retired_Andrea

Possibly more money?

Luca was talking to me about the Romanian Cup when he let slip that the team was still in it, going into the second leg with a 2-1 aggregate lead. I asked him if the winner would qualify for the prestigious UEFA Cup, and he said that they would. I explained, "If this club gets into the UEFA Cup, we would have even more money to spend, Luca. Enough to guarantee you your treatment no matter what happens next year."

He shook his head, "Uncle Matt, my dad wants the cup money to pay off his debts. Those are more important since he knows you can keep this club up for two years." He sighed. "I know I can keep the club up too but I don't see why..." I drifted off, Luca had always been pretty sensitive about talking about his dad. Both of us knew that he wasn't the father he should be. I held the little boy close to me, both united in his battle, and mine. Both united in a realisation that my brother had let go of his priorities and caused a massive risk. I suddenly realised why I was his favourite uncle, whenever I had been around him I was the closest thing he had to a real parent.

GÖZTEPE AWAY
Friendly - Tour of Turkey

Tãnasã, Rãdoi, Puiu, Uzun, Paraschiv, Daminutã, Kravchenko, Ceran, Schwartz, Sighiartãu, Tismãnaru; Bors, Benga, Rósa, Marin, Enescu, Somodi, Martinovic, Lãcãtus, Cistean, Elek, Constantin, Vãtuva.

Luca once again took his rightful place in the dugout for the game. Two changes from the starting lineup against Boykozspor as Martinovic was still recovering from his injury and I decided Kravchenko was worth a starting place based on his antics on the wing from the last game.

Seven minutes into the game, Ceran played Sighiartãu through on goal, and the striker put the ball in the back of the net like he'd never get another chance. We continued to bombard the home goal before Sighiartãu's second on twenty-three minutes, outrunning the last defender.

Disaster struck next as Puiu was sent off for a reckless challenge on thirty minutes. Luca swore like a trooper at the defender, as I signalled a change to a 4-1-2-1-1 and took off striker Tismãnaru for right-back Cistean. I instantly told Puiu that he would be fined for the dismissal.

Daminutã scored the third, just before half time from a great passing move. Kravchenko still had time to miss from one-on-one before the half-time whistle. Luca was beaming from ear to ear by the time we got into the dressing room. I told the players to carry on as they were, the morale in the dressing room was amazing, Göztepe hadn't yet had a shot on target.

Daminutã scored again on the 53rd minute, then one minute later missed a golden opportunity for a hat-trick. "How are we battling relegation?" Luca asked me, Elek laughed, "Because we're not playing non-league teams every week." I turned to him, "If we play to our potential, we won't just do this against lower league clubs."

Göztepe pulled one back on the sixty-fifth minute from a messy bit of defending, it was only their first shot on target. Kravchenko pulled his first goal for the club with the last kick of the game. Another 5-1 win.

Attendance: 571
Göztepe Goalscorers: 1; Zafer 65'
Otelul Goalscorers: 5; Sighiartãu 7', Sighiartãu 23', Paraschiv 31', Daminutã 43', Daminutã 52', Kravchenko 90' (Puiu sent off 30')

My brother called me after the game to congratulate me, he didn't even ask to speak to Luca. He also made a note of mentioning that I still had a few million euros to spend if I needed to. I asked him, "If we win the cup, does that change the financial positon?" He sighed, "Matt, if we win the cup, I'll review that, OK?"

I knew that meant no. Next up I had to phone in at Sky and deny any interest in the SS Lazio job which I'd been connected to during my playing days for the Biancocelesti. I left the assistant in charge of the team for the friendly against Bandirmaspor, since I needed to watch a player I was interested in, young Ionut Mutu of Dinamo.

I flew with Luca to Bucharest, informing my assistant that I'd be back for the last game of the tour. We took our seats for the reserve match, Dinamo against U Cluj. Luca instantly compared the player to his famous namesake Adrian, and there were definite ties to be made. After the game, I called my assistant. The team had won 5-0. I told him to get in contact with Dinamo regarding young Mutu.

retired_Andrea

Two Quick Calls

Assistant Manager, Marian Dinu:
Dinu: Just to let you know, Ceran has been ruled out for up to two months with a sprained ankle.
Me: ****, OK, Somodi is a good player anyway.
Dinu: Yes, I was thinking that, so, do you think we're going to manage to stay up?
Me: Are you joking? I don't have a choice, Marian, I have to stay up.

My Brother, Chairman, Marius Stan:
Marius: Matt, the hospital called, Luca's second treatment will start on the 28th February and end on the 2nd March.
Me: Okay, sounds great, he'll be back for Otopeni.
Marius: Look Matt, I'm glad you turned down Lazio...
Me: Yeah, of course I turned them down.
Marius: That club loved you Matt, and you loved their fans.
Me: No, I love Luca. Lazio are nothing on him.
Marius: Jeez Matt, you're a better father than I am.
Me: You know, I can't disagree with you on that, much as I'd love to.
Marius: Just remember, avoid relegation this year and we'll review what you need next year for your bonus...
Me: What do you mean, what I need to do for my bonus? My bonus is for your son, Marius!
Marius: Well, we might need a little more next year, anyway I have to go to a party.

I went to sleep on the overnight plane thinking about it, what more could he want? It wasn't as if I was pocketing this 'bonus', surely he didn't want me to do even more for the club? The family belief that he really did put his club over Luca was coming to light now. Maybe it was true.

I had always been more successful in football than he had, but I was certain that I would never have put it above my own son, if I had one. Admittedly, I had always avoided having children for the exact reason of the pressure football had on me all the time, as a player and as a manager, but I would always have dropped football any time, even if it was for Luca, who wasn't even my child.

BERGAMA BLD. SPOR AWAY
Friendly - Tour of Turkey

Marinescu, Rãdoi, Constantin, Uzun, Nogo, Daminutã, Kravchenko, Somodi, Benga, Sighiartãu, Marin; Bors, Rósa, Vãtavu, Tismãnaru, Enescu, Lãcãtus, Elek, Puiu, Schwartz.

With Paraschiv, Martinovic and Tãnasã on International duty, I was fielding a weakened squad against Bergama although I still expected a resounding win from a bunch of players all trying to stake their claim for a place in my starting eleven.

On the third minute, Benga had a goal dubiously disallowed for offside. Sighiartãu set Marin up to score twenty minutes later, and the lead was doubled when Marin returned the favour seven minutes after the first.

At half-time, I took Sighiartãu off for Elek, as he'd picked up a knock and I didn't want to risk losing a first teamer to injury. I was pretty pleased with the first half. I could only think of one opportunity we'd given the home side, and that was a set piece. We were passing around like Barcelona and really stamping our authority on Bergama.

Elek forced Aytac into a sloppy own goal on 78 minutes, the defender's sliced clearance making it 0-3 Otelul. My unbeaten record now stretched to eight games.

Attendance: 5,046
Bergama Bld. Spor Goalscorers: 0
Otelul Goalscorers: 3; Marin 25', Sighiartãu 31', Aytac og78'.

I organised one final tour of the closed-season, to Kazakhstan, playing against Irtysh Pavlodar and Vostok Ust-Kamenogorsk. I wanted to make sure that we were staying match fit and ready to play football.

Dinamo came back unwilling to sell Mutu, I submitted a bid of €550,000 and refused Sportuls pathetic offer for Vãtavu. Uzul was ruled out for two weeks, meaning he would miss both games in Kazakhstan.

IRTYSH PAVLODAR AWAY
Friendly - Tour of Kazakhstan

Tãnasã, Rosa, Puiu, Paraschiv, Nogo, Daminutã, Kravchenko, Somodi, Schwartz, Martinovic, Tismãnaru; Marinescu, Constantin, Vãtavu, Enescu, Lãcãtus, Bors, Marin, Rãdoi, Benga.

Kravchenko came off injured for Vãtavu on five minutes. Paraschiv hit a beautiful free kick off the framework and in on the tenth minute to put us one up. Tismãnaru doubled the lead on twenty-five minutes with a nice close-range powered shot.

We continued to press, their manager was complaining about Luca celebrating, so he had to sit in the stands. I love when friendlies aren't friendly. Daminutã added another one just before half time, and ran over to Luca specifically and celebrated in front of him. Legend.

Martinovic missed a chance in the early second half, Luca had snuck back into the dugout for the second period and had his head in his hands. Twenty minutes later Paraschiv added his second of the game, and the team's fourth.

Attendance: 9,218
Irtysh Pavlodar Goalscorers: 0
Otelul Goalscorers: 4; Paraschiv 10', Tismãnaru 25', Daminutã 44', Paraschiv 67'.

Kravchenko was ruled out for between one and three weeks with a gashed leg, so I was beginning to see the start of an injury crisis building up with Kravchenko, Ceran, Sighiartãu, Dantes, Uzun and Elek all out.

