retired_w0lfpack1

Tuesday August 31, 2004.

We were still in 21st place, but now we had our first point, our first goal, and a two week break without a game. It was time I would spend alternating between wedding planning, trying to rid the squad of deadweight, celebrating a birthday, and seeking players whom I could loan in. We weren't too exhausted, but the break would give Ryan-Zico Black time to recover from his injury.

On Monday, the deal sending Ian Dawes to Tillery was completed. To my surprise, the Tillery fans were unhappy about it, worried about Dawes disrupting the harmony at Woodland Field. He hadn't been a problem when he was here, at least not that I'd noticed - he'd never been more than peripheral. His place on the squad was taken, at least temporarily, by an 18-year-old winger who joined us for a two week trial period.

I spoke with scout Spencer Field by phone last night. His search of the Championship had unearthed only one player in almost a month of work.

"Spencer, what's going on? Are you considering most of the players at that level too pricey for us? I just want loan targets!"

"I know, I know," he replied. "Its not that - I think your aim is too high. There's hardly anybody here that's willing to go on loan four divisions down."

"We should probably call it off, then."

"Yeah. Do you want me to look a little closer to home, Conference or League Two, say?"

"No. Why don't you head north to scout Scotland instead. Transfer targets, not loans."

"You won't be able to bring them in until January."

"I know."

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Wednesday, 1st September, 2004.

The transfer deadline came - and went.

We made no deals.

I was mostly disappointed that the proposed transfer of Ryan Elderton to Hamilton collapsed due to the end of the international transfer window. The Scottish side had been offering almost £5,000 for him, but couldn't iron out a contract with Ryan in time to complete the deal before the deadline. The FA's fax about the transfer deadline assured me that 'Clubs outside the top division in England may still purchase players domestically.'

I asked Assistant Manager Kevin Hull to offer Ryan to some domestic sides for the same terms.

It was gratifying to speak with the Chairman this evening - Steve assured me that despite our poor start, the directors are still sure that they made the right choice in appointing me as manager. I'd been starting to worry, but even with his reassurance, I can't imagine 21st will satisfy the board for long.

Meanwhile, wedding planning continued apace: despite moving to England, we'd decided to stick with our original plan, and fly home to California to get married at this beautiful vinyard we'd found. Unfortunately, our caterers had gone out of business! We'd selected a fine vegetarian restaurant, the place I'd taken Stacy the night I proposed to her, but apparently catering was turning out more trouble than it was worth, so now we had a mad scramble to find a new one.

retired_w0lfpack1

Saturday, 4th September, 2004.

The first World Cup Qualifiers were today. In the 'British Isles' group, Group 6, England travelled to Vienna to face Austria. The hosts made a dream start with a long ball over the English defense to Markus Weissenberger, who scored in the 3rd minute.

England kept their composure, and just before the half-hour mark, Michael Owen used his pace to dribble past the last man and put in the equaliser. Not ten minutes later, Beckham floated a lovely ball into the box for Gareth Barry to finish. Michael Riedl levelled for the hosts just before injury time, and it was 2-2 at the break.

In the 69th minute, however, Beckham received a second yellow card and was sent off: the English pulled back to a very defensive formation and ran out time content with the single point.

Wales beat Azerbaijan 2-0 to take the early group lead on a pair of first-half goals from Andy Johnson. In Belfast, David Healy's early goal was enough as Northern Ireland beat Poland 1-0!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Group 6: Pts P W D L GDWales 3 1 1 0 0 + 2N.Ireland 3 1 1 0 0 + 1Austria 1 1 0 1 0 + 0England 1 1 0 1 0 + 0Poland 0 1 0 0 1 - 1Azerbaijan 0 1 0 0 1 - 2</pre>

In Group 4, Ireland beat Cyprus 3-0 at Landsowne Road with goals by Roy Keane, Kenny Cunningham, and Damien Duff. The Irish still found themselves behind France, who beat Israel 4-0 in Paris, on goal differential.

Scotland were idle in Group 5, but Italy started the campaign with a 2-0 win over Norway, while Slovenia beat Moldova 1-0 - the Scots would need to win to keep pace.

There was one other notable result: in Olimpico stadium at Serravalle, San Marino scored their first-ever World Cup qualifying victory, a 1-0 win against Serbia & Montenegro.

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Thursday, 9th September, 2004.

My birthday was this week: I celebrated by taking a few days off, and letting young Kevin Hull and Barrie Stimpson run training in my stead. My fiancee and I went for a romantic trip to Wales, where we found a cozy bed and breakfast. I'll spare you the details, but it made for a beautiful place to get away from it all.

When I got back today, my desk was flooded with reports from my scouts; literally two dozen, at least. I sorted through them all, offering a few of the players the chance to come in on trial, though I got one really good laugh when I saw a player who had been released by East Stirling. Its a sad state of affairs if your scout thinks East Stirling's rejects are worth approaching.

