As the clock struck 90 minutes for the game Blomkvist took a throw in well in his half, he threw the ball to Teymur who played the ball back to him, Blomkvist then sent the ball down the right wing which Hejazi collected and advanced to the byline where he cut the ball back for the advancing Teymur who controlled it and drilled it, and I mean drilled it, with such velocity that the St Albans keeper couldn’t prevent it from squirming under his body and into the net for a 5 nil lead and Teymur’s fourth of the game. It was an incredible performance for him and he deserved the man of the match award he got.

Canterbury City 5 St Albans City 0

Goals: Teymur 10, 45, 78, 90, Hejazi 63;
MoM: Johan Teymur

The paper after the game was vociferous in it’s praise for my team, scoring three of my players with perfect 10 out of ten’s and three other’s with 9’s, including my new signing Sorensen. Hejazi, Teymur and Blomkvist got the 10’s. Unfortunately for Hayes, the Bishop’s Stortford manager, his team lost 2-0 to Weymouth in their game at Wessex Stadium and found themselves in fifth position as Newport County had drawn their game against Basingstoke. My next game was away to Cambridge City on the Saturday and just before the game Blackburn matched my demands for Bruno Lemos, I reluctantly accepted the offer, aware of the financial demands this end of the game and the fact we were losing money fast and down to about £400,000 in the bank with the loan still being a long way from repayment.

I’d also received offers from Portsmouth and Charlton, I told them to make better ones as £1k was not cutting it and wanted a deal exceeding the one Blackburn had offered me, hopefully they’ll exceed it. As Lemos was likely lost I needed a replacement as that would leave me without a solid left winger due to Malmstrom’s injury and so I went hunting for a cheap replacement for Lemos just before the game against Cambridge. In addition to all this word was passed to me that Blackpool were scouting my keeper, Baker, and Hejazi, I did hope that offers I could not refuse were not made as I wanted to keep both of those players.

retired_richcoble

Game against Cambridge City

As we travelled up the M2, and then the M11 I had decided that Teymur needed a rest for the game against Cambridge City at the City Ground so I brought Appleby into the team to start alongside Hejazi with Lemos out on the left wing. A cross from Lemos on the left wing after fifteen minutes found Daniels on the edge of the box and he shot at goal only to see it parried by the keeper where it fell to Appleby who struck the ball cleanly, sending it wide. 30 minutes into the game and Jones cleared the ball from the defence sending it long where Appleby retrieved it before a Cambridge player could get it, bearing down on goal the Cambridge keeper, Millard, came to meet him but Appleby simply passed the ball across the goal to the waiting Hejazi who despite having a Cambridge player bearing down on him executed the simple tap in to the goal with Millard stranded. 1-0 Canterbury.

Ten minutes later and James Smith received a ball from Sorensen from out on the left, Smith then chipped the ball forward where Appleby latched onto it and beating his marker only had Millard to beat, one on one he sent it low and to the keeper’s left at the near post where Millard was unable to reach it and the ball ended up in the far corner of the net, such was the acute angle that Appleby shot from, Millard should really have covered the near post better and keep the ball out. Only five minutes later and another long ball from my defence found Gitselov with plenty of space, controlling it in the box he turned to shoot at goal but a saving tackle from a Cambridge defender prevented a shot on goal and kept the score 2-0 to Canterbury.

My team were playing long ball football it seemed, the type I usually abhor and with my instructions for a mixed passing game, it was obvious to me the team were choosing what they thought was best and exploiting a Cambridge defence susceptible to the long ball over the top. Cambridge had counter-attacked after Gitselov’s attempt and a good cross from Jamie Burt was deflected by Smith where it fell to Narbett who controlled it with his chest, pushed the ball to his right and unleashed a curling, dipping shot on the Canterbury goal, Baker was scrambling for it and got a hand to it, just, where the ball fell to Sorensen who cleared the ball upfield and into touch to avert the danger.

We went into half-time 2 goals up and seemingly in control of the game. Fifteen minutes into the second half and Sorensen received the ball from Jones, out on the left he swung the ball into the box where Appleby controlled it with his right foot before swinging a left boot at it and sending it crashing towards the goal where Millard saved it and a Cambridge player hoofed it into touch.

