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Of course, I should have known better than to talk to Bellamy. The very next day, a headline in the tabloids said it all “Pascal English Lover!” with the story by one Roger Bellamy. The story contained a twisted version of the meeting an had me quoted as saying that I loved English football, that I loved West Ham, that I was a mental case and that I was a turncoat hypocrite who had disowned Scotland and France with my ‘candid remarks.’ Unfortunately, there was just enough truth in the article to prevent me from winning a libel suit…especially in light of the fact that I was a public figure. So, I did my best to ignore the articles that emerged over the summer. Once the first article appeared, it seemed that every poor person with an ax to grind dragged me into their tales of woe somehow and the tabloids were more than happy to print the noise. Hell, they paid for the blather. But, I did my best to avoid the stories. However, I occasionally received calls and run-ins with people from extremist Scots in the Liberate Scotland movement that denounced my [patriotism. However, I became fond of quoting Dr. Johnson’s famous statement to these sorts of people, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Then I would hang up or walk away while they tried to work out what I’d said. Most people, however, denounced the stories as unfair and stupid and I got a lot of moral support from them. So, for the most part, the offseason went smoothly.

The real offseason began a couple days later. I dispatched my scouts to look for players during the summer. I also installed a punishing practice regime that was designed to help the 25 and under players to develop their potential. I put in requests to the board to expand the stadium and to improve the facilities. Both requests were denied, with the explanation that the board was happy with everything as it was. Barcelona won the CL final, beating Arsenal 2-1. Both Batricle and Craig were selected for their country in the upcoming European Championship Finals that would start in June. As June arrived, the transfer dead period ended and Main, Quinn and Sinclair all left for new clubs. On the 18, the next season began. The Supporter’s Club named Craig as their Player of the Year. In addition two more club records were set. First, the average attendance of 17264 was a new record high and Batricle’s average rating of 7.71 in 45 games was a record as well. The 12 million that Dover was given for 08/09 Premier TV rights give us a war chest of 28M pounds to spend on players. All the board wanted was a ‘respectable’ league position. Dover would be playing in the UEFA Cup alongside Derby ad Leeds. I scheduled six friendly matches for the pre-season warm-up. All were D1 teams and three games were scheduled for home and three on the road. On June 22, McCabe officially retired. We held a nice ceremony for him where the fans paid tribute to him. I even included snippets from Pascal’s blog that heralded McCabe’s achievements. Of course, everyone got a chuckle out of it. McCabe then left the club to try his hand at coaching in the lower leagues. As training camp and the pre-season approached, I made a couple of roster moves. Thompson, McMillan and Kenny Cunningham were called up to take first team spots. We then signed Graeme Robertson from Dundee Utd to be the starting left back. With these moves, the first-team roster was complete, at least for preseason.

Preseason began with the opening of training camp on July 18, three weeks before the opening exhibition game. The match was a home game against Hull. The first three weeks of training camp passed without incident as the players strove to get ready for the season. The first game of the pre-season, against Hull, proved to be a rousing success as we thrashed them 3-0 behind a Foulon brace. During camp and throughout the exhibition season, I attempted to flesh out the reserves, filling the ranks with, in theory, promising youth. At midweek, we traveled to Sheffield to take on Wednesday. The first team backups, mashed the Wednesday crew 4-1 in a game that was never in doubt. At the weekend, we traveled to Bolton to take on Aston Villa. The regulars got the start, but struggled as Villa lit up the Dover defense for three first-half goals. I forced the regulars to play the full 90 minutes as I wanted this humiliation to be burned into their brains. I wanted the regulars to be so damn embarrassed that they would have motivation to do much better in their last two pre-season starts. The backups would get the midweek game. To add injury to the 4-1 loss, it turned out that Rosales would be out for a week and a half with strained knee ligaments.

He was thus spared the next couple of anger infused two a days. I took over practice myself and employed every sadistic trick I had learned from my high school football coaches. Wind sprints: check, hill runs, check, bleacher runs, check, And cone drill: check. At the end of two days, the regulars began to puke just thinking about practice. At that point, I resumed regular practice, hoping the first-team regulars had gotten the message. The backups started the midweek friendly at the Crabbe versus Luton. The backups put on an impressive show, mopping up Luton 2-0 thanks to a Clark brace. The most impressive stat was that Dover got 18 shots off, 11 on goal. Thus far, the backups had outplayed the regulars, no surprise really as the backups had far more to lose. The regulars would start the last two preseason games. At the weekend, the Dover regulars destroyed the Barnsley team 3-0 on 13-23 shooting. The game saw Ian Thompson nail down the starting DMC role over Rosales, who had lost out due to injury. Craig was injured in the Barnsley game and would be out for two weeks with a thigh strain. After that game, we were requested to submit jersey numbers to the Premier League office. Near the end of pre-season, Rosales drew interest and a couple of bids were made for him. Meanwhile, Aimar was sold to Hull for 1.3M pounds. Graeme Murray took his place on the first team roster. The last preseason game, against Crystal Palace in London took place 11 days before the Premier League opener vs. Everton. The regulars beat Palace with 3 goals in the first half. The only casualty of the game was Perez, who would be out for two months with strained ankle ligaments. To fill the roster spot, I decided to look for a utility defender. Thus, preseason ended on a frantic note as Dover prepared for Everton.

As we were preparing for Everton, Craig rejected the latest contract that we offered. I had to admit that the petulant forward was beginning to **** me off. Maybe he was beginning to realize that I was not the same person as McIntosh and just wanted out. Who knows? A day later Rosales was sold to Alaves for 500,000 pounds. We then signed Brian McPhee from Dundee Utd for a hefty premium to be the starting right back. Perez, when fully healed, will be sold. We also signed 33 year old DMC Paul McBride from Hibs to be the backup DMC. The depth chart would be as followed. Regulars are the first listed at each position.