The next game was our last friendly before I had to do it for real with this club. I had never managed in the Romanian league before, I didn't know which were the big clubs, other than Steaua and Dinamo, as they had played in Europe recently. With Luca by my side, I was relishing the challenge, although I admit I'd've preferred if the stakes were purely footballing and financial.

VOSTOK UST-KAMENOGORSK AWAY
Friendly - Tour of Kazakhstan

Tãnasã, Rosa, Puiu, Paraschiv, Nogo, Daminutã, Vãtuva, Somodi, Schwartz, Martinovic, Tismãnaru; Bors, Constantin, Rãdoi, Enescu, Lãcãtus, Benga.

Vostok pressed from the off, it was expected because of their standing and their reputation, and they were definitely the best team we had played at this point under my management. Any alien may've thought Luca was the manager since he was living every moment, head in hands, shouting at the players, I couldn't help but laugh.

We started to get into the game about 20 minutes in, Daminutã firing onto the crossbar and us aggressively pressing with possession. At half-time I put Marin on for Vãtavu, who was carrying a niggle, and told the squad they could win the game.

Fifteen minutes from time, Marin fired home from close range on a volley, set up by Somodi. A great save from Tãnasã followed by a wicked strike from outside the box from Schwartz wrapped up the game, much to the delight of the boy beside me, who knew an awful lot more Otelul chants than I did.

Attendance: 11,236
Vostok Ust-Kamenogorsk Goalscorers: 0
Otelul Goalscorers: 2; Marin 76', Schwartz 90'.

Left back position was going to be a problem for the first game, with first choice Puiu out for the match. Luca suggested seeing who we could get on loan, so I called up the list of players who were loan listed or transfer listed on my laptop.

One player, although not listed for loan, that instantly jumped out at me was Farul's Izvoranu. I made an offer for the player, since I knew he could play in other positions as well, the experienced Romanian was a player I had looked at while managing Feyenoord.

The next thing I knew, Luca was asleep in my arms on the sofa, and I was next to nod off...

retired_Andrea

The Run In...

Izvoranu was very willing to listen, and quickly agreed terms to come to Otelul Galati. He was something the club would need if the injuries carried on, I was always a fan of versatile players and Izvoranu could play centre and left midfield, defensive midfield and centre back.

I offloaded another reserve player, Florin Mãjer, to Pandurii for €275,000. I didn't believe, especially with my new signings, that the 27 year old had any part to play in my plans and I didn't want to deny him first-team football, or pay a player who had no chance of ever making the Otelul first team.

Kravchenko began recovery faster than expected, and I mentally put him on the bench for the Otopeni away game, hoping that he would be able to play at least half of the Caracal game a week later. I bought a car and rented out a flat in Galati, so that I wasn't staying with my brother and relying on him to get me around.

My Dutch driving license was valid in Romania. I drove Luca to Bucharest and spent the first day with him, watching the nurses insert all kinds of scary looking pipes and tubes to his arms and hands, then hook him up to a medical feed and a heartbeat and breathing monitor.

He didn't whine about it or cry, like a child could easily have done, he got on with it, realising it was for his own good. I found the doctor I had originally spoken to, Dr Plesan, and asked him how Luca was responding to the treatment.

"Very well, Mr Doughty, very well, the treatment is fighting the cancer, and expectation is with two years of this treatment, the boy will be totally cured."
"Why does it take so long, Doctor?"
"Well although the cancer can be cured in as little as twelve months, the extra twelve months of treatment reduces the chance of it returning by ninety-five percent."

Dr Plesan was always someone I felt I could talk to, as I wasn't a very medically aware person. I had a fear of hospitals ever since I'd been told at one that I'd never play football again, little more than a week before my International debut. Luca looked to be sleeping as the anti-cancerous fluids were fed into him, but I knew that the sleep was induced by the powerful drugs. I ran my hand through his hair, and then left, needing to get the lads ready for the big game.

I got word through from the board that the €9,250,000 that I had spent this year was by far the most the club had ever spent in one season on transfers. We were proclaimed as the papers as 'The Chelsea of Romania' having spent more than Dinamo, Rapid and Steaua combined.

I hate it when you have to play after everyone else, because it can put you in a falsely negative position, and really ramps up the pressure. Luca, who was back from the hospital, had been very slothful the night he came back from the treatment, but now, the day after, he was his usual talkative self again. He explained that Otopeni were playing above themselves, in fourth place in the division, they would be high on confidence but player for player I was pretty sure we could give them a game.

CS OTOPENI AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Vãtavu (MR), Kravchenko (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rãdoi, Lãcãtus, Benga, Somodi, Marin.

OTOPENI LINEUP: Munteanu (GK), Wagner (DR), Panc (DL), Ratiu (DC), Ivan (DC), Gîrlã (MR), Arbãnas (ML), Costin (MC), Gheorghe (MC), Bogdan (FC), Piturcã (FC); Gheorghe, Ionel, Minea, Pop, Stegaru, Tegzes, Voiculet.

I had to submit squad numbers for no less than six of my squad: Tãnasã (37), Izvoranu (7), Daminutã (19), Lãcãtus (31), Kravchenko (35) and Martinovic (33). Luca sat by me in the dugout as the players ran out to Kasabian's Club Foot, still a favoured football song in 2012.

We had a goal disallowed within the first minute, as Sighiartãu appeared to have headed home a Martinovic cross, but he was adjudged to have pushed opposition goalkeeper Munteanu.

Vãtavu split Otopeni's defense a minute later, only for Sighiartãu to fire high and wide, Luca slapping his face into his palm in disgust, much to the bemusement of Panã, my opposite number. The travelling support were great, they didn't stop singing and it really fired the lads on as the early minutes were all Otelul.

Piturcã very nearly put the home side ahead against the run of play, but the header went into the side netting on twenty-six minutes. Eight minutes later, Martinovic netted from the spot after he was hacked down by Ratiu in the box.

Half-time feelings: Relegation? You're having a laugh. We'd just outplayed a team challenging for a European place and I told the lads I was pleased with their first half performance, but I expected the same in the second half, and we mustn't get lazy.

Otopeni looked more willing to press in the second half, Piturcã once again going close. On sixty-five minutes I substituted a still recovering Kravchenko for an overwhelmed Somodi. Somodi bit his lower lip to conceal a grin as Luca decided to give him some last minute tips.

Izvoranu was very lucky not to get sent off on the eighty-seventh minute, his professional foul on Bogdun only yellow carded as it was not adjudged to be a clear goalscoring opportunity at the tight angle.

Pure open end-to-end football ensued as we searched for a sealing goal and Otopeni scoured for a late equalizer, but neither happened and my first competetive game finished 0-1 to my Otelul.

Attendance: 5,284
CS Otopeni Goalscorers: 0
Otelul Goalscorers: 1; Martinovic p35'.

We spent the night in a hotel in Otopeni, the result jetted us up to tenth, three points clear from relegation as results elsewhere had gone our way. My brother came into the hotel room, having seemingly resigned to the fact that Luca didn't really want to spend any time with him and was enjoying the life of a pseudo-assistant manager, and caring rather less than a father should.

"****ing result, Matt, ****ing result." He gave it his all, "You're a ****in' miracle worker, those mother****ers thought they were heading to the UEFA Cup and you've just turned them over on their home turf! Schwartz has got all the headlines for that performance but you deserve 'em, mate."

"Look, Marius, I'm still bothered about what you're going to expect next season, y'know, I'm not doing this job for the supporters, right, I'm doing it for Luca." He paused long and hard, "Matt you know I wouldn't ask any more than you're fully capable of, just enjoy the season, you'll warm to this club."

Yeah, right. No pressure on me at all. Luca sat up in his bed, hearing his father's recklessness but saying nothing. My brother continued, "You know Matt, I need performances like that to clear my own troubles, catch my drift? Poker isn't going to pay for itself, mate."

He walked out, I sighed. Poker? Is that what this was all about. I thought to myself, 'I hope the man knows what he's doing, if he sets me an irresponsible goal next season I don't know what I'll do.' Luca seemed worried about exactly the same thing, the last thing he asked before we went to sleep was, "How many new players would you need, to win the league?"

retired_Andrea

The First Real Problems

'Bastard' I thought, as I recieved news that Paraschiv had turned down a contract offer ten times as large as his current deal. He wanted to go, for no real reason. As far as I was concerned, the first club that could offer me €2,000,000 could have him but until then he was an Otelul player.

"Luca, your favourite player has problems..." I grumbled, pulling a face. The boy giggled, somewhat girlishly, "He won't be my favourite for long if he keeps turning down new contracts!" He proclaimed.

I was called into a board meeting to discuss the upcoming fixtures and how well I felt we could do this season. I told the board to offer Ivan Zivkovic, the scout who had first uncovered Laszlo Luca, the Romanian wonderkid, an offer. They then began to question me.

