Panpardus

Offseason

June

I wish I could my off season was exciting, but it was pretty boring for the first part of June, I spent most of time training and doing running, this next season I really wanted to impress, with a bit of luck I might get a game or two in the seniors, although seeing I haven’t met the manager in person yet, that might be hard. Chances are I will be loaned out which I don’t mind to much, as long as it’s the level of the Championship Division I’ll be happy.

One of things to develop though was my relationship with Marie Gill, our Physio’s daughter, Its something I find strange and alien, I’ve always concentrated on football and nothing else, girls haven’t crossed my mind until now. We’ve been to a few movie’s and went out to dinner a couple times, but were not boyfriend/girlfriend, everytime I go to ask, I get this big lump in my throat when I go to talk and she looks at me strange.

I moved out of Gilly’s home around the 20th of June and back into my apartment in Hyde, we had a bit of a chat and I broached the subject of dating his daughter, he didn’t seem surprised at all at my question, I’m surprised it came out so easy, it was so much easier to ask him then her. He was fine with me dating his daughter and even called me a decent lad I think it was, but it came with a warning, my achilles wouldn’t be a problem if I did something to hurt Marie.

Manchester was abuzz with the talk that we had signed Michael Owen from Newcastle on a free transfer and also Gilberto Silva the 32 year old Brazilian international as well. The only news so far from the club was Tim Howard was leaving to Reading on a free and also David Williams was off somewhere aswell.

Over the next few days we got our schedule for July there was a senior’s and a reserves schedule, and at the moment I was to assigned to Reserves which I expected, looking at that we had all away games, Walsall, Newport County and Shelbourne. Glancing at the seniors they had 7 and the first was against Lincoln, I forgot all about Lincoln and Colin Lee, it must of part of my deal that United arranged a friendly, I had to play in that.

I rang Colin and he was happy to here from me, we got a talking and he said they had quite a few player turnovers in the summer Doig and Beevers had left which were two of the starting backs but they had secured some good players and were hoping to do a bit better than their 15th place last season. I told him I’m hoping to play in the upcoming friendly and wished him all the best for the season.

Back into training now and I'm with the reserve’s and under 18 squad, talking to Choco (McClair) at training I begged him to see if he could get me a game vs the Lincoln team seeing as I was the reason for the game, he nodded and said he would see what he could do, but offered me no promises.

Me and Marie went out again, a dinner and movie afterwards, after the dinner I blurted out my question so quickly she didn’t understand and I had to repeat myself, which was almost as embarrassing, I was no good at this stuff, why can’t it be more like football. She paused and looked me over, and the smile she gave me said yes but I was still waiting for the verbal, she leaned over and kissed me, she actually kissed me. I looked like we were going to be an item.

“I wondered when you were going to ask, I had the heads up from Dad before, took your time didn’t you” I could only shrug in reply.


June turned out to be a great month, back at training and football wasn’t too far away, and I now had my first girlfriend and had gotten my first real kiss, Wow I'm 18 and half and this is my first relationship, I feel like such a dweeb. Still I'm looking forward to July now.

Panpardus

July – Preseason

Just got the call up to train with the senior squad, Choco informed me and I must admit I'm pretty rapt to be training with the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo, Owen, Carrick as well as a few others.

Me and Marie are getting along real well the last couple days, I now find myself wanting to talk to her all the time, but I know must still dedicate my life to training. The funny thing about training at the moment is that the Manager still hasn’t said a word to me, its always his assistants, mainly Carlos.

5th of July –I’ve been named on the bench for the Lincoln game which I find a bit baffling, hopefully I get in the action asap. Colin’s team does look vastly different and I give a nod when our eyes meet, he gives an informal type of salute back.

It’s a strange game no one really seems to be wanting to win it, as both teams are content to sit back and pass it around, we have a few good chances, but their keeper is equal to the task. Half time comes and its still 0-0, the fans are in good voice, its actually near a full house.

We kickoff to restart the second half, and I'm still on the bench which is quite frustrating, there was a few changes made, but I wasn’t one of them. We’re starting to do most of the attacking and Lincoln are sitting back, and around the hour mark, Ronaldo in one of his runs causes much confusion in his opponents with his level of trickery and manages to score after weaving past two, a few more changes are made, not me though.

70 minutes have gone and even the crowd are getting impatient as they start to chant ‘we want Macca’ but Roberto our manager takes no notice, were still winning 1-0 but we look like getting a second soon.

80 minutes and I'm still on the bench, this is really farked, atleast Carlos has told me to warm up.

85 minutes and I'm finally subbed on, I cant believe I only get 5 bloody minutes against my old team, the crowd gives a roar when I run on to the pitch, which is awesome, but I'm still annoyed I'm only on for 5.