GK
Oliver Abiven
Herve Gatumel
Frederic Renard

DL:
Graeme Robinson
David Poggi

DR:
Brian McPhee
Fabrice Landrin

DC:
Regis Batricle
Kenneth Murray

DC:
Patrice Diawara
Graeme Murray

DMC
Ian Thompson
Paul McBride

LNC:
Julien Descamps
Scott McMillan

RMC:
John Miller
Gristain Faure

AMC
Fabien Foulon
Ian Clark

FC:
Andy McCann
Gary Paterson

FC:
Michael Craig
Kenny Cunningham

Utility Players:
David Munoz (DR/C)
Stuart Robertson (AMC/R)

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With this first team, we traveled to Liverpool to take on Everton at Goodison Park. We already had injury troubles as Diawara and Craig were unable to suit up and they were replaced by Murray and Cunningham. Miller had two games left on his suspension late last season and he was out, replaced by Faure. Nothing of note happened the first half except that McCann limped off with an injury. The defenses held the game to a scoreless draw at the half. Ominously, Everton had controlled possession in the half, never a good sign. The second half proved to be exciting as both sides began taking lots of shots at goal. Faure pulled up lame as the second half began, but the injury cost us little as the game ended the way it began, 0-0. Our next game would be the midweek home opener against Fulham on August 20. Both McCann and Faure were on the shelf for two weeks, the former with a stubbed toe, the latter a thigh strain.

The days before the home opener were spent trying to flesh out the reserves. We got a French youngster, but were unable to acquire either of the two top prospects we had our eye on. On Wednesday evening, Fulham came to the Crabbe. All the regulars except, Diawara, Descamps, Miller, and McCann got the nod. The subs into the lineup were Murray, McMillan, Robertson and Paterson. A little over 19000 showed up at the Crabbe, meaning that we would draw about the same number of fans as last year. The first half, in typical Dover fashion, was dull, a scoreless draw. Erratic shooting plagued us in the half, but Fulham wasn’t much better. Neither side shot well in the second half either and the fresh legs I subbed in had no effect. So, we got another 0-0 result. All the offense displayed in the pre-season seemed to have disappeared without a trace. Next was a weekend game in London at the New Den against Millwall.

The game in London saw the return of Miller from his suspension. The only regulars held out were Diawara, Robertson and McCann, replaced by Murray, Poggi and Paterson. As usual, defense ruled the first half as neither side could land a shot. Dover then turned on the offensive spigot by nailing four of five shots in the second half. Craig scored the first official goal of the 08/09 season when he sent a Graeme Murray pass screaming into the net to give Dover the 1-0 lead. Then, Foulon got his season going by icing the game on 87 by burying a Craig lob for the 2-0 win. Now we had two weeks off before going to Nottingham to play Forest on Saturday September 6.

The two week break saw Lecocq sold to Dijon and the return of Diawara to practice. The UEFA Cup first round was drawn. Dover would play Ventspils, a Latvian side. The first leg would be at the Crabbe on Thursday September 11. A couple of days later, I registered the first team for the UEFA competition. It turned out that McPhee was ineligible, so the roster was one man short. August ended with Batricle earning the POM for the Premier Division. By September 2, we had the squad filled to the brim with 50 players, 25 of them French. Despite the large number of players, the entire payroll of the team was only 10.2 million pounds. The highest paid player is Batricle at 726K pounds a year. Ironically, he’s being paid less, and is far better than those wastrels, O’Conner and Moreira at West Ham. Batricle is only 22 and already has 10 caps for France. I’ve valued him at 15 million pounds and Liverpool is still scouting him. I must admit, if they make a bid, I may well accept. But, before any of that would be possible, we had to travel to Forest for a match in the first weekend of September. All the regulars got the start except for an unfit Craig, who was replaced by Cunningham. The game did not start out promising as an ugly first half saw no shots on goal and only four shots total. Both sides hunkered down to play defense. The second half was worse for Dover. We managed to put exactly one shot on goal the entire game. Still, we managed to keep Forest off the board and take a 0-0 draw. Our next match would be against Ventspils at the Crabbe on the 11th.

I received unwelcome news on Wednesday evening. Foulon had been injured during France’s 5-0 win over Ghana in the Olympics. He’d be out a month with a calf strain. I couldn’t help cursing the French manager for the Olympics. That man had cost me my third best player for a number of games. Ah well, Clark would now get his chance to shine. The match day arrived. According to the scouts, Ventspils was a poor team and couldn’t play defense. I hoped it would be an easy game, but I wasn’t holding my breath. All the regulars except the ineligible McPhee, replaced by Landrin, got the nod. The reports turned out to be correct. Ventspils turned out to be awful. They failed to have a single shot in the first half and allowed seven shots to Dover. By halftime, Craig had a brace as Dover took a commanding 2-0 lead. 11000 fans watched as we held off the visitors in an uninspiring second half to take a 2 goal aggregate advantage. Our next game would be a return to Prem action as we hosted Bolton on Sunday the 14th.

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As the season started, I had kept an eye on Pascal’s “fictional” blog. Right now, he was in the midst of recounting yet another up and down West Ham season. Indeed, it seemed to be a typical West Ham season, no better or worse than I would have done. As I read through the entries, I kept nodding my head. It might have been a new cast of players, but it sure looked like the same iffy team. From a dimension away, I could see the problem clearly. West Ham simply lacked a killer instinct and that blame fell on the chairman. Given his constant refusals to upgrade the practice facilities, despite numerous requests from both Pascal and me. That alone said it all. If the chairman refused that request, it meant that he was a greedy bastard who didn’t give a damn about the team. As far as he was concerned, just being in the Prem was enough. He obviously could have cared less about winning. What concerned me, however, was the last part of the “English” update. As I read over it, I couldn’t help but think that Pascal was beginning to lose his marbles. Not that I could blame him. That West Ham team was enough to drive any manager insane.

Surprisingly, most of the regulars were fit enough to play Bolton. The exceptions were Batricle and Miller and they were replaced by Kenneth Murray and Faure respectively. 19000 filled the Crabbe to watch a more exciting game than the normal fare. Craig took a bouncer from McPhee and blasted it into the net to give the home side the 1-0 advantage. We managed to keep Bolton off the board and retained the lead through halftime. The second half was probably the most shot-filled half in recent memory. We had had five shots in the half and Bolton had eight. They poured on the pressure and only cool keeping by Abiven kept them in check. Nevertheless, Bolton managed to tie the game at 77 and I figured we were headed for our fourth draw in five games. However, five minutes to time, Craig came through one more, this time driving a Stuart Robertson pass high and hard to nail down the 2-1 Dover win. Our next match would be a Prem League game at Newcastle in six days.