Laurentiu Majearu: Mr Doughty, do you believe this club is heading in the right direction, with our agreement to improve the youth and training facilities?
Me: Yes sir, I believe with these improvements we will be able to compensate for the mass exodus of talent associated with playing in a low-reputation division for years to come, and the supporters will get a lot of fine talent to watch.
Ion Ionicã: Mr Doughty, as I'm sure Marius has told you, this club is not used to battling relegation, how do you think we can do next season?
Me: *pause* I think we should be safely in mid-table next season, there's no reason to expect another battle. It would take a lot of luck to get involved in the push for European spots.
Marius Stan: Matthew, this club has traditionally won things. Do you think there is a chance of us bringing the Romanian Cup home this year for the supporters?
Me: Any of the clubs left in the cup could win it, my main focus is ensuring the survival of the club in the Divizia A this year.

I was granted my leave, the board seemingly happy with my answers, but I couldn't help but feel that their expectations next season were going to be more related to my brothers Poker than to just ensuring financial security and Luca's medical treatment.

Zivkovic signed for the club, with €1,000 compensation heading to Dorcol. I immediately told him to scout Serbia for talent. I terminated Rageas contract and put Dinu in charge of the B Team. I would need an assistant I had worked with before to pull this off.

Enter Ukranian Leonenko, the wily bastard, once my assistant at Bristol City, now a lowly youth coach at U Cluj, I invited him to come on board at Otelul to work with me. He seemed pretty happy to hear from me, and told me he'd come to discuss a contract after the next game. Luca protested, stating that he'd be an ideal assistant!

CARACAL AT HOME
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Vãtavu (MR), Kravchenko (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rãdoi, Lãcãtus, Elek, Somodi, Marin.

CARACAL LINEUP: Lung (GK), Bãcilã (DR), Mitchell (DL), Ciric (DC), Zamfirescu (DC), Soare (MR), Szentlaszoi (ML), Alexa (MC), SfÃ*rlea (MC), Roszel (FC), Bîlbã (FC); Andronic, Drecin, Forminte, Drecin, Petre, Pîrse, Soporan, Zaharia.

The first thing Luca noted was that I should buy Zamfirescu just because his name was cool. Elek couldn't help but laugh, he got on well with Luca and apparently had spent some time with him when Marius was out with Aryss, babysitting and taking him to the movies, and things like that.

This was the first time I had taken charge of a home game, and I was met by a thunderous wall of applause. This was definitely a game we would want to win, as Caracal were one of the relegation threatened teams. The fans sung a chorus of 'So Gia Du Ore' in tribute to my finest playing days, for Italian giants SS Lazio.

"Lazio grande Lazio, che ce ponno fa
undici fiati, tutti quanti a respira
Lazio grande Lazio, nata pe domina
tu sei la mejo, e nun ce vonno sta"

Caracal came out to frustrate us, wasting time at every kick and playing for the draw. In the whole first half, they didn't have one shot at goal, at half-time I told the players to keep pressing them as we were wearing them out on the wings.

Uzun nodded just wide on sixty minutes, and I subbed off the misfiring Sighiartãu for Marin and Elek on for Vãtavu. Luca said "We're going to win this" but I didn't share his optimism, they'd kept us out well so far.

More good chances went begging as the game entered the last fifteen minutes, Paraschiv twice firing high and wide from good free kick locations. The game finished 0-0 but I had no reason to be downhearted with a draw.

Attendance: 5,127
Otelul Goalscorers: 0
Caracal Goalscorers: 0.

Izvoranu was ruled out for up to four weeks with a damaged foot, even more injuries piled onto our worries, but in other news, Ceran was facing a late scan to be in contention for the cup tie against Unirea Urziceni.

Ceran was ruled out of the cup game on the day, but expected to definitely be ready to play at least a part of the relegation crunch away at Gaz Metan. I tabled a contract offer to Zivkovic, which he promised to give some consideration to over the coming weeks.

UNIREA URZICENI AWAY
Romanian Cup

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Cistean (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Vãtavu (MR), Kravchenko (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Constantin, Rãdoi, Elek, Lãcãtus, Somodi, Tismãnaru.

UNIREA LINEUP: Negut (GK), Balint (DR), Popescu (DL), Onet (DC), Stoica (DC), Strãut (MR), Ganea (ML), Vãtavu (MC), Sitaru (MC), Ilie (FC), Jula (FC); Aldea, Buhãescu, Cruceru, Munteanu, Murgan, Neagoe, Surdu.

Luca stayed in the hotel room, feeling too ill to come to the game, I found it very hard to leave him but it would be pointless to aggrevate his condition by bringing him into a hostile atmosphere at Unirea.

Sighiartãu missed a golden opportunity to score in the first minute and put us 1-3 up on aggregate, the resulting corner once again forcing a very good save from Negut. Uzun picked up a knock on seven minutes and had to be replaced by Constantin, I refused to risk putting more pressure on whatever it was.

Martinovic took a chance and put us 1-0 up, smashing home the rebound from Kravchenko's effort. Unirea didn't sit back, they were very willing to come at us and looked very dangerous on the ball. Jula pulled the home side level on thirty minutes.

Tãnasã denied Ilie a great chance to draw them level on aggregate two minutes later, in the strongest spell of dominance I'd yet seen against my club since taking the reins. A very even first half came to rest at 1-1, with us holding a 3-2 aggregate lead.

Jula hit the crossbar in the early second half, although the keeper seemed to have it covered. On fifty four minutes, Paraschiv seemed to have put the game away, nodding away a Vãtavu free kick. Popescu was dismissed five minutes later for kicking the goalscorer, leaving Unirea with it all to do.

Soon after seventy minutes, I subbed off Martinovic for Elek, trying to keep him conditioned for the weekend clash with Gaz Metan. The game finished 1-2, and we progressed to the quarter final with a 4-2 aggregate win.

Attendance: 1,994
Unireal Urziceni Goalscorers: 1; Jula 30' (Popescu sent off 59')
Otelul Goalscorers: 2; Martinovic 12', Paraschiv 54'.

The first thing I did after the game was rush home to see Luca, no celebrating and partying for me. He looked a little better than earlier, although still very pale and shivering, despite the heating being on full. His eyes were red from crying and I silently held him, "You'll be OK, Luca, don't worry."

I phoned Bucharest hospital and booked his next treatment for the 25th March 2012, the day after Steaua at home. Once again I put the €700,000 payment on my credit card. 'If I don't keep this club up, we're both ****ed,' I thought, realising that this payment would plunge me into a six figure debt.

I flicked on the television, we could either draw Dinamo, Rapid or Vaslui, all very tough games. Our ball came out first, we would be playing the first leg at home. After what seemed like an eternity, Dinamo Bucharest came out. If we could get past this fixture we would be in with a good shot of winning the Cup.

Rapid would play the first leg against Vaslui at home. Luca managed a grin, "I wanted Dinamo Bucharest. I've never been to their stadium, uncle Matt." I smiled back at him, "Well, you'll see their stadium's reaction to a shock Otelul win, little'un, now get some sleep while I sort out a few things."

I waited for him to drift off, then tried to call my brother. No answer. I went to sleep without talking to him about the draw, then the next day began the long journey to Medias to face Gaz Metan.

GAZ METAN AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Cistean (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Vãtavu (MR), Kravchenko (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Constantin, Rãdoi, Elek, Lãcãtus, Ceran, Tismãnaru.

GAZ METAN LINEUP: Stetca (GK), Taturciuc (DR), Ailincãi (DL), Matei (DC), Sãndulescu (DC), Stroe (MR), Acsinte (ML), Onicas (MC), Neculai (MC), Ionescu (FC), Prodan (FC); Biro, Drãghici, Ionitã, Mihai, Negrea, Pintea, Preda.

Luca was back in the dugout for this one, feeling quite a bit better and wanting to cheer his beloved Otelul to victory. Ceran was still not feeling match fit, so I planned to put him on for the last quarter of an hour, if all was going well.

Vãtuva opened the scoring with a great clinical finish just inside the far post on twenty five minutes. Luca jumped up and cheered loudly, a beam growing across his face so large that it was almost like a cariacature. We were really showing that fast-flowing possession football wasn't an exclusive right of Dinamo fans in Romania.

Ailincãi was sent off after thirty four minutes, for headbutting Schwartz. The discipline problems were something we were lucky not to have with our great team spirit. I put Ceran on for Kravchenko at half time, hoping that he was fit to play but taking a gamble on him this soon after injury.

It wasn't one of my smarter managerial moves, as he looked laboured running down the left wing. Gaz Metan equalised on sixty seven minutes through a rare defensive error, one of very few chances they had been given so far.