The game finishes at 1-0, Colin’s team has done well to restrict us to a solitary goal so it’s seems promising for him the next year, all the united players walk of the pitch, and into the dressing room, but I stay out for a sec, I'm really can’t describe how ****ed off I am at only playing 5 minutes, but I clap the crowd for the welcome which goes over well, I also take of my shirt and give it to Colin as I shake his hand and say well done, the shirt will probably be sold in an auction which will bring the club extra money or it will be displayed, either way I’m sure it will go to good use.


I'm a few minutes late into the dressing room and the players are warming down and taking on fluids, one of the physio staff says something to the effect of you should of starting warming down already with the team, he didn’t reply after I shot back, well I only played 5 minutes against my former farking club, I hardly need to bloody well warm down, this raises a few eye brows, but its great to vent some of the frustration.


Its straight back to Manchester on the team bus after everything is done and as were travelling down the M1 near Sheffield Choco comes and sits down next to me.
“Not happy then lad”

“No not particularly, its bit of joke really”

“Sometimes things like this happen, think of it as a test of character, there are a lot of other players that only played a few minutes as well”

“I don’t mind playing 5 minutes Choco that’s not the problem, I know I'm not part of the senior team per say, but when the whole reason for the friendly is because of my sale and its my former club, I expected to play a little bit more than the time he gave me….You know don’t worry about it eff him, I’ll play reserves for the rest of the year and he can kiss my arse”

I didn’t realise I had raised my voice to such a level and when I stopped the bus was in silence, I looked across the aisle I seen Scholes chuckling to himself, oh well, screw it at least they know how I feel

With that Choco got up and left patting me on the shoulder. I went back to watching the scenery, a few minutes later I text messaged Marie about wanting to go out.

Panpardus

Pre season continued

After going out to a local with Marie and having a few too many, I awoke in my bed the next morning with Marie lying next to me, as I laid there I realised this was the first time she had stayed over but my head was thumping. I looked over at the alarm clock, it was 8 in the morning, I had practice in 2 hours.

I got up out of bed quietly as to not wake Marie, I skulled a bottle of water and some powerade while popping a few headache tablets, I could still smell the beer on me so next it was the shower. While scrubbing myself the bathroom door opened and a few seconds later the shower screen opened to reveal Marie and she was naked, it was pretty much an instant reaction, she grinned “So you’re happy to see me then”

I arrived at training with a few minutes to spare, and I can safely say my mood was a complete turnaround from the dark one that led me to the pub the night before, I found it real hard to concentrate, especially listening to Carlos reading out a few things about the game against Lincoln. Tomorrow the selected senior team would leave for a tour of France, I was very very surprised when my name was read out as part of the squad.

After training and receiving the itinerary for the France tour I spent the day with Marie again, she was happy for me that I was going to see France, when I said I’d rather be here she laughed. Marie spent the night again, there wasn’t much sleeping going on, but I did manage a few hours before we had to part and I was on the plane to France with the rest of the team.

We had 4 games in France starting on the 9th of July and finishing on the 17th Bayonne, GFCO Ajaccio, Valenciennes and Dijon were to be our opponents.

9th July -away versus Bayonne

The team has a good 2-1 win with Febian Brandy and Ryan Taylor scoring, I was giving a whole whopping 7 minutes of action this time, I’m really starting to dislike this idiot, but I give it my all, after the game we get our reviews of performaces, a 5 a bloody 5, I cant believe he rated me a 5, if I got more bloody time I’d do better, he must of heard me, and this was the first time he interacted with me.

In his stupid Italian accent which is hard to understand, he berates me, “I am the manager, I pick the team, you will play when and where I tell you, you want more time do you, more time….. well you start next game and if you don’t do something you never play under me again, got it… got it…” I nodded my head and said yeah I got it, and he walked off, well atleast he noticed me this time.

11th July – away vs GFCO Ajaccio

Well Mancini was true to his word and I got a birth in the starting line up against Ajaccio, I ran out onto the pitch with players like Vidic, Evra, Silvestre, Fletcher, Silva, Van der Vaart and Owen, it was a great feeling.

I started of well getting a few early touches and making some good passes but it was in the 38th minute where I made mark. Our captain for the day, Vidic intercepted a pass, seeing this I broke down the left, it was an excellent pass and I had a jump on their right back as I gathered the ball and began to cut into the middle of the pitch, a quick flick of the eyes seen I had no support with me, so it was just me their centre back and keeper to beat with their right back a few metres behind me.

I could feel their right back getting closer and their other centre back was getting back quickly as well, while the other centre back was closing my angle down and trying to force me wide, so when I got to the edge of the penalty box I took a chance and took a long shot, contact was solid as the ball flew straight and true, their keeper got a finger tip to it but it didn’t matter as the ball went in the back. I don’t know why I did it, I don’t usually celebrate my goals that much, but I immediately ran back to the half way line dodging a few of our players where the dugout was and did a move that some call the chainsaw a few metres away from Mancini who just turned his back and went back to talk to one of our Assistants, they rest of the players caught me then and it was all celebrations, my first goal in United colours.