The days before the Saturday contest at Newcastle were pretty uneventful. Perez signed a contract with Belgian side Mouscron. That deal would go through on December 15 and Dover would get 1.7 million pounds from the sale. That was the only news of the week. Against Newcastle, I started all the regulars that U could. Clark remained in place of Foulon, but everyone else got the nod. The first half of the game saw a combined total of 10 shouts, nine of which landed where they were supposed to go. This was an indication that Dover’s defense was not quite up to par, indeed, Batricle and Diawara were having pedestrian games. But, it was us who struck first, when, on 23; Clark gathered in a long cross from McCann and sent it spinning into goal to give Dover the 1-0 lead. That lead held through halftime. The second half proved to be more difficult as Batricle was sent off just ten minutes in. Newcastle converted the resulting penalty to tie the game 1-1. Then, Clark, out of nowhere, scored again to give Dover the 2-1 advantage, but then, in a late surge, Newcastle managed to score a goal in injury time to scrape the 2-2 draw. I would have preferred the win, but a draw was not a bad result for being a man down. Our next game was against Ventspils in the Thursday evening UEFA contest.

I appealed Batricle’s suspension that resulted from his ejection in the Newcastle match. A couple days later, the FA informed me that the ban would stand. I had yet to win an appeal in this reality and it was irritating to say the least. The day after that unwelcome news, the League Cup Third Round was drawn. Dover would face D! Side Wolves at their stadium on October 29. The day after that, we were in Latvia for the Ventspils game. All the regulars got the nod. The game itself was nothing to write about until the second half. Craig scored a brace of goals in the span of four minutes, between 69 and 73 to seal our entry into the second round. Then things got a bit strange. Batricle was sent off, and at that point, I made three subs, taking out my “stars.” Then, a few minutes later, Clark limped off with an injury. That left us nine miens on the field. Despite this, we added another goal when McCann converted a penalty to make the game 3-0 Dover. After the game, I was told that Clark would be out a month with strained ankle ligaments. The Second Round draw had us playing Russian side Spartak Moscow. Of more immediate concern, however, was the Sunday home game against Derby.

On Sunday September 28, we hosted Derby at the Crabbe. Robertson took over the starting AMC duties and the only regular not to be in the starting lineup due to fitness was Graeme Robertson, who was replaced by Poggi. The usual 19000 maniacs showed up and watched a usual dull first half, which saw practically no offense at all. The second half was much the same until injury time, when Derby’s Crane slipped in a goal to hand us the 1-0 loss. That loss dropped us to 11th in the Prem.

The October schedule got started right away with a home game versus Watford. Miller and Craig were deemed too unfit to play and they were replaced in the lineup by Faure and Cunningham. 19000 saw the usual defensive battle as McCann gave Dover the 1-0 lead by converting a penalty just before halftime. Watford, who was in dire need of points, went all out in the second half and pulled the equalizer ten minute before the final horn to scrape a badly needed point. The 1-1 draw was our 6th draw in nine games. At least, we weren’t losing. After the game, one of the trainers told me that Graeme Robertson would be out of action for 3 weeks after suffering a twisted knee. Poggi would take his place in the lineup until Graeme returned. We had ten days off until our next game on the 11th, an away contest at Chelsea.

The international games did not prove to be kind to Dover. Miller would be out for three weeks after twisting his knee in the Scots U21 2-0 win over Holland. Players were dropping like flies all of a sudden, and there was nothing I could do about it. In addition, McBride would be out for three weeks when he twisted his ankle in the full international against Holland. I wanted to shoot Scotland manager Andy Mitchell for costing me my firs team. On the other hand, Craig was praised on a national stage and the Dower supporters were thrilled that I lent my praise to Craig. With all the good-will seeming to flow, I decided to offer Craig an even more generous contract. Saturday the 11th arrived and I found myself scratching my head over the lineup. In addition to the injuries, Batricle started his three game suspensions with this game. Still, I managed to come up with a lineup and threw them out into the lion’s den that was Stamford Bridge. We managed to stun the Chelsea faithful by scoring first on 21 when Faure scored off a brilliant run. But, Chelsea drew level 15 minutes later and by halftime we were fighting to preserve the draw. It didn’t help that McPhee and Faure limped off the field injured. I found myself cursing our injury state. The second half was a wild ride as both sides tried their hardest to break the deadlock. The Chelsea fans were quieted near the end of the half when Dover sub McMillan managed to put in two goals after coming into the game at 65 to give us an improbable 3-1 victory. The win was sweet but the cost was high, both McPhee and Faure would be out two weeks. As we started to prepare for the UEFA Cup second round, first leg, a home game against Russian giants Spartak Moscow, fully seven out of 25 members out the first team were out of action. I only hoped that they would heal quickly.

Craig rejected our latest offer and I finally lost my patience. I put him up for sale.

Although Foulon returned to full practice on Tuesday, I held him out of the Thursday night contest against Moscow; instead he took a seat on the bench, ready to come in if needed. The lineup saw a bit of creative shuffling, as Stuart Robertson took over at RMC and McMillan got the nod at AMC. In addition, Diawara was suspended, so Graeme Murray took his place in the lineup. By halftime, in front of 11000 fans, Dover held a commanding 3-0 lead, thanks to a quick opening goal by McMillan and a late half brace from McCann. Not wanting to risk injury in a blowout, I pulled Batricle and Craig at the half. It didn’t make a dent in our confidence as McCann completed his hat-trick to give Dover a 4-0 win and virtually seal our entry into the third round with the second leg likely just a formality. Our next match was a home game against Charlton on the weekend.

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Foulon returned to the starting lineup against Charlton. The rest of the regulars that were able got the start, though Robertson had to fill in at RMC again, K. Murray got the nod at left back and G. <Murray started at DC. Foulon wasted little time in making an impact upon his return. In front of the largest crowd at the Crabbe for the year (20400) he went on a backbreaking run from midfield and buried a volley to give Dover the 1-0 advantage. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold onto the lead as Charlton scored in the second half to force another 1-1 draw. That made it official, in 10 Premier games played, Dover had three wins, six draws and one loss. At least we would have a week off before facing Arsenal at Highbury on Sunday October 26.