Wednesday was the second World Cup qualifying match of the break, and England travelled to Chorzow to face Poland. The hosts weathered numerous English attacks early on, then scored against the run of play in the 26th minute on the counterattack, Emmanuel Olisadebe with the goal. They held it through the 60th minute when England brought on substitute Alan Smith, who utterly changesd the game. His first touch was a flicked header to Steven Gerrard, who scored to even things at the 61st minute. In the 65th, a Smith header earned an English corner, which Gerrard buried for his second in four minutes. The 2-1 lead held, leaving the English in third place.

Austria won 3-1 over Azerbaijan to go second, while Wales pounded Northern Ireland in Cardiff, 3-0, to take first in the group on goals from Gary Speed, Robert Earnshaw, and Craig Bellamy.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Group 6: Pts P W D L GDWales 6 2 2 0 0 + 5Austria 4 2 1 1 0 + 2England 4 2 1 1 0 + 1N.Ireland 3 2 1 0 1 - 2Poland 0 2 0 0 2 - 2Azerbaijan 0 2 0 0 2 - 4</pre>

In other action, Scotland beat Slovenia 2-0 on goals from Paul Gallagher and Steven Thompson, moving to second behind high-flying Italy, who beat Macedonia 2-0.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Italy 6 2 2 0 0 + 4Scotland 3 1 1 0 0 + 2Slovenia 3 2 1 0 1 - 1</pre>

Ireland were stunned by Switzerland 4-2 despite goals by David Connolly and Roy Keane, a harsh early blow to their hopes, as France rolled on with a 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">France 6 2 2 0 0 + 6Switzerland 6 2 2 0 0 + 4Ireland 3 2 1 0 1 + 1</pre>

I turned the television off and returned to my work: Carl Richardson's report on our upcoming opponent, Stafford Rangers, had arrived. "A competent side" again?

I reminded myself that he was leaving the club in a year, and I had him in the least harmful position he could occupy. The only useful thing he said was that their attack is strong and quick.

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Saturday, 11th September, 2004. Conference North - Game 5, at Stafford Rangers.

Bad news this morning: in yesterday evening's practice, Ryan Elderton fell and injured his shoulder. After David Hughes examined it today, he told me there was no way Elderton could play today, and he'd be out for one to two weeks. Unlucky - especially as there were several scouts from teams we'd called here to watch him!

I stuck very nearly with the same side that had done so well two weeks earlier, though I brought back Michael Yates up front, and put veteran Phil Clarkson in at AMC in place of young Jason Lay. To refresh, that was the 4-5-1 formation, with Speare in net, Scott, Clark, McMahon, and Sparrow at defense, Mercer the defensive mid, Clitheroe and Mellor on the wings, with Tolley, Clarkson, and Yates up front.

A great save by Jamie Speare two minutes into the match set the tone for the first half: Rangers kept constant pressure in front of goal throughout. A clutch tackle by Paul Sparrow saved a golden chance in the 10th minute, and Speare made a diving stop in the 16th, just diverting the ball wide of the post. He couldn't prevent Dominic Permain's inspired effort, however, as the striker adroitly brought the ball off the endline with one touch of his right foot, and then launched a left-footed strike through the narrow window between Speare and the post. Half our defense had stopped, thinking it out for a corner, but there had been no whistle! Sixteen minutes had passed, and we were 0-1 down.

Permain just missed a second goal 7 minutes later, and the pressure remained constant through the rest of the half, though Speare remained up to the task. At halftime, we were trailing only 0-1, but were being outshot 1-10. I was furious, and made no bones about it during my halftime talk. I don't recall exactly what I said, but I recall calling them 'kittens', and telling them Speare looked shellshocked. I finished up by telling them they were embarassing the club, their uniform, and themselves - and that I was making no changes: if they continued to play like this, that was their choice, and we'd lose seven-nil.

I fully expected a repeat in the second half, but, amazingly, the talk seemed to have strengthened their spines, and from the off we took control of the match and had the better chances. Yates came close twice, and had another chance diverted by a last-ditch tackle at the 6-yard box. There was plenty of action, and for quite a while I believed we might find the equaliser. My attackers tired before the end of the match, and I finally made several changes.

Fresh legs could make no difference, however, and we were unable to put the finish into the net, but when the final whistle blew, the lads did not seem disheartened. We'd outshot the better club in the second half, and felt unlucky not to have managed a draw.

Stafford Rangers 1, Lancaster 0
Permain 16; ----
MoM: Sparrow

Paul Sparrow was named man of the match, his clutch early tackle along with several later efforts combining to give him a very strong performance: the competition with young Uberschar for the right back position seemed to be bringing out the best in him.

retired_w0lfpack1

Sunday, 12th September, 2004.