Owen scored just before the break, Van der Vaart with the assist and it was 2-0, my game was solid. The game finished at 2-0 aswell I was eventually subbed at the 79 minute mark with Michael Owen coming off at the same time, I had 20 odd passes, 5 interceptions and a few good runs and got the opening goal so I was bit surprised when my end of match review only received a 7 from the manager, I think he was just peeved that I showed him the chainsaw in his face, well he wanted to see something.


Apparently Mancini wasn’t to impressed as I was never included in the remaining games against Valenciennes and Dijon, I didn’t mind though, I had proved my point, I just hoped for a decent loan offer so I could get away from him.

Back in England and I was moved back down to the reserve squad, he really is a petty man and nothing like any of my old managers, but I was happy to be back where I could see Marie everyday anyway, it took my mind of things.

21st of July

The senior team played in the Northen Ireland against Portadown the day before, but Carlos Queiroz had taken a bit ill, so Mancini was taking the reserves in todays game against Irish premier league side Shelbourne F.C, funnily enough I was to start on the bench and wouldn’t you know a whole 3 minutes of action as I came on in the 87th minute. I don’t feel as though things will work out with this guy, one positive though was he put on 5 other players at the same time as me, so he didn’t single me out.
The senior team had their last friendly against Connay’s Quay in Wales on the 24th of July, with Mancini back in Italy it was Carlos who took over duties and I was included in the squad to go there, probably because I'm Welsh but I'm happy to play under Carlos anytime.

I started on the bench but at least this time I managed to get some game time, I came on just after the hour and had enough time to work myself in the game, I didn’t miss a pass with any of my nine attempts had a decent shot which was saved and made a few good interceptions, not a bad performace really in our 2-1 win.

The squad had a 2 day break after this and I stayed in Wales for them and stayed with the Aunt and Uncle, they were both doing real well, My uncle wanted to know all about United so a lot of my 2 days were spent answering his questions, a lot of the answers were ‘I don’t know, I'm not sure’.

At the end of month I was attracting some attention from teams who wanted to loan me, to tell you the truth I was looking forward to leaving United for a spell, the only problem was Marie, I didn’t want to go to far.

30th July

Marie came to the house today, she wasn’t her usual jovial self, she had some important news, she had accepted a job at Psychiatrist’s practice in Dunfermline, Scotland for 6 months, it was part of her course for Uni, it came as bit of blow really. She was going to be starting on the 20th of August so we had about 20 days left to spend together before we wouldn’t be seeing much of each other.

Panpardus

August

I was a bit bummed out to tell you the truth, not being able to see Marie when ever I felt like it was definitely playing on my mind, so our was our Manager he was almost as bad as the Manager I had at Newport.

To say I was over the moon when Choco called me into the his office and presented me with 5 offers to go out on loan would be a slight understatement, when I seen two of them were from Scotland you could say I was overly excited. Choco read my expressions well, I guess that’s what he paid to do.

“Happy to go out on loan then lad, don’t worry about Roberto, he takes a bit of getting use to, you just have to tone your behaviour”

He had half guessed, he then asked if I had any preferences, the offers were from Millwall, Birmingham, Dundee United, St Mirren, and Inverness C.T

“Definitely Scotland” I replied, “I’d like one close to Dunfermline preferably with a decent team, all of those are SPL aren’t they” I asked

“They are indeed lad and a good choice, a bit of Scottish football will do you the world of good, but why Dunfermline, know someone there?”

“Girlfriend just got a 6 month job there” I replied maybe a bit too eagerly to which he just laughed.

“Well Dundee and St Mirren are both close, about an hour away, but I’d say Dundee are probably the better side, Paul Sturrock is the manager there and a local legend, he returned there a year ago I think from memory, you could learn a lot from him, it would be a good move, even if you are suffering from FFS”

“FFS, what the hell is that” I asked baffled

“You’ll find out one day, its nothing important and just about everyone suffers from it, do you need time to think about it? The move that is?”

“Na tell them I’ve accepted their offer, how long is it again ?”

“All season lad, but you’ll have Craig Cathcart and Phil Bardsley over there aswell to keep you company, both of them signed end of season loans aswell”

It was a bit longer than I had hoped but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

It was time for our last way ins and all the fitness stuff, I was now 175cm tall or 5’9” and weighed in at 71 kilos or 156 pounds, my time trials were good I ran in the top 10 in all of the time trials for the club, mostly in the top 5 my fitness work over the off season had helped. I was pleased with my overall efforts, skills were around average, something I did need to work on but I'm sure this season in Scotland will help. My valuation had also jumped aswell, I was now considered to come with a million pound price tag.