The lineup against Arsenal saw both G. Robertson and John Miller return to action. On the other hand, both Thompson and Descamps were out and were replaced by K. Murray and McMillan respectively. The first half was a nail-biter that saw, what else, another injury as McCann came off. We were holding our own with Arsenal and on 64, McMillan whipped in a corner that G. Murray headed into the net to give Dover the 1-0 lead. It couldn’t last however, and Arsenal’s Baxter calmly slotted home a penalty twenty minutes later to level the score. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. Not a bad result against the second-place team on the road. McCann would be out for two weeks with strained ankle ligaments.

The last game of October with is on Thursday the 30th as we traveled to Moscow for the wrap-up game of the UEFA Cup Second Round. The lineup for the game was the same as the last game except that Paterson replaced McCann and Batricle and Descamps returned to the lineup. Slowly, most of the regulars were returning to the lineup, a good thing, though backup players were showing that they might have a future at Dover as starters down the line. Six minutes into the game, Foulon went down with an injury. Spartak converted a penalty on 22, but were never in the game after Craig scored an away goal on 33. The game ended in a desultory draw as Dover advanced 5-1 on aggregate. The news after the game was that Foulon would be out for three weeks with a calf strain. The next day I had the doctor look at Foulon. The doctor reported no lingering or hidden injuries, so I was forced to conclude that Foulon was just having bad luck with injuries.

But, this injury thing was getting ridiculous. Every starter but Abiven had suffered an injury that kept them out of at least one game this season. The injury bug was certainly getting its share of my players. Worse, we had Liverpool at home to contend with on Sunday Nov. 2.

By the time of the Liverpool game, all the regulars were uninjured except for Foulon and McCann, but a number of them weren’t fit for the game. Robertson, Batricle and Descamps all got the day off as Poggi, G, Murray and McMillan took their places in the lineup. The 19000 at the Crabbe saw the home side take the 1-0 lead twenty minutes in when Clark, passing up a shot, handed the ball to Paterson, who blasted the shot in. McMillan got himself ejected just minutes into the second half. Liverpool pressed the advantage, and just two minutes before time, got the equalizer from Da Silva for a disappointing 1-1 draw. Our next test would be a mid-week League Cup game versus Wolves, in Wolverhampton.

The morning of the Wolves match, a Turkish side phoned in a bid of 10.5M pounds for Craig. I told them to make it 12M. That evening, all the healthy regulars but Miller and Craig got the nod for the match. Faure and Cunningham taking the vacated spots in the lineup. Dover had a 1-0 advantage at the half thanks to a late Paterson strike, but Clark limped off with an injury long before then, so the mood in the dressing room was subdued. The lead survived and Dover advanced to the League Cup Fourth Round, where we would face Charlton at the Valley in London. After the game, we got semi-good news. Clark would only be out a week with a bruised thigh. The next game would be on Saturday November 9th at Leeds. No wonder no one seemed able to get fit, we were playing a lot of games in a short period of time.

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The latest update of Pascal’s blog detailed just how miserable his life was at West Ham. Not that I could blame the guy. He had failed to get the improvements to the practice facility that he had wanted. More than that, the chairman proved to be even more of a scoundrel that I had thought. The bastard had apparently lied to Pascal. But then, the chairman’s duplicity was no surprise to me. After all, the chairman and I had never gotten along, and, indeed, my job had been on the line many times. I had often feared the Alliance might desert me, but never had I dealt with the overt threats everyone seemed to be laying on Pascal. No wonder the bloke was going mad. He had every right to do so. I just hoped he wouldn’t end up in Bedlam. Hell, to be honest, I was amazed that he hadn’t already been placed there. People tolerated my seeming madness as just an eccentricity, but then again, I was ‘continuing’ the success of Dover. When you lose or having little success as Pascal was, it was an entirely different matter.

On Wednesday, Miller strained his wrist in practice and would be out for a week. Great, now practice was causing injuries. The luck of the Scots was curing us it seemed. Then on Thursday, the UEFFA Cup Third round draw took place. We would face Litex, a Bulgarian side and the draw was away for the first game and at the Crabbe for the second leg. On Friday, the Turkish side declined to pursue Craig. On Saturday, we went to Leeds for the game. The lineup the only uninjured regular who got the day off was Thompson, who was replaced by McBride. S. Robertson got the start at AMC. On 19, Craig silenced the Leeds crowd when he took a S. Robertson pass, dribbled in a banged home the shot to give Dover a 1-0 lead that stood at halftime. Remarkably, no one had been injured in the first half. At the half, I pulled a struggling G. Robertson, the first halftime performance sub I’d made in a long time. It meant that he would not be playing in the next game. To my great surprise, we held onto the lead in the second half and got the 1-0 win. Even more surprising was the fact that there were no injuries during the game. Better yet, we got the week off to prepare for a home match against Blackburn on Saturday November 15.

On the Thursday before the game, I was told that McAuley, one of our reserves, was having trouble with his fitness. I read him the riot act, empathizing the fact that everyone seemed to be getting injured this season. The young Scots lad apologized and said he’d make more of an effort in the future. Miller and McCann returned to the lineup from their injuries and Clark found himself back on the bench as Poggi started at left back over G. Robertson. The 19000 fans that usually filled the Crabbe for Prem games were on hand to witness a remarkable half. Dover only got one goal, a header off a Miller corner, from Ian Thompson on 27. However, Dover took 12 shots, landing eight and completely shut out Blackburn, taking the 1-0 lead to halftime. At that point I replaced McCann, who hadn’t been 100% before the match. Dover continued to dominate in the second half and put the game away thanks to goals from Robertson and Craig four minutes apart in the 70’s for the easy 3-0 win. Remarkably, Blackburn was shut out the entire match, failing to even get a shot off. Armed with this confidence booster, we prepared for the Litex game to be played on the following Thursday.