Gaz Metan began to get physical so I subbed Ceran back off for Elek, and Sighiartãu off for Tismãnaru on eighty minutes. Just when the game seemed to be over, Vãtuva found Uzun in acres of space, and the defender drilled a powerful shot past a hopeless Stetca. Tismãnaru missed with a spectacular bicycle volley in the dying seconds, and full time came with a 1-2 Otelul win.

Attendance: 4,259
Gaz Metan Goalscorers: 1; Acsinte 67' (Ailincãi sent off 35')
Otelul Goalscorers: 2; Vãtavu 25', Uzun 88'.

Doughty's men remain unbeaten, although Kravchenko was ruled out for up to two weeks again with a bruised jaw. He wasn't the luckiest so far with regards to injury.

My brother called me to congratulate me on the amazing win, "You're a ****in' miracle worker, these players don't know how to lose Matthew!" I rolled my eyes, "Steaua next Marius, we'll see just how invincible we are, because that game's a test." He grunted, and said he had to go to the Casino. ******.

retired_Andrea

The Future's Bright?

So, eleventh in the league, seven points from the drop zone and a glorious game against Steaua coming up. What could go wrong? Well, quite a bit actually. My brother had broken up with his wife and she had moved back to France, leaving him in a foul mood and playing more Poker than ever.

He then had the nerve to tell me that Aryss wasn't even Luca's mother, and he was the result of a one night stand he had in Bucharest ten years ago. She had agreed to pretend because she didn't want Luca to be upset by it. "You know Marius, when you said your life was complicated I didn't think you meant you ****ed it up." I shook my head in disbelief.

He retorted, "Well it's hardly my ****ing fault my son got cancer is it?" I wanted to punch him, I really did. "It's not his ****ing fault either, Marius, but you're a ****ing professional and you should be in the position to be able to cover for any ****ing medical issues that come up!"

I stomped off, back to my hotel room, and picked up Luca to take him to the Steaua game. He saw that I was annoyed and asked why, I told him there was no problem but he could tell there was. "It's your dad, Luca, don't worry, you've done nothing wrong." He seemed more contented with this.

STEAUA BUCHAREST AT HOME
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Puiu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Vãtavu (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rãdoi, Lãcãtus, Elek, Somodi, Tismãnaru.

STEAUA LINEUP: Hutan (GK), Tudose (DR), Nesu (DL), Goian (DC), Fedoriv (DC), Ninkovic (DM), Paraschiv (DM), Pãtrascu (AMC), Cocis (AMC), Cristocea (AMC), Iacob (FC); Cristian, Oprita, Litu, Torje, Ghionea, Mirea, Pãun.

Despite all the pre-match press, we started the brighter side, and Sighiartãu fired us ahead on twelve minutes. The crowd were chanting "Easy, Easy, Easy" to the dismay of the visitors. Luca joined in and the Steaua manager glared at him as if he had said something dirty about his wife.

End to end football ensued, but surprisingly we dominated possession up until half-time, where I told them to carry on doing it. The Steaua manager could be heard next door booming about playing against a weaker team. "You lot ****ing hear that, we'll show them weaker team! COME ON!" An eruption of noise went up in the dressing room.

Steaua looked a little brighter in the second half, but they weren't outplaying us by any means. Schwartz picked up a one match ban with his yellow card for shirt pulling, I cursed and made a double substitution. Ceran off for Somodi and Martinovic off for Elek.

Sighiartãu put us two nil up on seventy minutes. 'We could actually do this,' I thought to myself. I saw tears of joy running down little'uns face next to me, he had been contemplating the team he loved getting relegated and losing all possibility of hope for his life, and I'd turned it to expectation, hope and beating Steaua being twenty minutes away in three months.

Elek added another two minutes later, we were embarassing the visiting giants, Luca jumped up and cried with joy, "LITTLE TEAM? LITTLE TEAM?" he yelled, bemusing the fourth official. I knew what he was referring to and my opposite number was seething with rage.

Tãnasã denied Nesu's free kick on seventy seven minutes as Steaua threw everything at the little club they'd expected to trample on. Steaua forced a couple of great saves but they could have no complaints as they had been outpossessed, outpassed and outshone.

Attendance: 6,999
Otelul Goalscorers: 3; Sighiartãu 12', Sighiartãu 69', Elek 72'
Steaua Bucharest Goalscorers: 0.

Luca fell asleep almost instantly after we got home, knowing he had to be up early for another drive up to Bucharest. I watched the interview with the Steaua manager claiming we were outplayed. What a twonk. "They did nothing except the three goals."

Morning came, and Luca slept most of the way to the hospital, I dropped him off for the treatment, another painful three days apart from the boy I was growing incredibly attached to, through our shared battle and shared love for football. The years of age difference made no difference, as human nature dictates that we will all band together when we face a battle.

He would be back before the Sportul game, I thought, but as I left the hospital I was stopped by a whole load of press.

"Mr Doughty, David Seaman, Sky Sports News, is it true that you're only doing this job to pay off your brother's son's medical bills?"

I tried to get through them but was bombarded with questions about Luca, about my brother's debts and his well-publicised gambling problem, about what I would do after I had paid off Luca's medical bills, I wondered how they had got the information, then it came to me. GREEDY SLAG! It was Aryss, she had obviously gone to the tabloids to pocket some coppers and get back at Marius.

What a whore, she had completely dismissed Luca in all of this, all she was thinking about was revenge, and sure as hell when I stopped at a News Stand there was an 'EXCLUSIVE' interview with Aryss Stan revealing 'the darker side of Marius, the secret agenda of Matthew Doughty and the full extent of Luca Stan's illness'. This was front page ahead of the team's 3-0 win over Steaua. Disgraceful.

retired_charytine

great read mate! getting better! keep it coming! for me its like a book i cant put down!

retired_Andrea

Time Goes On...

I wondered out into the training session, the Goalkeeping and Ball Control coaching looked pretty overloaded so I decided to get on the phone with the board to hire some coaches. I advised them to look at Dumitri Mitu specifically, as I had worked with him in ball control when I was a player. He was delighted to be joining up with us, after being unemployed by Lazio.

Luke May, a 37-year-old English goalkeeping coach, was next to get the call. I felt that this training overhaul was a big part of my regime. Training was the first thing you had to get right to be successful, especially when working on a limited budget and club draw power, a renowned training facility could be the difference between signings and missing out.

Speaking of missing, I was missing my little assistant more than I'd expected. Marius was fuming at his wife's antics, he informed me that we would have to make a press release to refute her claims that I was only here for the money. I went out in front of the Romanian press, claiming, "If I was just here to save my nephew, I would not be here, because Otelul is a big club and needs a manager whos first priority is Otelul."

"As for claims that I am here for the money, I earned twice as much at Betis, I am here because I want to genuinely make a difference to this club and this region." The press applaused, "I do have a clause in my contract that says the club will pay Luca's medical bills, this is only because I, as a manager, work best under pressure, and the biggest pressure is knowing I can help those I love. My brother, my nephew."

Marius took over, "There is no way I cannot pay for Luca's medicine even if my brother were to fail at keeping this club up. He himself insisted that he wanted to do this, it was never a prerequisite."

"Mr Doughty, Ionin Cîlau, Romanian Times in Western Europe, what made you have a sudden change of heart after declaring you were taking a break?"

I looked him in the eye, "These wonderful fans," I pointed to the pictures on the wall of the room, "Their want for success, this massive club, the ambition of the board. My nephew has supported this club since he was born, my brother and his co-workers on the board believe that this club can go places. They support all of my decisions. Finally my wish to win trophies."

I left the press conference, happy with my performance. Lying wasn't a new trick, I had been forced to do it when I told the press that my Feyenoord team would go to Reál and press, I had been forced to do it when I had told them that my Bristol City team were not ready for promotion, and when I made it common belief that the Betis board were backing me. In the life of a manager, lying was a game to be played.

SPORTUL AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Puiu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Vãtavu (MR), Ceran (ML), Lãcãtus (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rãdoi, Kravchenko, Elek, Somodi, Tismãnaru.

SPORTUL LINEUP: Burcea (GK), Damian (DR), Manea (DL), Daria (DC), Brighiu (DC), Postolache (MR), Varga (ML), Polgar (MC), Argintaru (MC), Constantin (FC), Curelea (FC); Burcea, Dedu, Dinu, Ferfelea, Lãcustã, Pãlimaru, Popescu.

With Luca back by my side, and for the first time looking quite healthy, I felt a lot better. The hospital had said that the cancer was almost completely gone, and that they could begin the bone marrow transplants next time with a 98% certainty of success.

On the field, Kravchenko was back again from injury, feeling a bit jaded from his spell on the sidelines. I definitely was confident for this game, even away from home. We came out all guns blazing and had a penalty appeal turned down early on in the game.