The first thing I did was ring Marie, she was rapt, we could share a house in Scotland it would make life a lot easier for her, I agreed, Scotland was going to be fun.

All the arrangements were made, I signed the loan papers and was to start training there on the 7th of this month, they had a furnished 2 bedroom apartment all sorted for me and would arrange a car that I could use, Marie would be using that as I still hadn’t done anything about my learners permits.

7th of August

I’d settled in the day before at my apartment, I was amazed when it was Paul Sturrock himself who picked me up from the airport, he seemed a good man and I was glad to meet and talk to the main man in charge so early, I was to call him Paul or Luggy and if I had any problems I could ring him or his assistants at any time. He told me a little about the league which I was glad, as I didn’t know to much about it, apparently you had to have 3 under 21 players in the squad which seemed a strange rule, but it could only help my cause for playing most games or I hoped so.

Youth Coach Ally Gray picked me up and took me to training, he seemed nice enough, and had plenty of things to say on the ride over, one of the first things that struck me was that there was two grounds very similar pretty much next to each other, the other was Dundee’s who were in the First Division, ours was the better of course! He explained.

I met the squad next, I recognised both Craig and Phil from United, I didn’t know them that well actually I didn’t know anyone at United that well, Gilly and McClair maybe but one was my coach and the other a physio and the father of my girlfriend. It was a small squad but remembering names is hard to start.

Training started well but ended badly, in a competitive drill, I rolled my ankle, instant swelling meant it was pretty bad, it seemed my injury curse had struck again, 2-3 weeks I was to be sidelined for, what a way to start. Looking at our draw it seemed I would play my first match against Kilmarnock on the 5th of September.

The injury wasn’t too bad, I could do a lot of pool work which kept my fitness up and Marie arriving was also good for my Morale.

Dundee had lost to Dunfermline at their home in their opening game of the season and drawn with Aberdeen in our first home game for the year, both these games were played before I came to the club, the first game I seen was our 2-1 loss to Falkirk at their home ground on the 8th it was the day after my injury. We looked lively in patches and generally the play was good and crisp, I think I can make a mark in this competition.

I did my first interview during the game aswell, it was a half time thing on a local radio station that covered the game, There wasn’t much said, I stated I was very happy to be here at Dundee United and hoped I could help bring some success as soon as my ankle healed.

Dundee’s next three games seen them hit a vein of form with wins over Hibernians and St Mirren at our home in the league, and also dispatching Hamilton in the second round of the League Cup, it all looked promising for my return in September against Kilmarnock.

Marie was loving her job in Dunfermline and was doing some decent hours, so it meant I really only seen her at night time, I didn’t mind, I was happy to see here doing her thing, our relationship seemed to grow with our living together, and my cooking skills improved as well as I was cooking for two now and had quite a bit of time on my hands.

I returned to main training just before the end of the month, which meant I had till the 5th which was about a week to prove my fitness, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Amaroq

Great read! Keep it coming!

sherm

excellent read Panpardus, thouroughly enjoying it so far :thup: KUTGW mate

Panpardus

September

The day before the Kilmarnock game on the 5th I was put through a fitness test by head physio Jeff Clarke, it mainly concentrated on me twisting and turning, and acceleration type drills while incorporating ballwork, I’m glad to say I come through with no major problems and when Luggy (manager: Paul Sturrock) was told he said I would be make be in the starting line up for the game, time wise he said he would looking around the hour mark before he subbed me as he didn’t want to put too stress on the ankle. I was happy to be starting so I didn’t mind too much.

Thinking on the last month while I was injured it dawned on me just how much Marie had helped me, I wasn’t really worried about the injury at all which was a far cry from my spirits last year when I hurt my achilles.

The away game against Kilmarnock didn’t see me have an outstanding game it was more of what I call serviceable in the 70 minutes I played, the team really didn’t play that well either, one could say we robbed Kilmarnock, as we came out victorious 2-1 at the end of 90 minutes. Marco Andreoni grabbed our first goal of the game courtesy of good interception on his part, his shot and goal was actually the only shot either on or off target that we were credited with that day. Kilmarnock levelled just before I came off, but it was an own goal in the 80th minute that gave us the lead and the eventual winner. Luggy was happy with the win just not the way we achieved it, still he said he would take an away win any way he could get it, on a personal note he was happy with my first game back.

Training was intense this week and there was a certain hype around the town as Celtic were paying us a visit, Luggy expected a lot of us that week and in the game, my ankle was causing me a few problems, I had lost of bit lateral movement, hopefully its just a confidence thing.

The stadium was jam packed full of vocal supporters, I didn’t think a 15000 seater stadium could produce such noise, it was almost deafening as we ran out in our burnt orange strip with Celtic in a black and green striped strip. Their squad had two ex United players as well but they were permanent additions for the squad, Marc Wilson and Ryan Taylor both joined the Bhoys as their known here in the August transfer period, I didn’t know any of them personally, but I did play with Ryan in one of friendly games in France where he scored a goal and was later injured.