On Thursday, we traveled to Litex for the first leg of the UEFA Cup Third Round. The scouting report on the Bulgarian side was that they were a “competent” team, so I was expecting the same level of competition that Spartak had given us. All the regulars save for Foulon got the nod. Litex managed to draw nearly 17000 to their stadium for the game, but I doubt the fans were impressed. Litex failed to garner a single shot in the first half. But, we weren’t much better, landing only one shot on goal. Miller, whose starting job was under threat, managed to scrape a goal for Dover minutes into the second half, which was all we needed to take the 1-0 victory back to England.

Following the game, there was an article in the local sports pages revealing the “scoop” that Craig was about to make a move. The reporter had, of course, gotten the news from Craig’s agent. I decided to ignore the item as I do most media stories about sports. The worse thing you can do as a manager is read your own press clippings. Rarely do they get it right. After all, managers generally have a good reason for doing something, or they simply wouldn’t do it. Our next game was on Sunday November 23 at Ipswich. While Robertson, replaced by Poggi and Miller, replaced by Faure, got the day off, Foulon returned to the starting lineup. It was an ugly game for Dover, Ipswich sliced up our defense in ways I hadn’t thought possible. Meanwhile, the Dover offense was pitiful as all the attackers seemed to want to take the day off. Therefore it was no surprise that Ipswich led 1-0 at the half. Ipswich sealed their win on 75 by taking a 2-0 lead. Ian Thompson made things interesting by scoring three minutes later, but it remained a mere consolation goal as we lost for only the second time this year, 2-1. We had the League Cup to worry about in three days, so we couldn’t afford to dwell on the loss too much.

The League Cup game versus Charlton at the Valley on Wednesday evening saw Batricle and Descamps getting the night off, replaced by K. Murray and McMillan. Charlton scored quickly ten minutes in and I thought it was going to be a reprise of the Ipswich game, but Foulon, in danger of losing his starting came through big with a brace of goals on 19 and 43 to give Dover the 2-1 lead by halftime. I thought we had the game locked up late, but Charlton scored the equalizer on 90 to take the game into overtime. The overtime passed without incident and the match went to penalties. The first four pairs all made their shots. Captain Diawara stepped up and slotted the fifth penalty for Dover. Over on the other side of the pitch, the Charlton fans groaned as Rudigar blew his shot wide. Dover was now in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. Incredibly, Dover would play D2 side Wycombe in that game, abet at Adams Park in Wycombe.

We would return to the Crabbe for the weekend Prem game against Southampton.

The Southampton game saw Robertson, Miller and Craig get the day off, replaced by Poggi, Faure and Cunningham. Otherwise all the regulars got the nod. Despite the cold drizzle, 19000 fans showed up at the Crabbe, only to see no action of note in the first half. Faure limped off at 21 and both teams seemed to want to take a rain check and go home. Poggi cost us the game late when Alonso rounded him and potted the shot to give Southampton the 1-0 win. Faure would be out for two weeks with a thigh strain. Our second straight loss in the Prem dropped us to seventh place. But, we would have a chance to get our act together on Thursday with the home game of our series with Litex on December 4.

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All the regulars got the nod for the Litex game. For some of the regulars, it was getting close to panic time as I was giving them only a few more starts to correct their shaky form. Once we had gotten through half the Prem schedule, U intended to make a few changes. In front of nearly 15000 at the Crabbe, McCann scored an early goal to give Dover the 1-0 lead by halftime. Craig sealed the Dover 2-0 win with a goal ten minutes into the second half. In the UEFA Fourth Round, Dover drew Lazio, but got the home leg first, a small consolation. The game would take place on February 26, 2009.

On December 7, we returned to Prem action by going to cellar inhabitants Wrexham. Graeme Robertson and Julian Descamps got the day off, with K. Murray and McMillan replacing them. The game was over by halftime as Miller, Foulon and McMillan all cored before thirty minutes had passed. At the half, I pulled Batricle, Foulon and Craig so they wouldn’t get hurt in the blowout. This proved to be a mistake as McCann went down with an injury on 67 and Clark went down on 84. But, Wrexham couldn’t take advantage of the one man (10-9) superiority and were shut out 3-0 anyhow. Both McCann and Clark would be out a week and a half, the former with a twisted knee and the latter with a sprained ankle. Both would miss the League Cup Quarter-final at Wycombe on Wednesday. That night also saw the draw for the FA Cup 3rd Round. We drew Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Considering that Chelsea appeared to be relegation fodder this season, I was not looking forward to the match.

Wednesday duly arrived. Paterson replaced the injured McCann and unfit regulars, McPhee and Thompson were held out. In there place were Landrin and McBride. Though Wycombe was a solid D2 side and had the home pitch advantage, they provided little completion in the first half as Craig and Foulon scored to give Dover the 2-0 lead at the half. Though Batricle was injured, we coasted through the second half, pulling Craig and Foulon out shortly after the hour mark. Our semi-final opponents would be Leeds, which would be an intriguing two-leg matchup. Batricle would be out for two weeks after spraining his ankle ligaments. Our next game would be on Sunday at the Crabbe. We would face Man U in what was the halfway game in the Prem schedule for us. That game would determine a couple of second-half futures, notably at LB, RB and the two MC positions.

The lineup for the Man U game was the easiest cad that I had filled out in ages. Except for the injured Batricle and McCann, replaced by Murray and Paterson, all the regulars got the nod. The 19000 loyal fans got a treat. It was a wet, cold day; almost freezing cold and the Man U attack seemed impotent. That allowed Miller and Foulon to score with seeming ease as Dover took the 2-0 lead going into half-time. Miller was pulled at the half and Foulon and Descamps followed thirty minutes into the second half. Cunningham sealed the 3-0 Dover win with a bullet of a shot that nearly took off Sabin’s head. The win put Dover in fourth place in the Prem, ten points behind league leader Man U.

The game also saw a couple of lineup battles resolved. DR would be a rotation of Landrin and McPhee from her on out. LMC would be a rotation between Descamps and McMillan and RMC a rotation between S. Robertson and Miller. All the other regulars would remain the dame as the second half of the season started with a home game versus Tottenham on Saturday December 20.