Ten minutes later and Smith, played a ball into the feet of Hejazi 10 yards outside the box, Hejazi’s first touch, with his marker close to him was to glance the ball with his left ball, sending it at an acute angle round the Cambridge defender as turned to his right and ran in behind the Cambridge defender. A superb bit of skill from Hejazi demonstrating great awareness had seen him turn a well defended pass into a golden opportunity as he was clear through on goal, shooting from just inside the penalty area his shot was hit with some venom and Millard did well to keep it out, making an athletic save to keep Cambridge in the game at only 2 goals down with twenty minutes to go.

With only four minutes remaining in the game Sorensen again put a beautiful ball into the box where a Cambridge defender miscued his clearance and the ball spun into the path of Appleby who thanks to Cambridge’s misfortune had a golden opportunity to score, he hit the ball with his right and it went soaring over the bar. That was the last opportunity in the game and the match finished 2-0 to Canterbury.

Cambridge City 0 Canterbury City 2

Goals: Hejazi 31, Appleby 41;
MoM: Hejazi

Before the game was played a reporter asked me about my team and if anyone was playing particularly well, having previously praised Sorensen the week before I let it be known that I thought Hejazi’s performances recently had been of great quality, he rewarded my praise with another man of the match performance but also won the fans’ acclaim as it was later reported in the same paper that the fans of Canterbury City were ‘delighted with Hejazi’s recent top drawer performances’ and was ‘held in very high esteem by the majority of fans’. ‘Too right’ I thought.

Bishop’s Stortford’s poor run of form continued as they lost 3-2 at home to Farnborough who were in fifteenth in the league and the loss made it three straight losses for them. They were unlucky as they had come back from behind twice during the game only to lose it to a goal two minutes from time. Eastbourne Borough drew their game and Weymouth could have capitalised and move to second in the table but they drew their game and found themselves level on points separated by goal difference, one goal to be precise but Eastbourne Borough had a game in hand. We were now 11 points clear at the top having played a game more than Eastbourne, and 23 points clear of sixth placed Weston-super-mare who had won one game in their past seven to really fall off the pace and it was only the poor form of Bishop’s Stortford keeping them in the hunt for a playoff place.


If I have any silent readers, it would be nice to hear from you! So I know that someone is reading this :p

retired_richcoble

I was looking forward to a lazy Sunday when I received phone calls from Birmingham and Blackpool, Birmingham wanted Bruno lemos and were offering £30,000 upfront with a 25% next sale clause. I asked for £50,000 and 35%. Blackpool phoned me later on that day, in the afternoon, and were making bids for both Baker and Hejazi. They wanted to ‘trade’ Baker for Rob Edwards, a 32 year old left back. I laughed in their face, perhaps not the best response but it was a ridiculous offer considering Baker was a 20 year old talented keeper with a bright future and the other was at the end of his career, they did say it included a 25% next sale clause but I wasn’t having any of it. I demanded £45,000 upfront, a 35% next sale clause and a further £10,000 after 10 league games. If I was going to lose my number one keeper it better be for a good deal, admittedly I could afford to lose him as Jake Cole was joining me on the 5th February and I could play Stiel in goal until then. It was the reason I didn’t reject the bid outright.

Their bid for Hejazi was for more enticing and substantial, at £400,000 and a friendly. I wasn’t prepared to let a player like Hejazi go for anything less than £800,000 so I asked for a million plus 10% of his next sale, determined not to under-sell a player like I was going to with Lemos as Portsmouth and Charlton had not hesitation in matching my demands, if he went to Blackburn I’d really have undersold him.

Blackpool withdrew their offer for Hejazi so perhaps I had asked for too much but if I sold Lemos and Baker it wouldn’t matter as I really wanted to keep Hejazi, he was going to be a star, and the money for Baker and Lemos would be enough to keep us financially secure for the rest of the season. I had made offers to two left wingers and one of them, Rory Prendergast chose Shrewsbury over Canterbury, I wasn’t disappointed as long as I landed the other one. Prendergast wanted five times as much in wages and although more talented had less upside.