The game definitely didn’t go to plan as Celtic beat us 1-0 thanks to an early Keith Miller goal, I was subbed around the hour mark and once again it was a serviceable performance. Luggy was a bit disappointed to lose at home but told us to keep our chins up, on a personal note he said my second game back was positive.

4 days later, Wednesday the 16th seen us travel to second division Alloa Athletic for the third round of the League cup, we were expected to win and we did in emphatic style, 5-0 was the final score, once again I was subbed around the hour but this time I was lot more involved in the game, my passing was crisp and my vision was a lot better, Guy Bates was named Man of the Match for us when he earned a 10 rating for his 2 goals and an assist. Luggy was happy but reminded us they were only second division and to keep our mind on our upcoming game against Scottish gianst, Rangers.

Saturday the 19th seen us make the trip to Ibrox where we were greeted (well greeted probably isn’t the right word but you know what I mean) by 50000 fans, it was probably the only memorable moment for me as we were easily accounted for by the Gers with a 3-1 scoreline, our goal courtesy of a borderline penalty call. Once again I was subbed, I had to pick up my game so it made impossible for Luggy to want to sub me.

Our last game for the month on the 26th seen us host Gretna, something was missing from my game, I cant put my finger on it, but this time I only made it to half time before I was subbed. I wasn’t doing nearly enough on the pitch and Luggy recognised the fact, his said this too me personally after the game. With around a two week break till the next game, I had a lot of working out to do.

Marie had a day of work during the week and as we hadn’t been seeing as much of each other as we would of liked we went out to visit a place called Arbroath Abbey which was about 20 miles north east of Dundee. I’d love to say it was a breathtaking moment of visiting something so historic, but it just didn’t interest me, sure it was nice, but personally I would have been much happier staying at home doing other things shall we say. One thing that I did retain was some historic letter that was apparently sent from here concerning Robert the Bruce, it had the famous lines of ‘aslong as 100 of us live then we will never be subjected to English rule’ or something similar, I thought Mel Gibson said that in that movie about William Wallace, can’t recall the name off hand, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Panpardus

October

In the two weeks we had off I knew I should have been working hard on my game, but I basically went through the motions, just doing enough to get through training and then coming home and waiting for Marie to get home so we could go out, I actually put more thought in what I was going to do with Marie then my football.

It was around 7.30 pm on Friday the 9th when I was called in Luggy’s office after training, I thought it was going to be a game plan sort of talk about what he wanted me to do, I was rudely mistaken, It was a team plan talk all right but as he explained, I was no where in the plan, I would be sitting out further games until I showed the enthusiasm and respect that his team deserved, he went on to say my game was stale and predictable and the way I trained he knew why. He asked my thoughts, I was dumb struck though, what could I say he was dead on the nail. He then brought Marie up when I didn’t say anything, he knew I chose Dundee to be closer to her, and he was ok with that, everyone has there reasons but when it overclouds my performance on the pitch of which they were paying 80% of my wages then it becomes a problem. FFS come up again, in which I demanded to know what it meant as my anger had risen.

“Its First F**k Syndrome lad, your blinded by feelings for the first you’ve ever had, In saying that its nothing to be ashamed off but you need to be told and the way its going it might cost you a promising career, I'm not saying that it will, but it might, all I know is that if you continue on this path we will have to cut our losses and send you back to Manchester…This is what I'm going to do, your ankle has flared up a little from a knock at training so as a precautionary matter we are going to leave you out of the side for the game against Hearts, you will come back to training on the Tuesday and I will expect an improvement in training, the game is secondary at the moment, all I want to see is your training upped to a level we both know you are a capable of. Think about what I’ve said lad it all in your hands”

I got up a left his office, I was still dumbstruck and didn’t quite know what to make of the situation, with my bag over my shoulder I left the ground, usually I would ring Marie to tell her to come get me or I would taxi it, but I just felt like walking at the moment.

My first reaction on the walk was one of anger, why would he say that about Marie and more I thought about it the angrier I got, it must of been muttering to myself for 15 minutes before I realised he didn’t actually say anything about Marie, it was about me, not her and then I was confused, what the hell did he say? By the time I got home I still had no clue, I was pretty quite that night but Marie said nothing, I don’t know if she realised something was wrong or not.

The next few days had me thinking, and as I watched the team on TV against Hearts a few things dawned on me, Luggy was right, I had got complacent since I started going out with her, more noticeably here in Scotland, but what should I do, was she a distraction, she had skewed me from my goals but whose fault was it, It didn’t take me long to realise it was my own, this time I promised myself I would knuckle down, my game would no longer suffer, I wanted to be the Worlds Best still, my first goal was to be playing as a regular in a good team by time I was 20, this was definitely achievable and now I would make it so. I promised myself whatever it takes. The end of the match brought me out of my thinking, Hearts had beaten us at home with a 2-1 score line. I could make a difference in this team and this was a perfect time to start, I chucked on my joggers and ventured out for a run, 2 hours later I returned satisfied with my effort.