During the week leading up to the game, Perez was sold to Mouscron for 1.5M pounds. Munoz and Faure were also placed on the transfer list as I decided to shake up the first team bench a bit. Munoz drew interest and the day before the match with the Hotspur, Rennes came in with a bid. The lineup for Tottenham saw McCann return to the lineup, though Batricle was still out, and replaced by G. Murray. Rotation players McPhee, Miller and Descamps took their turns to open the second half of the Prem season. The 19000 Crabbe fans nearly had a heart attack when the Hotspur scored first on 16 with a Hunter strike. However, Craig leveled the scores on 32 and the rest of the half was a grinding 1-1 draw. Ten minutes into the second half, McCann notched the eventual game-winner when he gave Dover the 2-1 lead, which held up for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, McCann limped off with an injury 15 minutes before the end of the match. Later, I was told that he would be out a month with a twisted ankle. That meant Paterson would take over the starting duties for a while and that Cunningham would become the key backup. Philippe Duriez was brought up from the reserves to provide depth and possibly even start a game or two. Our next game was a Prem contest at home versus Millwall on Saturday the 27, two days after Christmas.

During the week, Munoz was sold to Rennes for 1.9M pounds and young Andrew Hughes was called up to replace him on the first team. Two new French youth players were signed during the week and Faure found him released and out of a job. The board was upset by the latter’s release, but we had more players coming in and young Pierre Fischer would do nicely as a utility midfielder. At the end of the week an article appeared that praised Foulon to the skies. I agreed that the young lad was indeed a great prospect for the future and Foulon thanked me the next day after practice.

The Saturday game finally arrived. The lineup included all the non-injured regulars plus Landrin, McMillan and Robertson. Nearly 20000 came out to see the game against Millwall. They braved cold weather to watch the usual dull first half, the only goal going to Dover on a Craig penalty conversion at 16. Dover held the 1-0 lead going into halftime as the defense prevented Millwall from even getting a shot off. Millwall did a bit better in the second half, putting one shot on target, but it wasn’t enough to make a difference and Dover ground out the victory 1-0. McMillan, however, was a victim of a late groin strain and would be out a month. This meant that Miller would rotate with Descamps, while Robertson became the regular at the RMC position for the time being.

On Wednesday evening, December 30 we were in Watford to play a Prem game. McPhee and Descamps took their turn in the rotations, while Robertson’s, Foulon and Craig were really unfit to play. The latter wee replaced by Poggi, Miller, Clark and Cunningham. It was an ugly next to play outdoors’ as it was sleeting and the temperature below freezing. Therefore it should come as no surprise to learn that the first half saw minimal action as players merely tried to stay warm. Both sides were happy to run back to the changing rooms at the half. Watford scored to open the second half, but Clark and then Diawara received pinpoint Miller passes to tie and then take the lead on 56 and 58. Thirty minutes later, Paterson sealed the 3-1 Dover win with a strike off a Cunningham lay-off. Our next game was the FA Cup Third Round game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Dover Athletic - Sunday 14th December 2008********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2008/9 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Abiven, Olivier 27 0 15 0 0 1 0 1 7.52 - Arphexad, Hugues 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Balfour, Stevie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Bataille, Laurent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 3 Baticle, Régis 20 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 7.90 - Brown, Colin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Candela, Stéphane 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 19 Clark, Ian 6 (4) 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 6.80 10 Craig, Michael 22 (1) 12 0 1 (1) 3 0 0 7 7.78 - Cunningham, John - - - - - - - - ---- 7 Cunningham, Kevin 5 (4) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.78 - David, Gilles - - - - - - - - ---- 22 Descamps, Julien 22 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 6.68 6 Diawara, Patrice 23 0 0 0 1 3 1 1 7.74 - Djorkaeff, Karim - - - - - - - - ---- - Duriez, Philippe - - - - - - - - ---- 21 Faure, Ghislain 8 (3) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.64 - Fischer, Pierre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 9 Foulon, Fabien 14 7 0 0 1 1 0 1 7.29 29 Gatumel, Hervé 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Hughes, Andrew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - King, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Lacombe, Laurent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 14 Landrin, Fabrice 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.11 - McAlpine, Scott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - McAuley, Paul 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 20 McBride, Paul 2 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 11 McCann, Andy 19 6 0 2 (2) 1 0 0 2 7.26 - McKenzie, David 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 16 McMillan, Scott 6 (11) 4 0 0 2 0 1 1 6.65 17 McPhee, Brian 18 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 6.94 8 Miller, John 16 3 0 0 4 1 0 1 6.88 24 Munoz, David 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 15 Murray, Graeme 8 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 8.13 12 Murray, Kenneth 7 (5) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - O'Donnell, Mark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Oumouri, Gilles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 25 Paterson, Gary 8 (9) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.94 2 Perez, David 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 18 Poggi, Daniel 8 (3) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.73 - Poueys, Daniel - - - - - - - - ---- 13 Renard, Frédéric 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Robert, Bruno - - - - - - - - ---- 23 Robertson, Graeme 17 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 6.94 4 Robertson, Stuart 9 (7) 1 0 0 5 1 0 0 7.19 5 Thomson, Ian 23 2 0 0 2 10 1 1 7.57 - Thomson, John 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Tissot, Jacques 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Trivino, Jean-Marc - - - - - - - - ---- - Watson, David - - - - - - - - ---- ************************************************** ********************************************** English Premier Division - Sunday 14th December 2008********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2008/9 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Man Utd 18 7 2 0 19 4 6 0 3 15 12 41 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Arsenal 18 6 1 2 13 9 6 3 0 18 8 40 3rd Southampton 18 5 3 1 23 13 4 1 4 7 10 31 4th Dover 18 3 4 2 11 6 4 4 1 13 6 29 5th Nottm Forest 18 4 2 3 9 6 4 3 2 14 11 29 6th Liverpool 17 5 2 1 11 6 2 5 2 11 10 28 7th Leeds 18 4 1 4 8 7 4 2 3 14 11 27 8th Tottenham 17 5 0 3 14 9 2 4 3 12 13 25 9th Fulham 18 5 2 2 13 8 1 5 3 7 11 25 10th Ipswich 17 3 3 3 13 13 4 1 3 9 9 25 11th Charlton 18 5 3 1 13 8 2 1 6 8 14 25 12th Derby 17 3 2 4 11 16 4 2 2 11 9 25 13th Watford 18 4 0 5 11 14 2 3 4 13 18 21 14th Blackburn 18 2 4 3 11 12 3 1 5 7 8 20 15th Bolton 17 3 4 1 11 8 1 3 5 9 18 19 16th Everton 18 2 3 4 6 10 3 1 5 7 12 19 17th Newcastle 18 2 4 3 15 16 2 1 6 9 15 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Millwall 18 3 1 5 4 10 1 3 5 7 13 16 19th Chelsea 17 1 2 6 12 17 3 1 4 16 16 15 20th Wrexham 18 0 2 7 9 20 2 1 6 5 13 9 </pre>