The home side had a good spell but Martinovic put us ahead before the quarter hour mark from Ceran's cross, then Ceran himself doubled the lead just after it, smashing home the rebound from Burcea's save. Curelea brought Sportul back into the game just before forty minutes with a wonderful strike from the edge of the box.

At half-time I subbed Vãtavu off for Kravchenko, hoping that more pace on the wings would help put the game beyond doubt. Sportul drew level from a counter attack, Constantin firing into an open net, Luca shouted abuse at Puiu who had missed the interception.

On fifty-four minutes I subbed Martinovic off for Elek, as the Serbian had picked up a minor injury. A goalmouth scramble on the last minute gave the outplayed sportul all the points in a disappointing first loss under my reign.

Attendance: 3,119
Sportul Goalscorers: 3; Curelea 39', Constantin 47', Ferfelea 90'
Otelul Goalscorers: 2; Martinovic 14', Ceran 17'

I told the players they could forget about a day off and they were in training 'how to defend a 2-0 lead' tomorrow morning. Ceran was the only player I felt played to his capacity and I was thoroughly unhappy with the total lack of ability to defend the lead.

Next up was the big cup game, Luca didn't stop talking about it for days, Dinamo Bucharest at our place.

DINAMO BUCHAREST AT HOME
Romanian Cup

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Puiu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Izvoranu, Rãdoi, Elek, Somodi, Vãtavu, Tismãnaru.

DINAMO LINEUP: Matache (GK), Blay (DR), Radu (DL), Goian (DC), Neacsu (DC), Predescu (MR), Buda (ML), Cristea (MC), Herea (MC), Alexe (FC), Gheorghe (FC); Bãltoi, Dragomir, Gaev, Gheorghe, Ionescu, Mocanu, Repotan.

Several times before the match I had to tell Luca to calm down, but I was definitely happy that he was so excited, a far fetch from the pale and lethargic boy I had met at the airport less than four months ago.

Pre-match I had arranged for his favourite song, Ozone's Dragosteã din Tei, to be played before the song which would welcome the players onto the pitch, Kalwi & Remi's remix of the UEFA Cup theme, 'Victory'. I was hoping that the dance song would remind my players what they were fighting for.

The opening half hour was as free flowing as I'd ever seen, the players were mostly matching their more high profile opponents. I was very impressed with the young fullbacks Puiu and Rósa. Kravchenko had a goal disallowed for offside on the thirty-fourth minute, which was a questionable decision, but one minute later, Martinovic's goal stood and Otelul were 1-0 up.

Luca cheered like never before, he obviously had a strong feel about Dinamo as the reigning team in Romania, and was happy that we could match such a force. The possession was equal at half time, and I told the boys to carry on.

Gheorghe drew the visitors level with a close range effort just after half-time. My head hit my hands in frustration, there was no need to give the set piece away. Having said that, after the goal we still looked equally likely to score.

At eighty minutes, I changed the two wingers for Izvoranu and Elek, to try to inject some pace into the team. I was happy with 1-1, we had something to take to Bucharest for the second leg.

Attendance: 13,463
Otelul Goalscorers: 1; Martinovic 35'
Dinamo Goalscorers: 1; Gheorghe 48'

Luca and I wondered out to the car, stopping at the hypermarket to stock up on food and other stuff. He really did look quite a bit healthier than I'd seen him, hospitals really could do miracles in the modern day. You never heard the survivor stories, only people who'd lost their children to these horrible illnesses.

Similar to my relegation battle, it wasn't over yet, but it was looking a lot more likely to end in success and survival.

retired_Andrea

Whatever Next?

Aryss took little time before hitting back at her husband. 'Marius Stan Broke, Matthew Doughty Broke, Luca Stan Doomed', the Galati Herald proclaimed, sitting on my desk. Well me and my brother were certainly broke, I was currently living on a diet of home-cooked meals and harbouring a €500,000 debt if I didn't get my €7,000,000 bonus for keeping Otelul in the division. However, there was little uncertainty about that. As for Luca being doomed, obviously Aryss wasn't completely informed, although I was already feeling hate for her because she was obviously making millions of Euros for selling stories to the tabloids about a supposedly dying child.

When looking at the fixtures list, I had to do a double take, next up was Dinamo Bucharest at Home. We'd just played them in the cup so it seemed a little strange, but ten points clear of the drop zone is exactly where you want to be when facing the massive sides of the Divizia A. Luca wasn't quite well enough to play football, but he was enjoying practicing shots with the goalkeeping coach, which brought a grin to 'keeper Tãnasã's face as he let a few in to make Luca feel like he was scoring against the pros.

The last boy I could remember who loved the game like that was myself as a youngster. I spent every evening playing on the streets of South London before enrolling in Millwall youth. Luca was infatuated with the game, puppy love but obsessive nonetheless. Unfortunately, due to the nature of his leukaemia he'd probably never be able to play professionally as his bones would be brittle for the rest of his life, but he could still enjoy a kickabout with his lethargic uncle, or lashing shots at superstar keepers.

He saw me watching the practice and ran over to hug me, flushed with colour and vibrance. I put both arms around the young boy and took him to the car. We decided to go and see the seventh Narnia film, 'The Last Battle', then catch an early night so we weren't tired for the match against Dinamo, shouting at the players could take a lot out of you, Luca would know better than anyone, he tended to give them more **** than I did when we played badly.

In the morning, something was definitely wrong. Luca said he was feeling dizzy, he looked sickly and very scared. I called my brother Marius, "Look, you need to take your son to Bucharest hospital immediately." He told me he was at a Poker competition in England. **** it, I thought, I called my assistant and told him he was in charge for the game against Dinamo, "What?!" He shouted down the phone, Luca was shivering all over. "You heard me. Get any result you can, it's an emergency."

I carried the little boy to the car, bringing a blanket to keep him warm, then set off down the busy roads to Bucharest, leaving Dicu in charge for the game against Dinamo. Marius was going to kill me for this. Luca was crying, scared of the strange feelings, scared that he couldn't control the dizziness or the shivering, I tried to comfort him, "Don't worry Luca, you'll be alright," but I think I was comforting my own fear as much as his. If what they say, that children can smell fear, is true, then I stunk. I carried him into Bucharest hospital, the doctor nodded and we walked into the treatment room.

"He says he's feeling dizzy, and he seems to be shivering with a fever, doctor." The doctor nodded, "It's quite a common reaction to the treatment, Mr Doughty, but we'd like to keep him under watch for the night just to make sure it isn't an allergic reaction to something." I nodded, holding Luca's hand, signifying to him that this time I would stay. I was glad it was just a reaction to the treatment, and the doctors didn't seem too concerned. I knew I had to bring him anyway, it wouldn't be right to go off to the match if he was shivering and dizzy, either leaving him on his own or taking him into a noisy stadium.

(Technical note: I holiday'd through this date for the story.)

I recieved a message saying that the game had been lost 3-0, then called an old friend, I would need a better person for taking charge of first-team affairs if a problem happened with Luca again. "Hey, Ovidiu Cristian?" He spluttered, "MATT?" I replied cooly, "Yeah, look, I'm in charge at Otelul right now and I need an assistant..." Ovidiu paused, taken aback, "Of course I ****ing will!" I sent an SMS to my secretary to confirm it, then spent the rest of the evening cuddling up with Luca, whos shivering and dizziness had subsided, and watching DVDs in the hospital room.

In the morning, the medical staff confirmed that Luca was allergic to the daily pills they had given him in the run up to his bone marrow transfusion, they changed the brand and sent us on our way, much relieved that he was still responding well and the cancer wasn't getting any stronger, but was in fact almost cleared. They said that phase one of his bone marrow transplant would begin as scheduled, on Monday 23rd April 2012. He would be able to leave hospital by the Friday, so he wouldn't even have to miss a game.

FARUL AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Cistean (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Izvoranu (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Tismãnaru (FC), Sighiartãu (FC); Marinescu, Daminutã, Rãdoi, Elek, Vãtavu, Somodi, Lãcãtus.

FARUL LINEUP: Vlas (GK), Marcu (DR), Rusu (DL), Vasiliu (DC), Dolha (DC), Matache (DMC), Botezatu (MC), Apostol (MC), Pascu (AMR), Maxim (AML), Suteu (FC); Anghel, Bucur, Curcã, Iordache, Nae, Pãcaruru, Suciu.

Hoping that we'd got the poor loss to Dinamo out of our system, I sat beside Luca in the dugout at Farul stadium. This was a rival club, so the expectation was high, especially with fan favourite Marius Lãcãtus in charge of our opposition, I was hoping to get one over on him.

We started off brightly, Paraschiv hitting the post on the 14th minute, but Farul had their own chances after they settled. The fans were very loud and oppressive and our small visiting band was finding it difficult to break through the noise at all.

The first half was advantage Farul, Maxim running up and down the wing like nobody's business. I decided not to change anything at half-time despite us being outplayed as I felt that all we needed was one break to make them pay. In possession we looked dangerous, at least as much as they did, Kravchenko was making full use of the space allowed to him by their attacking wingers.