I had spent most of Monday with a ball in the local park practicing different things with myself aswell as embarking on a few runs, I would get fitter and faster, and then the other things would come along from there. When Tuesday training session came along I was there half an hour earlier, practicing my set pieces with the help of our youth coach Ally Gray. I trained my arse off during the session, no more would I be going through the motions and at the end of the training with the help of our first team keeper Howarth I practiced a further 15 minutes just banging away at penalties.

The next few days were much the same as once again I concentrated on my football with a passion, Me and Marie didn’t talk that much, she was at work a lot and I was concentrating on mine, and I did feel a bit of resentment towards her which didn’t help, some times it would pop up in my mind that she was partly responsible even though I knew it was my fault.

Thursday night at selection seen me named back in the staring line up on the left wing, a quick chat with Luppy seen him give me a sheet with likely match ups on me and an outline of a few things to be wary of during the game, he also wanted me to rest on Friday with a light skills session and no major running, he wanted me fresh.

Saturday the 17th was the game day and we were playing Inverness CT at their home, I was so focused that much of the specifics of the game fail me, I remember running out on to the pitch for instance, but I couldn’t tell you if there was a big crowd or not, I know my game was the best I’ve played for Dundee as well, my passing was good, and I was seeing stuff on the pitch that maybe I wouldn’t of last week what I didn’t remember was the specifics of where I passed and to whom, one thing that I do remember well was the winning goal in the 59th minute.

It all started when our centre back Hildreth cut out a pass, Foley made a break for the goals down the right, the pass was played out in front of Foley but their centre back was a bit quicker and managed to get there and pass it back to the keeper who was under a bit of pressure as Alan Lee was closing on him fast, the keeper kicked the ball into my area, I made a burst for the ball and was easily the first there, I pushed it forward 5 or so yards and surveyed my options quickly. It sounds a lot when I write this on paper but I had this sussed within a second, Matt Birley was streaming down the far right and was open for a long pass, Alan Lee was in an ideal position to score but it was offside as far as I could tell, Foley though was just outside the area with some space in front of him, a good pass would see him a prime opportunity at goal, I could also run at goal as I had a bit of space. Foley was my best option though so I moved forward a few paces and I hit the pass perfect, I continued on towards the goals after the pass left my boot, Foley had an opportunity to head it in but chose to take a touch first, it cost him as the defender was able to get there and knocked the ball out to the right, where Birley was going to run on to it, I had continued on in my run aswell and my marker was more intent on watching the ball than me, so I made straight for the spot, Matt Birley had taken possession and was moving to the byline, he looked up and I know he seen me I was just outside the box at this stage and running full tilt, the pass came, it wasn’t the best flighted ball and almost had me in tqo minds as what to do, it was going to land somewhere around the spot, I wouldn’t make it on the full so do I just wait back a pace or two from the drop and control then shoot or do I just go for it and take my chance as it comes, I just seen Foley miss a golden opportunity so I would take it as it comes….I took a short step to be able to hit it with my left while still running at pace, I wasn’t going to get it on the full but it would be close, it turned out to be a half volley as I drove my left through the ball, my body was in position directly aimed at the inside of the right upright just as I’d been taught and off it went straight and true the ball didn’t deviate and it smashed into the inside of the netting, it was my first goal for Dundee and I ran towards a sea of orange shirts in the crowd that had erupted as I got the goal. I stood and gave them an informal salute, I was then crumpled in a heap as a few of our players jumped atop of me, I didn’t feel a thing though, the adrenalin was pumping through my body.

As we walked off the ground victors Luggy put his arm around me ‘That’s what we want to see lad, terrific, bloody terrific’. A quick perusal at my stats sheet that was handed to me at the end of the game seen me with 25 odd completed passes, 3 key, 9 interceptions, 2 runs, 3 shots with 2 on target and the all important match winning goal, and an 8 rating.

I was rapt with my performance but it had taken a bit out of me, it was then I realised what was missing from my game before it was desire, desire to play well, desire to be the best, as long as I went into the game full of desire I knew I would do alright, I might have the occasional bad game, but I knew what I had to do to have a good one.

Training was fine and the confidence was there during the week, but we suffered a disappointment in the home game against Dunfermline as they now had beaten us twice so far in the season this time it was a 89th minute strike that sealed our fate. On a personal note my own game was good, but individual performances are second to the team, our inconsistency was what would keep us in our current position of 8th which was also predicted for the start of the season.