"Last.

"Dead last." I stated, letting the declarative fall into the grim silence of the room.

The results were in from the rest of yesterday's matches. One draw and four defeats left us on but a single point, 22nd out of 22 teams, and relegation bound. The result was this uncomfortable staff meeting, including all of my coaches, physios, and scouts.

"I don't like losing, gentlemen. Any ideas?"

The silence was deafening.

"What am I paying you lot for? My wife has more ideas than this!"

That brought a reaction, and it was from the veteran assistant Barrie Stimpson.

"We could try a 4-4-2," he suggested. "The lads might be more comfortable with something more familiar."

"We don't really have the personnel for that," argued Gary Bauress, and it was good to see at least one of my staff recognized the realities I was facing.

"We need wingers, whether we're going to run the 4-4-2 or the 4-5-1," Kevin Hull interjected. "Spencer, what have you got for us?"

"Maybe one lad to bring in on loan," the young scout answered, looking harried and unhappy with his results thus far, "But honestly Scotland hasn't been producing ideal players, either."

"Why don't you come back to England," I offered, "Just go with whomever catches your eye, youth, loan targets, or free transfers."

"That doesn't solve our problem on the wings," Barrie said. "Traditional wisdom is, adapt your tactics to suit your players, not the other way around."

"We tried that, remember?" Gary answered. "That 'narrow' 4-4-2 is useless. They picked us apart on width when we used it."

"I'm not going back to it," I declared. "We're going to live or die with the 4-5-1. Let's look at some other items. How is training coming?"

A review of all of our players' training progress commenced. With the shift to my regular-season training schedule, the dramatic improvement some players had shown was slowed. Ryan Elderton remained the most improved, overall, while Michael Yates and Stewart Clitheroe had shown a lot of progress in the last month. Ricky Mercer did as well, while some of the veterans were really surprising me: Steve Birks continued to improve, as did Andy Fensome, to name a few of the best.

Despite constant playing time Lee Clitheroe had shown a big downturn, primarily in the technical area, and that further cemented my desire to bring in a new winger. Young central defender Joe McMahon wasn't improving as much as I'd hoped, and Ryan Yeoman's spell on loan so far had seemed to do more harm than good. Finally, despite his run of good play, Paul Sparrow was definiely showing signs of wear.

We also had some bad news from David Hughes. Neil Uberschar had twisted his knee in training yesterday. It was match day, and I normally give the players who participate in a match the day of and after the match off, but Neil hadn't played, and was working in a smaller training session. He was working hard to prove that he deserved consideration alongside Sparrow, and Assistant Manager Hull thought perhaps he'd been trying too hard to impress. David thinks it'll be about a month before he's fully match fit.

Age and fatigue or not, Sparrow would just have to carry the load.

We closed the meeting with the decision to bring in another lot of trialists, and continue working on ridding ourselves of the deadweight - but at this point I don't have high hopes.

If a player isn't good enough to play for the worst team in the Conference North, nobody else seems to want them either.

retired_w0lfpack1

Wednesday, 15th September, 2004.

"I don't know if we're going to be able to make ends meet much longer."

While I may be in charge of the transfer budget, its my wife who runs the budget at home.

She hasn't gotten a work permit yet, so she's been busying herself about the house with unpacking, wedding planning, and - okay this is embarassing to admit but she's definitely more handy with a hammer and nail than I am, so she's been doing the fixing-up an older house requires.

"Wait, I thought we had savings," I protested. "Didn't we calculate a year on them, at least?"

"We did," she said. "But we're spending a lot more than we expected we would. Repairs aren't free, even if I am doing most of the work myself."

"Can you get a job?"

"Not without a work permit, and to get one I've got to show that I'm doing a job nobody comparable can do."

There wasn't much to say, and I sipped my coffee for a minute before formulating my next question.

"So, how long do we have?"

"Six months, maybe."

It was troubling news, but no matter how we turned it over, there was no denying it: by the end of the season we'd be out of savings, and looking at missing the mortgage payment.

Coming to the conclusion that there was nothing I could do about it at the moment, I flipped on the telly for news from the Champions League, hoping it would distract me, and, if I'm honest, dreaming of being there myself, remote though that dream may have been.

It was the opening of group play. Chelsea beat Celtic 2-0, at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool played inspired defense to hold Real Madrid to a 0-0 tie; the "Galacticos" are starting to look a bit long in the tooth.

Manchester United escaped Turkey with a phenomenal 4-0 win over Turkish champions Fenerbahçe, silencing the hostile crowd with two early goals.

Arsenal played to their historic roots with a gritty scoreless draw against Juventus.

Rangers were shellacked in Spain, taking a 4-0 defeat on the chin as Valencia demonstrated the large gap between the champions of La Liga and second place in the Scottish Premier League.