I took Tismãnaru off for Elek after sixty-five minutes, hoping that the electric pace of Elek would be what we needed. He very nearly proved me right one minute later with his first touch, shooting inches wide of the far post after cleverly beating Vasiliu.

On eighty minutes I was forced to sub off the injured Sighiartãu after it was decided he couldn't play on because of a knock. Luca yelled and swore at Vasiliu, Lãcãtus opposite me smiled at my nephew, probably quite empathetic as a long-term friend of my brother.

The game finished 0-0 and I was fairly happy with the result, the defense had played incredibly well all night.

Attendance: 17,535
Farul Goalscorers: 0
Otelul Goalscorers: 0.

Sighiartãu was ruled out for up to a month through injury, which was certainly a blow but one I felt we could cover for, better than an injury in defense for example. Next up was the return of Dinamo, in the Romanian Cup, at their place.

This was not going to be able to be a repeat of the 3-0 drubbing we had recieved from them if we wanted any hopes of qualifying. "I can't believe we're going to Dinamo Stadium!" Luca exclaimed, "Dad always found an excuse not to go!" He scrunched up his face as we pulled into the stadium car park.

DINAMO BUCHAREST AWAY
Romanian Cup

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Somodi (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Elek (FC), Ceran (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rãdoi, Lãcãtus, Vãtavu, Benga, Tismãnaru.

DINAMO LINEUP: Gaev (GK), Radu (DR), Radu (DL), Goian (DC), Popa (DC), Bãltoi (MR), Buda (ML), Gheorghe (MC), Herea (MC), Ganea (FC), Gheorghe (FC); Cristea, Matache, Mocanu, Mutu, Neacsu, Ropotan, Stanic.

"Here goes nothing," I rubbed my hands. "Here goes something," Luca grinned. "We can win this one!" I was glad he thought so, the players would be seriously demoralised after this team had turned them over so convincingly at home, yet reaching the final of the cup would be an amazing feat. Could it be done?

The first half was a great spectacle of passing football, everything but a goal had come. Dinamo had outshot us but we had ruled the possession, quite an achievement against such a prestigious side. I was aware that the home side were leading on away goals, so we couldn't just play a 0-0 draw and progress.

Elek hit the post on fifty two minutes, I had raised my hands in celebration before I saw it dink out for Buda to slice clear. On fifty-five minutes, however, the celebrations were on as Daminutã headed in Somodi's corner kick.

It was short-lived, however, as Herea drew the home side level with a belter of a long shot. At seventy minutes I subbed underperformers Uzun and Kravchenko off for Cistean and Vãtavu. I felt the two of them were feeling nerves and we needed a better attitude for the last twenty minutes of the game.

Elek pulled us ahead on eighty four minutes, and knowing that the home side needed two goals to progress, I ordered as much time wasting as possible. Normally I try to play sportingly but Dinamo's manager had spent much of the game whinging and glaring at Luca, who was crying with joy at this point.

As Gaev went up for the corner late in injury time to try to salvage a goal, the ball was hoofed clear and Elek fired it fifty yards into an open net to bag progression to the Romanian Cup final. I jumped up simultaneously with Luca and hugged him tight as the whistle was blown, that was the most emotional moment of my managerial career.

Attendance: 14,816
Dinamo Goalscorers: 1; Herea 63'
Otelul Goalscorers: 3; Daminutã 56', Elek 84', Elek 90'.

I will always remember the call after the game. My brother's first call in a long time, "Look Matt, I was going to call to complain about you leaving Dicu in charge to **** up against Dinamo, but you've cleared it baby, you're a ****ing legend at this club already and you've only been here four months!"

Rapid in the final, whoa. We could actually win this mother****er, and even if we didn't, there was every possibility of Rapid taking a Champion's League spot through the league so we could be competing in Europe next season anyway if my understanding of the cup was correct.

retired_Andrea

The Continuing Legacy

Aryss was back at it after the win over Dinamo, stating that 'Win was a fluke', she was worse than the other managers. Luca giggled whenever he read what she was writing, but it wasn't really all that funny. She was trying to provoke Marius, obviously, but she was doing a much better job of bothering me than my drunk gambling brother.

In the pre-match press conference I admit I took a swipe at her. The Interviewer had asked if there was anything more I'd like to say, and I said, "I'd like to dedicate this performance to my brother, who is dealing with troubles with an ex, and also to his son, who's also dealing with trouble with my brother's ex."


GLORIA AT HOME
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Elek (FC), Martinovic (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rãdoi, Somodi, Vãtavu, Benga, Tismãnaru.

DINAMO LINEUP: Ciurea (GK), Tãut (DR), Szabo (DL), Cârciumaru (DC), Pintilii (DC), Bãjenaru (MR), Turca (ML), Iacob (MC), Pit (MC), Rãducu (FC), Neagu (FC); Cristea, Adam, Boubatrân, Dicu, Marc, Mãrginean, Neculai, Oprea.

With Martinovic returning from injury and Elek doing enough to cement his place in my starting lineup, I felt we had a good chance of scoring some goals in this match.

The opening twenty-five minutes were all Otelul, Gloria creating nothing. Martinovic missed a golden opportunity, granted a free header he nodded the ball tamely into the 'keeper's hands from six yards.

Elek picked up a knock just before half-time, so I put Somadi on for him and told him to switch to the left wing, and Ceran to play up front with Martinovic. I told the boys they could win this game, if they just showed a bit more bite in front of goal.

Turcu put the visitors ahead on fifty minutes, Tãnasã failing to collect a routine set piece. He made up for his error fifteen minutes later, denying a Penalty kick, but we failed to convert a number of good chances, leaving us to lose 1-0 to weaker opposition. Not good enough.

Attendance: 4,859.
Otelul Goalscorers: 0.
Gloria Goalscorers: 1, Turcu 51'.

After I had finished teaching my players to swear in English and Italian as well as Romanian after such a poor performance, I met up with Luca at the car. We had to immediately make the long trip to Bucharest so that he could undergo a first-stage bone marrow transfusion. I planned to stay two days in Bucharest to make sure all went well with the transfusion, then return for training and fly him back out for the next game after the recovery period.

The first day the doctors put him into a medically induced sleep, then drained a lot of the contaminated marrow and started feeding more into him via tubes. They gave me some pills that he would have to take twice a day so that his body didn't reject the strange organisms.

The next day, he was on a feed of all kind of drugs, still asleep but I was constantly assured that everything was fine, it was just to help his body adjust. By the time I had to leave, he had regained consciousness, although he still had to be fed with medicines for another few days to double-make sure everything would be OK with the transfusion.

I flew out with the players to Botosani, for the game at the Municipal. A win here, as far as I was concerned, guaranteed safety, so I made the players very aware of that by telling the media we were relishing the battle.

FC BOTOSANI AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Cistean (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Martinovic (FC), Marin (FC); Marinescu, Uzun, Rãdoi, Puiu, Benga, Elek, Tismãnaru.

BOTOSANI LINEUP: Simion (GK), Andronic (DR), Filip (DL), Sãndei (DC), Mihãescu (DC), Ungurusan (MR), Popa (ML), Oancea (MC), Miron (MC), Antal (FC), Iordache (FC); Anghel, Balea, Gornic, Iacob, Kovacs, Muresan, Voicilã.

Luca looked a little tired after his plane journey and the ordeal he had been through, but he was nonetheless visibly glad to see 'uncle Matt' again. I named a similar squad to the last game, with a few minor edits, mainly Uzun's exclusion from the starting eleven after giving away a penalty.

For the first twenty-five minutes, we were giving away possession very cheaply. I needed to stop the defenders just hoofing the ball all over the place Lincoln style. Half-time came after a very defensive-minded first half, I told the boys in no uncertain terms I expected them to press for a winner in the second period.

After sixty-five minutes I told Benga to go on for the injured Schwartz and Elek to replace Marin, who'd offered very little except the ability to give the ball away at every chance. Elek duly obliged by carrying on where Marin had left off, blasting the ball over from four yards.

Kravchenko fired in from a Benga corner in the last minute of normal time, I slid across the ground as I hadn't done since my playing days and Luca slid next to me, imitating a rifle with his hands, a celebration first stamped by Adrian Mutu.

Alas, it was not to be, some awful defending allowed Popa to draw the home side level in injury time. I shook my head in disbelief as the home fans lambasted me for my overwhelmed celebration. I told the boys I was pleased, the draw was better for us than it was for Botosani, but in my heart I was disappointed.

Attendance: 2,620.
Botosani Goalscorers: 1, Popa 90'.
Otelul Goalscorers: 1, Kravchenko 89'.