The 31st brought a close to the month as we ventured to Aberdeen, a 1-1 draw was the end result, one we were lucky to get, I hit a short corner to Frenchman Sofianne Zaaboub who floated the cross across the goals for my fellow Man U player Craig Cathcart to head in, it was the last play of the game. On an unrelated but interesting note Zaaboub has the nickname of Allo Allo or just Allo, it has some reference to an old English Show with the same name, I don’t think he likes it much, I don’t get the reference myself but ill watch an episode or two, it happens to be a channel I watch a lot, it shows reruns of old shows, I watch it for Red Dwarf which has to be the funniest show I have ever seen in my life, I wish they still made episodes, apparently they’re trying to make a movie but its been in the works for 10 years so I don’t hold out much hope.

Panpardus

November

November was a solid month personally for me and an ok one for the team, I had been picked in the Welsh under 21 squad to play Luxembourg on the 6th which was only two days after our League cup quarter Final against Rangers at Tannadice our home.

Luggy wanted to play it narrow down the centre so we could bottle play a bit more, which meant both mine and Matt Birley roles were to be a lot more defensive in Nature, the tactics worked splendidly as we stifled a lot of Rangers creativity, my own game good if not a bit defensive. Me and Matt Birley were both brought off in the 70th minute while we were down 1-0. Luggy explained it was to let me be a bit fresher for my international game, I said I’d rather make an impact here, he nodded and said it was fine I just owed him a performance, I warmed down doing some stretches with the physio and replenishing my fluids as they game got underway, As Luggy paced past us he stopped abruptly and looked at me, “On second thoughts lad you don’t owe me a performance, you owe me two, I expect a good report back from your Welsh game and you owe me performance next time we play Rangers.” Understood was all I offered in return for an answer. Alan Lee scored an equaliser for us in the 80th minute which meant the game went into injury time. Injury time seen our players look like a team that was solely focused and it paid off as Dave Foley scored the winner, It meant we proceeded through the round and onto the Semi Finals. Rangers might feel the result was a little unfair considering they doubled our shot count, but to our credit, a lot of their shots weren’t dangerous, which was thanks to Luggy’s tactics and our execution of them.

The next day I flew out to Wales in preparation for our Under 21 game at White Rock Stadium in Swansea. Neville Southall was our Manager and he had a fairly easy game plan for us to follow, I was picked on the left wing and was expected to provide a lot for team as I was the most experienced at higher levels of play than just about everyone else, James Wilson was also thrown this challenge in defence, the Kilmarnock player was on a level par with me.

With one training session under our belt I didn’t expect the team to gel as well as it did, but the 3-0 scoreline, 55 percent possession rate and a 20 to 3 shot count pretty much said it all. My game personally was excellent, I had a lot more freedom and I ran riot racking up possession and hitting passes all over the pitch in which quite a few were key passes and ultimately ended in goals, my anticipation was great as well as I amassed 5 interceptions the last of these allowed me to find Richard Peachey who had the simplest of tap ins when my pass found him unmarked, it was the only direct assist I was credited with and a 9 rating and man of the match honours came with it.


Back in Dundee and Luggy was very pleased with my performance for the Welsh under 21 team, he urged me to try and continue my form and reminded me that I had paid half my debt with a wink following the comment.

Our next two games both ended in draws, a nil all draw in a televised match at home against Falkirk and then a 1-1 draw with Hibernian on the road, I played well enough in both games but did nothing outstanding, I felt my endeavour was good, and I was still training like a man possessed.

The last game for November seen us travel to St Mirren on the 28th the result wasn’t the best but our game was ok, both teams had 15 plus shots with St Mirren having 16 and us 17, but in stark contrast it was St Mirren who took their chances and handed us a 4-0 beating. I thought I played quite well and if our strikers had of put a few of the balls I supplied in the back of the net then I would of got a better rating than the 6 I got, still I was probably our best player that day which honestly doesn’t mean a lot when you lose 4-0. Luggy wasn’t too angry with the result, more disappointed that we failed to convert chances and that what he reiterated to us at the end of the game, if you don’t take your chances when they are presented to you then they usually come back to haunt you, I felt the message had a particular meaning to myself aswell but I was determined to take my chances when they came to me from now on.

Home life with Marie was different, she was loving her work which was good to see and I had thrown myself into getting my game better, what it meant was that we drifted a bit apart, we still talked and went out any time we had a chance, but something was different the relationship had lost a bit of its spark.

Panpardus

December

It wasn’t the best of month’s for the club with 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses in our 4 games, and there was a bit of disharmony among the players, on a personal note I'm getting along well with fellow winger Mat Birley and were often at training practicing after the official finish.

The month started well with a 1-1 draw against Celtic at their home in Glasgow, we were under the pump for most of the match especially when they scored an early goal in the second minute, but we withstood the pressure as they searched for another and managed to grab an equaliser around the half hour, Frank Hollis was the scorer for us in his first goal for the year. The game seen us on the back foot for large periods but our defence was rock solid and us midfielders helped them out. Luggy was real pleased with our gritty performance.