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Saturday, 18th September, 2004. Conference North - Game 6, vs Worcester.

Saturday came, and it was time to put my problems, both domestic and professional, aside and play a match. Carl Richardson's scouting reports are reaching a ludicrous-ness of epic proportions: 6th-placed Worcester, too, are 'competent', according to the less-than-competent advance scout, though he does suggest that their attacking speed will not cause us much trouble.

I pencilled in my side: Jamie Speare in net, with Ricky Mercer shifting from defensive midfielder to central defense to replace Joe McMahon, leaving the back row Andy Scott, Martin Clark, Mercer, and Paul Sparrow. Steve Birks came in at the holding midfield, with Neil Prince at left wing. Ryan-Zico Black got his first start - in fact, his first competitive match of the season - at right wing. Shane Tolley, Phil Clarkson and Michael Yates would again form my three attackers. All told, three changes from last week's side.

Worcester came out with a 5-3-2, the first team we'd seen that wasn't utilizing the classic English 4-4-2. It took Black less than two minutes to make his presence felt, as he fed Phil Clarkson for an early shot. Worcseter goalkeeper Danny McDonnell made the save. In the tenth minute, quick passing from Prince to Clarkson to Yates gave the striker space in front of goal, but his shot just went wide, nearly grazing the post. The crowd of 310 were on their feet, as for the first time all season we looked capable of a win!

The visitors got their chance in the 32nd minute, when Jamal Reid clipped the top of the bar, but minutes later Yates escaped on a breakway. He was brought down from behind by a desperate Rhodri Jones, who earned a yellow and a stern talking to for his efforts. It was just outside the eighteen, a great chance on the set piece. Black took the free kick, and it deflected off the wall, going just wide. When the ref blew the whistle on the first half, our side earned a rousing ovation from their fans.

The second half started with more of the same: in the 53rd minute, Yates's shot was saved by McDonnell. Clarkson got to the rebound, but his shot was blocked by a desperate Barry Wolley. We kept up the constant pressure until the 67th minute, when I noticed that Clarkson had picked up a knock and Tolley was beginning to look knackered. I brought both off, bringing on Mellor and moving Black up front, with Lee CLitheroe on at right wing.

That combination couldn't find space, and I made the last toss of my tactical die by bringing Phil Bartholomew on for Yates at the 78 minute mark. The recent signing quickly got his first chance, which McDonnell saved, but a minute later he had another just over the bar. That would turn out to be our last clean chance, and though a corner in injury time provided additional drama, when the ref blew full time, we had earned only a single point for a 0-0 draw.

Lancaster 0, Worcester 0
----; ----
MoM: McDonnell (Worcester GK)

Danny McDonnell earned Man of the Match honors for the visitors, with six saves, three of the highest class, and a clean sheet despite constant pressure from the home side.

It was a draw, but a draw I felt we should have won.

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Monday, 20th September, 2004.

Two points from our last three games?

Our best run of the season.

However, we still lay 22nd and last.

One goal from six games was not the offensive production I'd been hoping for: my emphasis on defense was paying off, as we weren't conceding much, but it was definitely the offense that was struggling.

The local paper was unforgiving, their lead columnist unable to give us praise for outshooting quality opposition and dominating the run of play, but instead lambasting us for our inability to find the net. In particular, he laid the blame at the feet of the 'inept American'. Clearly our record confirmed the author's opinion that all Americans are fat, dumb, boorish, inept, and know nothing at all about football - which points I'd like to disprove each individually and en masse.

I'd have to do so without Phil Clarkson, whose injured shoulder would take at least three weeks to heal, ruling him out for almost a month as well. Unlucky - but it would serve as further impetus behind my desire to loan in some real talent.

Today, however, brought a new challenge: the draw for the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round, as all of the non-league teams seek the financial windfall that a deep Cup run can mean. The draw was interminable, as out of nearly 200 teams, we were drawn 18th from the last, but when it was all over I couldn't have asked for much better: a home match against Rugby United, a team below us in the footballing pyramid, but not weak enough to promise an easy victory: a good challenge, and a confidence-booster should we win. The tie would be October 2nd.

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Friday, 24th September, 2004

Up next for us were Ashton United. My ever-more useless advance scout reported that they, too, were a 'capable side', though they lie 19th, not far above us on the table: we could leapfrog over them with a victory. To my delight I noted that their defense has been leakiest in the league, just what we need. Even on the road, this game looked much easier than some of our last opposition.

I'd made some subtle changes to our offensive mixture, minor adjustments to mentality, tempo, and passing style, but for the most part I just wanted the lads to settle in to the system, learn their roles, and convert some of the chances we'd had.

The week closed out with my coaches' report on the six trialists I'd had in - all young players without a team, and all reported with great potential, but worse current ability than my current crop of players. I decided I couldn't afford to further bloat the roster by signing any of them, potential or no.