Schwartz was ruled out for two weeks by a bruised shin, and I was left looking at the fixtures list to see how we could move this club up the table. I decided to get the players into a 4-5-1 since we needed more defense and the 4-1-2-1-2 was starting to look weaker as teams realised how to beat it.

I penned my list. Tãnasã, <STRIKE>Rãdoi</STRIKE> Rósa, Cistean (Izvoranu?), Uzun, Parachiv (SUSP so Nogo), Daminutã, <STRIKE>Benga</STRIKE> Izvoranu, Enescu (while Schwartz is out), <STRIKE>Elek</STRIKE>Kravchenko, Ceran, Martinovic. It wasn't an easy job, and a lot of players were going to be disappointed.

I made it clear that wing play would be necessary, but crosses should be delivered to feet where possible. The strength of Kravchenko and Ceran on the wings would mean that the team was playing to its strengths. Luca told me that I should tell the players to stand off as some of the tackling was overaggressive and we gave away a lot of set pieces. I guessed he was right after a bit of thought, and penned this into the instructions. "Clever ****!" I grinned.

I was certainly feeling the pressure, wiping my eyes with tiredness from driving up and down from Bucharest, managing a team and looking after a sick child. Betis was nothing compared to this. When I had managed Betis, I was alone, I had no one depending on me, pressure can do a lot to your confidence, I wasn't good at dealing with pressure, some managers loved it.

The Bucharest Health Journal wanted to feature Luca's story in it. I was apprehensive but he seemed keen to talk to them, and they promised to pay for his may instalment of treatment, all €700,000, so we decided to go ahead with it. They came to my flat in Galati and asked questions.

First they asked me questions...

"So, Matthew, why do you live with Luca instead of his father?"
"Well, we felt that because Marius has to travel a lot, it would make more sense not to put little'un through all the back and forth, the plane journeys to Asia, America, etcetera."

"And don't you feel that taking him into the atmosphere of a stadium may aggrevate his worries?"
"Have you ever seen him in a stadium? We're on TV this Sunday against Forex..."

"Fair point, Mr Doughty, now, what is the nature of the treatment Luca has undergone?"
"Luca has undergone chaemotheraphy to reduce the amount of cancer in his bone marrow, as the cancer is now in remission, he has begun bone marrow transfusions to replace the contaminated marrow in his body."

"And does it have any long term effects on him, in terms of life expectancy or anything else?"
"No, the doctors have told me he will have to stay out of professional sports as his bones will be brittle, but his life expectancy and quality of life will be unaffected."

Then they asked Luca a few more child-friendly questions...

"Luca, how did you realise there was something wrong?"
"I was feeling dizzy when watching the tele, then we went to the doctor and he sent me to a bigger hospital, that's when I knew it was bad..."

"And how did you feel when you heard it was too expensive?"
"I was scared. Of course I was scared. I didn't even know what leukaemia was... but I also had a feeling that it would come right. I stood strong."

We cuddled for the camera, and then the Journalists left. I flicked the TV on to check how my various previous clubs were doing on the first of May, 2012. Millwall were sitting mid-table in League One, Ipswich had just been relegated from the Championship, Lazio were fourth in Serie A.

Of the clubs I had managed, Bristol City were sixth in League One, in the playoffs, Blackburn Rovers were fifth in the Premier League, Feyenoord were doing awfully, seventh in the Dutch Premiership and Betis were third in the Spanish Premiership.

FOREX BV. AT HOME
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Cistean (DL), Nogo (DC), Uzun (DC), Daminutã (DM), Enescu (MC), Izvoranu (MC), Kravchenko (AMR), Ceran (AML), Martinovic (FC); Marinescu, Rãdoi, Lãcãtus, Elek, Constantin, Benga, Somodi.

FOREX LINEUP: Brãnet (GK), Popescu (DC), Streangã (DC), Paica (DC), Buta (WBR), Senin (WBL), Augustin (MC), Tarãlungã (MC), Marcu (MC), Coman (FC), Popa (FC); Apostol, Chernyshev, Cîtã, Demian, Kajcsa, Pereny, Poverlovici.

Luca was starting to enjoy the media limelight, even at his young age, telling the TV reporters that we feared no one and Forex wouldn't win. Daminutã put the ball over on ten minutes, I was unhappy that he hadn't scored but happy that our team had come out trying to win the game.

Martinovic blasted a close ranged effort into the back of Forex's net after some great passing play, Forex manager Ion Moldovan blasting his players for a lack of concentration. Two minutes later he failed to score a penalty, I whirled around in anger then heard a massive cheer from Luca, Ceran had put away the rebound.

So far, the 4-5-1 was a success, I told the players I was very pleased with how they had taken to the formation and to get out and give the fans more to cheer about.

Popescu was lucky not to be sent off after committing what I believed was a cynical foul on Martinovic, recieving only a booking. Enescu hit the post with the resulting free kick, as we continued attacking as much in the second half as we had in the first.

In injury time, Markinovic wrapped the points up with a volley from three yards off Ceran's cross. This was an astounding performance and I honestly felt we could have won by even more. Luca ran on the pitch to congratulate the players, Moldovan shook my hand and said, "We got what we deserved there, Matthew, well played."

Attendance: 5,241.
Otelul Goalscorers: 3; Martinovic 30', Ceran 32', Martinovic 90'.
Forex Goalscorers: 0.

Moldovan's gesture of goodwill was a dying art in management, all too often a manager could not accept defeat with grace. I found it hard often to accept defeat but I'd always try to congratulate the manager who had beaten me.

The papers featured a story saying that my 'Tactical Gamble' had paid off. I was glad that it was noted, but equally, the players looked far more willing to win. They wanted those three points. More good news came as Sighiartãu and Vãtuva returned from injury, and the €700,000 cheque came through from the Health Journal.

I stood with Luca, looking over the Danube river into the sunset, he hugged me tight and said, "We're winning this battle, uncle Matt... we'll both win."

retired_Andrea

Another Space in Time

I was sitting with Luca, and out of the blue he asked me, "So what are you going to do after next year?" I wasn't really sure, I knew one thing though. "I'm going to take my year off that I deserve, and have a year with no stress, no hardship, and lots of fun."

He looked at me inquisitively, "With me?" He grinned mischievously. I hadn't really thought about that either. I knew he'd be staying with me while I was in Romania but I expected to spend most of my year off in England. Whether Marius would allow him to come to England with me was unknown to everyone.

FCU POLI AT HOME
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Cistean (DL), Uzun (DC), Nogo (DC), Daminutã (DM), Lãcãtus (MC), Enescu (MC), Kravchenko (AMR), Ceran (AML), Martinovic (FC); Marinescu, Rãdoi, Izvoranu, Elek, Constantin, Benga, Somodi.

POLI LINEUP: Popa (GK), Ionascu (DR), Dancia (DL), Mandzyuk (DC), Sandu (DC), Popovici (MR), Oprea (ML), Hidisan (MC), Lonca (MC), Staicu (FC), Gueye (FC); Bãdoiu, Bãlace, Bucuricã, Grigorie, Latovlevici, Pantilimon, Stoica.

Belief wasn't as high as I'd hoped in the camp, but I still felt we could win, trying to give a very uplifting pre-match team talk. We came out well, sweeping the ball about to the "olé"s of the crowd that had gathered. Poli came for a draw, time wasting from the word 'go', to my nephew's disgust.

They were the ones who took the lead though, against the run of play, through a superb finish from frontman Gueye, and it was that twentieth minute strike that seperated the sides at half time.

My half-time team talk made Alex Ferguson seem mild, the total lack of shots was a real worry for the team. Bucaricã was sent off early in the second half for a two footed lunge on Kravchenko, which really looked like a way back into the game for us. Luca whispered to himself repeatedly, "Make it count."

But then someone has to spoil it all, Uzun pushing over Oprea and getting sent off himself, "****ing moron!" I exclaimed, "You ****ing idiot!" I shored the defense into a back three and yelled at the team to press! Twenty minutes from time I threw Elek and Somodi on for Lãcãtus and Enescu, trying to salvage something from this game.

Elek pulled one back at the eighty-sixth minute after the Poli back four played him onside, but the real miracle was squandered as Martinovic hit the post from a yard out with seconds to go. Needless to say, Uzun was fined two weeks' wages.

Attendance: 5,821.
Otelul Goalscorers: 1; Elek 86' (Uzun sent off 60').
Poli Goalscorers: 1; Gueye 19' (Bucuricã sent off 48').

Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to fine for every dismissal, but when it's for a lack of discipline on the pitch, that's a two week fine, no exceptions. I take the hard line with discipline and I expect my players to play football, not boxing.

I had to drop Luca back at Bucharest hospital early in the morning for his Phase 2 treatment, then get to Cluj Napoca by charter flight by 3PM for kick off. I assured Luca that I would be back in Bucharest by the time he woke up. This game was going to be tough, U Cluj were in great form, sitting sixth in the league, but we knew if we won we were mathematically safe.