As we yet again so often do though we followed the good result up with a poor display against Kilmarnock at home, they grabbed 2 goals to our nil and walked away with the three points with us failing to take chances when we were presented with them, my game was over at half time though an early knock really hampered my running and Luggy was left no choice but to sub me.

Kamil Kosowski our Polish international was talking to the media about wanting to join a bigger club, Paul (Luggy) wasn’t too happy about it but didn’t really say much, Alan Archibald also was unhappy with his role at the club, he wanted more first team action, morale at the club was getting low which wasn’t good for our upcoming game against Rangers.

[b]Sunday the 20th[b] seen the Ibrox men come to Tannadice Park to try and exact some revenge for us knocking them out of the cup, our fans who had packed the stadium in anticipation were in full voice, I’d say more in hope of good showing than knowing.

The pre match talk has Paul giving us the confidence talk, we beat them last time remember we can do it again, this time we were going to attack from the start though and play our natural game, Rangers were going to come hard so there would be plenty of opportunities to come our way was the general gist of what was said but as we walked out to the race, he pulled me aside and reminded me that I owed him one. I knew and my focus and desire were strong.

7 minutes in and I have a chance Cathcart hits a good ball into the box on the far post from the right wing, unmarked I chest the ball down, followed by a firm placed shot which I tuck away into the bottom corner give us an early 1-0 lead, the fans erupt. Despite Rangers attack we go into the break with the goal lead and confidence is high, Paul urges us to keep it up, give the fans something he urges.

Rangers are pressuring us for an equaliser but we hold firm and manage a few good counters, in one of the them young Duff gets free and manages to increase our lead to two goals with only 20 to play.

The sealer came 5 minutes later, Hildreth hits the corner short to me on the right wing, scanning the box I pick my target and launch the ball, but its headed out of the box in a centralish position, Androeni is the first to it with his back to the goal he swings to his left and lays off a pass for me inside the box, I'm not going to have a lot of time so I hit it first time, I hit it, driving it hard with my the inside of my left, I aim for the left post, its hard and at a knee height with a some curl, the keeper has no chance as it smashes into the post and ricochets into the net, the crowd roars their approval and then I hear it my name being chanted by the fans, I couldn’t hide the huge grin that enveloped my face, but to say I was happy was an understatement of the highest calibre, I took off along the sidelines and was about to raze my top when I caught the refs eye, maybe not such a good idea, so I kept my shirt on and stood infront of our fans, once again I was mobbed by a pack of our players. Rangers scored a late consolation to take the scoreline to 3-1 but at the end of the game it was the crowd giving us a standing ovation as we walked off, I could hear my name in some sort of song, but couldn’t catch any of the rest.

39 passes, 28 successful with 2 being classed as key ones, 2 interceptions and 2 runs, I was fouled 4 times and 4 shots on goal, 3 of them on target with of course the 2 goals, an 8 rating wasn’t enough to get the man of the match honours as that went to Scott Boyd I was still happy though.

An all night drink session filled the club rooms afterwards and a lot of things were celebrated, the next day we all had the day off but I was in the crap with Marie, I didn’t ring her that night to tell her I was going to be down the club, she didn’t take it well and told me she was heading back to England for Christmas with the family, When I informed her I was staying here for Christmas her mood went from bad to worse, I didn’t hear from her for the rest of the month.

Boxing Day came and we were to play Hearts at their home, it was a close game, but Hearts came away with the 3 points with a goal on the hour, my game was solid as ever, earning a 7 for my troubles.

It wasn’t good news for the team though as the team was languishing down in 9th place at the start of the new year, we needed to improve our consistency drastically.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Celtic | | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 15 | +17 | 41 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Rangers | | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 39 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Hearts | | 20 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 30 | 19 | +11 | 38 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Falkirk | | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 34 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Hibernian | | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 22 | +4 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Kilmarnock | | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Inverness CT | | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 23 | -3 | 27 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Dunfermline Ath | | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 34 | -5 | 23 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Dundee Utd | | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 25 | -7 | 21 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Aberdeen | | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 27 | 35 | -8 | 20 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Gretna | | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 33 | -12 | 18 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | St. Mirren | | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 30 | 49 | -19 | 17 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| My stats so far for the year looked like this it didnt have the under 21 game for Wales though in which Iearned MoTM honours and a 9 rating.| Statistics | Apps | Gls | Asts | MoM | Yel | Red | Tck | Pass | Sh Tar | Fouls| Fls Ag | Av R | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Non Competitive | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 7.00 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | League | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.13 | 64 % | 38 % | 23 | 28 | 6.71 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.36 | 71 % | - | 6 | 3 | 7.50 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Continental | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ---- | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | International | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ---- | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Overall | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.15 | 64 % | 35 % | 29 | 31 | 6.81 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>