retired_karamelkel

[quote]Our next game was the FA Cup Third Round
The end of December brought some good news to Dover as Graeme Murray was named EPL Player of the Month. On Thursday we signed veteran French striker Guilaume Liop from Brest for 400K. He would serve as the primary backup at striker and would stay on the first team after McCann returned. That would allow Cunningham to go back to the reserves and get more playing time. Saturday arrived and the lineup against Chelsea were all the regulars except Foulon and McCann who were injured, Clark continuing to hold down the AMC spot with McPhee and Miller taking their turns in the rotation. The game was uneventful for three-quarters of the time. Then Chelsea scored on 75, which was fine with me. But then, Craig equalized, forcing a replay at the Crabbe in a week or so. I wasn’t happy with Craig to be quite honest. The last thing I wanted was more games on the schedule. But, never mind that now, we has a home game against Everton at midweek on January 7.

A day later, Craig reacted my latest contract offer, stating that he was unhappy with me. It was clearly he wanted out, and I wasn’t going to argue.

On Wednesday we hosted Everton. McPhee and Descamps took their turns in the rotation while G. Robertson, Diawara and Clark all got the day off, replaced by Poggi, G. Murray and Cunningham. The 19000 faithful at the Crabbe saw their hometown team take a quick 1-0 lead thanks to Craig header. Everton were thoroughly shut down in the sleet and cold as Dover retained the 1-0 lead by halftime. Descamps sealed the win early in the second half with a scruffy goal and we ran out the clock on the 2-0 win. Next up was a Saturday Prem game at Fulham on January 11.

I finally decided to put Ian Clark on the transfer-list. The young Scot was perpetually getting injured and he didn’t have to talent to overcome that particular problem. Before the Fulham game, the same Turkish side made a 10.7M offer for Craig, which I accepted. On Saturday, we traveled to Fulham. The lineup for this game saw Landrin and Miller take their turns in the rotation. Foulon returned to action at AMC and Liop replaced Craig at FC. Despite the cold pounding rain, the first half saw plenty of offense as both sides took 6 shots and land three each. Fortadis of Fulham scored first on 32 to give the home side the 1-0 lead. However Foulon drew the two sides level just a few minutes later and the scored remained knotted at halftime. The second half was not as good and both teams got a point out of the 1-1 draw. The next game would be the FA Cup replay with Chelsea at the Crabbe on Wednesday.

Wednesday arrived without much fanfare. Clark had been sold to Derby the day before for 476K pounds. The lineup against Chelsea was virtually the same as it had been vs. Fulham. Landrin held on to right back as McPhee was out with a minor injury, Descamps took his turn in the rotation and Miller replaced Roberson at the other midfield spot. Liop got his second start in place of Craig, who wouldn’t start again, though he was on the bench. The game wasn’t much to write home about. Pisano scored late to give Chelsea the 1-0 win. I was glad because it meant that Dover could now focus on the League Cup and the Premier. The bad news from the Chelsea match was that G. Robertson would be out a week and a half with a gashed leg. Yet another injury. Our next match as a home game against Newcastle on the weekend.

On Thursday, the Craig era at Dover came to a close as he was sent to a Turkish side for 10.7M pounds. I would wait for McCann to heal completely before figuring out what to do with my forwards.

The lineup against Newcastle was somewhat subdued. Poggi started at left back as Landrin and Miller took their turns in the rotation and McBride started in place of Thompson, who was suspended for the next two games. The 19000 at the Crabbe watched in horror as Abiven gave up a cheap goal to give Newcastle the 1-0 by halftime. Dover was certainly reacting to the loss of their superstar. Despite the fact that the team was playing its worst game of the year, we managed to get the 1-1 draw when Foulon scored late. We now had a week and a half off before having to face Leeds in the first leg of the League Cup Semi-final.

Over the break several first team players returned from injury. That meant the old rotations could be set up again with Descamps paired with McMillan and Robertson paired with Miller in the midfield. In addition, Dover signed Allessandro Alves, a 30 year old Brazilian with Scots nationality. Alves would back up Foulon at AMC, with allowed me to restructure the forward corps. McCann and Paterson would be the starters with Liop and Cunningham serving as the backups. This new look was tested against Leeds.

The lineup for the Leeds game saw McPhee, Descamps and Miller taking their turns and would join most of the regulars, the exceptions being the suspended Thompson and Diawara, who were replaced by McBride and G. Murray. Dover played decently in the first half and put all four shots on target to Leeds' one. But it was Leeds who held the 1-0 lead at the half, thanks to an early Garcia goal. Foulon again got a very late goal to get the 1-1 draw as the series went to the Crabbe next week. Miller limped off with an injury and would be out for three weeks with a calf strain. Our next game was a home game versus Nottingham Forest on the weekend which would be the last game of January.