U CLUJ AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rósa (DR), Cistean (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Nogo (DC), Daminutã (DM), Lãcãtus (MC), Enescu (MC), Kravchenko (AMR), Ceran (AML), Elek (FC); Marinescu, Rãdoi, Izvoranu, Martinovic, Constantin, Benga, Somodi.

U CLUJ LINEUP: Tudor (GK), Rosenblum (DR), Mihai (DL), Pop (DC), Vizitiu (DC), Giurgiu (MC), Villand (MC), Oae (MC), Stoianof (AMC), Sîntejudean (FC), Bus (FC); Crãciun, Dobrin, Fãrcas, Rioseanu, Sarkadi, Stefan, Szekely.

I wished the players luck for what was sure to be a difficult game against high flying U Cluj. In our beautiful black kits that Luca hated so much, we struggled from the off.

In the twentieth minute, the home side went ahead, scrappy defending as usual, six minutes later it was 2-0. My mind was hardly on the match, much like the players. The difference was they didn't have a nine year old in hospital to think about.

Enescu fired us back into the game ten minutes later with a vicious free kick, but Nogo gave away a soft penalty just before half time, which Villand duly converted. I was pretty glad Luca wasn't at the game with the performance so far, it was ****ing embarassing. The home side were 4-1 up before half time as Rosenblum fired a free kick into the back of the net.

Half time brought Martinovic and Constantin into the mix. Nothing really happened for the whole half until Martinovic decided to get sent off for pushing. I didn't even turn up for the post match team talk, opting instead to go straight to the airport, stopping only to tell Cristian to fine the ****ing idiot two weeks' wages.

Attendance: 5,821.
U Cluj Goalscorers: 0.
Otelul Goalscorers: 0.

The good bit was that despite the players' best efforts, we would not be relegated, but I was in a thunderous mood as I walked into the airport. Oh ****ing great, flights cancelled due to storms. Transylvanian bullshit. I hired a car and agreed to drop it at their Bucharest office, then began the 300 mile drive in the thick belting rain, determined not to let Luca down.

I could hardly see the road as the Transylvanian street lighting was very poor, but when I got onto the main roads I was OK. How I ever made it out of Cluj in that horrible storm still escapes me, but I got there before the little boy even woke up. Soaked and still annoyed about the performance, but there nonetheless.

FC National at home, love it. I reverted to my 4-4-2 diamond with Sighiartãu back from injury. Luca looked a lot more active after his second treatment of bone marrow, and was running and chatting a lot, just how I remembered him from the last time we'd ever spent any real time together, just after my career had been so cruelly ended by injury.

FC NATIONAL AT HOME
Romanian Divizia A

NATIONAL LINEUP: Tãnasã (GK), Rãdoi (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Nogo (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Sighiartãu (FC), Elek (FC); Marinescu, Cistean, Rósa, Tismãnaru, Constantin, Vãtavu, Somodi.

POLI LINEUP: Plesca (GK), Tudose (DR), Costache (DL), Shore (DC), Oprea (DC), Abiodun (MR), Ivan (ML), Molnar (MC), Onciu (MC), Stankovic (FC), Matis (FC); Bota, Dumitrache, Lazãr, Lup, Nicolae, Palcãu, Rãdutoiu.

"GOING DOWN! GOING DOWN! GOING DOWN!" Our fans were taunting the almost-definitely relegated National players as soon as they ran onto the pitch, we really needed to get a run of form together for the Cup Final which was just coming around the corner.

I had pleaded with the fans before the game to support the players in this rough patch, and they weren't letting us down. Even Marius had shown up, a rare occurence, although I put it down to the lack of Poker tournaments to **** off to like he usually did.

Elek scored for us in the sixth minute, then kissed the badge on his shirt and thumped the air. Luca cried out in joy at the clinical precise finish from the fringe player he got on with so well. The lead didn't last though, and some useless defending and worse yet keeping allowed Abiodun to thump it in after just ten.

Another penalty that wasn't, and the visiting team could've been undeservedly 2-1 up if it wasn't for a great save from Tãnasã. Thirty five minutes in and Sighiartãu found himself injured again, Somodi coming on to replace him and Ceran moving up front. Dirty *****.

I was pleased at half time, for the first time in a while we were outplaying a team again. Despite looking pretty nervous, Kravchenko looked to have put us ahead, but for the referees awful decision to rule it off for offside.

Luca muttered at full time, "How that was a draw, I'll never know..."

Attendance: 4,023.
Otelul Goalscorers: 1; Elek 6'.
National Goalscorers: 1; Abiodun 10'.

RAPID AWAY
Romanian Divizia A

OTELUL LINEUP: Marinescu (GK), Rãdoi (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Nogo (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Sighiartãu (FC), Elek (FC); Bors, Cistean, Rósa, Tismãnaru, Constantin, Vãtavu, Somodi.

RAPID LINEUP: Marc (GK), Maftei (DC), Kaika (DC), Sãpunaru (DC), Popescu (MR), Griffiths (ML), Plesan (MC), Surdu (MC), Tkachuk (AMC), Mazilu (FC), Rusescu (FC); Buga, Burdujan, Coman, Enciu, Pistol, Plecanciuc, Sârbu.

'Well, hopefully this will show us what we have in store in the final,' I thought to myself, surveying high-flying Rapid, who were top of the league coming into this fixture. A dream start, I had barely sat down when Sighiartãu put us 1-0 up with a header from Ceran's free kick.

Six minutes later Mazilu took advantage of an awful backpass by Nogo, who by now I had mentally transfer listed, and slotted the home side an equalizer. He then put them ahead after an exchange of great football, with his 100th goal for Rapid.

The 2-1 half time scoreline flattered them, their 'keeper had been amazing for the first half, Luca's comment that "hopefully he'll use up all his luck before the next one" just about summed it up.

The second half was much the same as the first, both teams having chances, it finished 2-1 but I felt on another day we'd've taken something from the game.

Attendance: 13,516.
Rapid Goalscorers: 2; Mazilu 8', Mazilu 25'.
Otelul Goalscorers: 1; Sighiartãu 2'.

I left Ovidiu in charge of the next game, against U Croaiova, which he won 2-1. I needed a rest after securing safety in the division, in order to plan for the big final. The day after the final I was going to be taking Luca for his final instalment of marrow transplants before the physiotherapy and general monitoring phase began.

Two players, Andrei Schwartz and Sandor Tãnasã, were selected in the team of the season, I felt Daminurtã was my star performer while I'd been in charge, but he'd only played the second half of the season.

It was finally here, the Cup final against league winners Rapid. Could we do it? Luca definitely thought so, as we embarked on the journey to the Lia Manoliu in Bucharest. "Can I hold the cup when we win it?" He nudged me, "Luca, if we win it, you'll hold it." I grinned back at him.

RAPID ON NEUTRAL GROUND
Romanian Cup - Final

OTELUL LINEUP: Marinescu (GK), Rãdoi (DR), Izvoranu (DL), Paraschiv (DC), Cistean (DC), Daminutã (DM), Kravchenko (MR), Ceran (ML), Schwartz (AMC), Sighiartãu (FC), Elek (FC); Bors, Nogo, Rósa, Tismãnaru, Constantin, Vãtavu, Somodi.

RAPID LINEUP: Coman (GK), Sãpunaru (DC), Maftei (DC), Pistol (DC), Plecancuic (MR), Lucian Cigan (ML), Plesan (MC), Surdu (MC), Tkachuk (AMC), Mazilu (FC), Rusescu (FC); Bãdoi, Burdujan, Burlacu, Ciobanu, Pãun, Plecanciuc, Sârbu.

I told the players to have a long look at their fans before the game, the fans who had stood by them through relegation battles, through sloppy losses, the fans who had taken them this far in the cup, and each to win this cup for those amazing supporters. I asked the whole dressing room, "Is anyone here a loser?" Silence. "Then get out there, and show these mother****ers who we are!"

Tkachuk put them ahead from a sloppily conceded set piece, my head was in my hands. Then it was 2-0, same scorer. This was trash, these players didn't want to win this trophy. Small club syndrome. No heart, no belief. We'd come all this way to lose, just like that.

No sign of a miracle, long shots and hesitation the story of how we came out of the dressing room. Another goal against us. It was over. Poor defending, the end of the line, the end of a dream. More misses, more poor play, the final whistle ten minutes away. Silent crowds, and that was it. A cup final performance unworthy of a non league club.

Attendance: 60,090.
Rapid Goalscorers: 3; Tkachuk 10', Tkachuk 18', Rusescu 71'.
Otelul Goalscorers: 0.

No team talk, no press conference, just depression. Luca's face was tearful as we drove to the hospital. I would need to rebuild the squad, I couldn't work with players who didn't want to win trophies.