Disappointed by the offers for Lemos I offered him to clubs at about £20,000 more than I might of sold him for, well, I opened up a can of worms as a bidding war started as I received offers from 11 more clubs to take the total to 14 teams bidding for his services. I raised my asking price to £100,000 and was really kicking myself for accepting Blackburn’s bid, why could I not now reject it? I also received phone calls from more teams interested in Baker, I think as it was near the end of the transfer window a lot of teams higher up in the pyramid were getting rather desperate and this had led to the flood of offers I was receiving.

retired_richcoble

On the Saturday I was playing Yeading and had failed to notice before now that a local side of mine, Colchester United, had drawn Manchester United away in the FA Cup Fourth Round and were playing them Saturday, what a money spinner, and good on Colchester! With Eastbourne having drawn their game midweek we were now 10 points clear of them and I really felt good about our chances of automatic promotion, as long as the pending sales didn’t ruin team morale or affect the performances on the pitch.


We opened the game by Lemos going close in the eighth minute when his shot went into the side netting from the left hand side. We came close again on 17 minutes when a bouncing ball was headed at goal by Gitselov only to be saved. He got his head on a cross from Smith three minutes later but the keeper saved it sending it out for a corner from which there was a scramble in the box but got cleared eventually. Despite our clear domination of the first half we failed to get a good chance on goal yet alone a goal in itself. I told the lads at half-time to go out and win the game, take it by the scruff of the neck and beat the crap out of it.


We almost did it ten minutes in when Teymur fired in from the right only to hit the outside of the near post and go out for a goal kick, a corner five minutes later saw Gitselov again get his head on it but it was cleared off the line by the Yeading full back. On the hour mark we were still dominating and yet unable to score a goal despite this. Sixty six, a golden number in English football history, minutes into the game and Horsley, playing for the first time in ages due to others lack of fitness, received the ball out on the right from Smith, he brought it in before lobbing the ball towards the back post for Lemos, the keeper went to get it and missed it and Lemos couldn’t get his head on it as the ball had looped right into the net at the far post and Horsley had scored his first ever goal for Canterbury! What a statement to me having transfer listed him a while ago, lucky, but still, he created the opportunity for it to happen.


It looked like luck would be the only difference in the match as not much occurred until injury time. Baker cleared the ball out to the right where it bounced over a Yeading player and Teymur beat Horsley to the ball, turning on it from wide on the right he took the ball towards the centre of the pitch before spotting a gap in the defence between three defenders behind two of which Gitselov was making a run, he played a perfectly weighted left footed pass into Gitselov’s path, it was pinpoint, he took two touches before squaring the ball for Hejazi. The Yeading left back was making up ground however and reached for the ball as he was in between Gitselov and Hejazi, but he missed the ball and it reached Hejazi who just stroked it into the empty net with the keeper stranded for a two goal lead which was how it finished.

Canterbury City 2 Yeading 0

Goals: Horsley 67, Hejazi 90;
MoM: Mark Jones


After the game a journalist from the Canterbury Gazette came up and asked me about Bruno Lemos.

“Bruno Lemos appears to have come of age this season. Will you allow him to fulfil his potential by moving to a bigger club?”

My first response, to remain off the record I told him, was that Canterbury City will be a bigger club and players can fulfil their potential here, unrealistic but I wanted to emphasise I had big ambitions for his small club in the county of Kent. My official response was that “Quality players are always going to be hard to keep and Bruno is no different in that respect.” My jolly mood was enhanced when Tranmere’s Paul Brown, the other left winger I had been targeting, accepted my offer over Frinckley’s and signed up for three years on £120 a week for only £1,000.


With Lemos close to being sold, I’d have a replacement for him having made a handsome profit to secure the club’s financial future. Eastbourne Borough won 3-1 against Bognor Regis and Weymouth beat Cambridge 4-2, Newport County and Bishop’s Stortford both drew 0-0 against their opposition and with Weston-super-mare finally winning there was only two points difference between them.


In other news Glenn Hoddle resigned as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, one of the teams I had a strong affinity for (shamefully because I loved their kits and colours, but also as I used to manage them on Champ Man 2) and I was tempted to apply for the job but it was clear that manager’s like Colin Cooper, John Gregory and Stan Ternent were the favourites and better men for the job considering their reputations. My only surprise given that situation was that Rick Hayward hadn’t fired Glenn Hoddle already seeing as they were in 22nd position after 30 games, no place for a club like Wolverhampton Wanderers.