Given Graeme Robertson’s lousy performance in the Leeds game, I sat him down in my office and told him that he and Poggi were going to rotate the rest of the season. He took the news better than expected, even though he would be rotating with Kenneth Murray for the next three games because Poggi was suspended. Saturday arrived and Murray, Landrin, McMillan and S. Robertson took their turns in the lineup. Foulon also needed the day off and Alves got his first start with Dover. All the other regulars got the nod. The 19000 packing the Crabbe saw a turgid half that was clearly anti-offense. Neither Dover nor Forest took more than 2 shots and halftime saw the score unchanged from the beginning 0-0 tally. Alves endeared himself to the Dover faithful one minute into the second half when he gathered in a cross from Murray and sent it into the net to give the hometown team the 1-0 lead. Forest tied the game 1-1 on 72 and neither team could break the deadlock in the last fifteen minutes for yet another 1-1 draw. Our first game in February would be on the 4th at Derby in a midweek Prem game.

retired_karamelkel

By February, the furor in the tabloids over my West Ham “psychosis” had died down a bit. But then came the Craig row. The papers were in an uproar over this one. Apparently, as he left for Turkey, Craig, or his agent more likely, had let it slip to the press that the player had actually taken a pay cut to play in Turkey. This, of course, raised suspicions that something was amiss in Dover. As everyone well knew, Craig had been seeking a new contract for quite some time and that I had been willing to pay him over a million pounds a year. So why would he bolt to Turkey for less money than his current Dover contract? Answer, the apparent insanity of the manager. In a rather lengthy interview, Craig admitted that he hated Dover now. He discussed my sudden change in personality a year and a half ago. He discussed the sudden shift in tactics from the 4-5-1 to the 4-3-1-2 and then the 4-1-2-1-2. He discussed the mysterious sacking of the coaching staff and the shifting of training routines. He discussed the sale of the wingers. All in all, Craig seemed to believe that a demon had invaded Pascal’s soul and taken over. In truth, he wasn’t far wrong. The article ended with Craig’s plea that Dover sack me and bring in a more “rational” manager. The story was picked up nationally and once more, I was inundated with mail, calls and messages, mostly from people who though I was a danger to society. Once again, I tried to ignore the furor, but it was much mire difficult. Craig had been a Dover icon and his sale left much bitterness among the fans and the team. No one could simply fathom for accept the transfer. All of a sudden, the scrutiny was magnified a hundred-fold. I couldn’t do anything without someone repeating if in the tabloids.

The Fourth arrived and Robertson, McPhee, Descamps and Fischer (rotating with S. Robertson for the time being) took their places alongside the regulars. Dover seemed to regain a measure of confidence when Descamps stuffed a rebound back on 25 to give us the 1-0 lead which we retained at halftime. However, Derby’s Bruce scored ten minutes into the second half to tie the game. Again the draw held up and both sides had to be content with a single point from the encounter. Next up was an away game at Bolton on Monday the 9th.

All the regulars got the nod for the Bolton game and Poggi, Landrin, McMillan and Robertson. The first half saw the offensive floodgates open as a total of 11 shots were taken with 9 being on the money. However, when the dust cleared at intermission, Dover was ahead 2-0 thanks to an early goal by McCann and a later goal by Foulon. The second half was moot and Bolton never really threatened us as we cruised to an easy 2-0 victory. Our next game was in a week and a half on Wednesday the 18 where we would face Leeds in the second leg of the League Cup Semi-final.

The day after the Bolton game, Caen accepted a 1.6M bid for disgruntled Scots forward Scott Mitchell. Both parties quickly agreed to terms and Mitchell was in Dover a day later. He would be a regular, taking the place of Paterson, who would go back to spelling McCann. Liop would back up Mitchell. Cunningham would go back to the reserves to get more playing time. Mitchell would have a week to learn the offense and get acquainted with his teammates.
Game day arrived at the Crabbe and the lineup against Leeds was Robertson, McPhee, Descamps and Fischer all taking their turn to play alongside the regulars. The nearly 13000 who bothered to turn out witnessed the standard Dover first half, a tight, nearly shot less, first half that ended in a 0-0 score at intermission. The second half was tight as Leeds tried desperately to score and win. But, on 68 Descamps sent in an out swinging corner that Batricle buried into the net to give Dover the 1-0 lead. We would hold onto that lead, winning the Semi-final 2-1 on aggregate. Dover would play Fulham in the final at Wembley Stadium on March 29.

Of course, we didn’t get much time to celebrate, having to turn around and play a match on the weekend. We faced Arsenal at the Crabbe. The lineup for the game was Poggi, Landrin, McMillan and Robertson taking their turn in the rotation. In addition, Batricle and Foulon were both unfit to play, replaced by G. Murray and Alves respectively. The other five regulars played as usual. Neither side acquitted itself well in the game nor both sides left with a point, having fought to a 0-0 stalemate. Dover now had ten League games left and were in third place in the Prem with 49 points. Our next match was a home match against Italian side Lazio at the Crabbe as the UEFA Cup got underway once more.

The Lazio game came quick enough. The lineup had to be juggled slightly because not all of the first team was eligible for Europe. Robertson, Landrin, Descamps and Miller took their turn in the rotation while Mitchell was replaced by Liop... Otherwise, it was the same regulars as usual. Nearly 13000 fans came to watch their home side play Lazio in the first half. Dover at least, had two shots on target to Lazio’s none. The second half stared as a see-saw battle and then, much to the delight of Dover fans, the team’s offense exploded. First came a sizzling strike from Paterson on 69, then eight minutes later, Foulon followed with one of his breakdown dribbles to make the final score Dover 2-Lazio 0. It was a remarkable win and put us in good shape for the second leg, which would take place on the road. As it was we had a Sunday March 1rst game against Liverpool in Liverpool next.

The lineup against Liverpool saw Poggi, McPhee, McMillan and Robertson take their turns, while Foulon got the day off, replaced by Alves. The first half passed without incident as Dover took the only shot of the first 45 minutes. In fact the only thing of notice as that Liverpool had two players injured, forcing them to go to the bench early. The second half was a bit dicey for Dover as Liverpool managed to increase their offensive output a fair bit. But, we held onto the 0-0 draw and took the point. Next up was Lazio on the road in Italy.

The lineup for the Lazio game was Roberson, Landrin, Descamps and Miller all taking their turn as well as Paterson replacing Mitchell, other than those changes, regulars filled the lineup. Late in the first half, Foulon stunned the 61000 strong Rome crowd by breaking through and slipping a shot past an incredulous goalkeeper to give Dover the vital road goal and the 3-0 aggregate lead. Lazio essentially conceded the second half and we walked out of Rome winners. We drew Spanish side Albacete in the UEFA quarter final, the first leg to be played in Spain. In fact, we would play them in our next game, on Wednesday March 12. Never one to intentionally mess up a good thing, I kept the same lineup for Albacete with the exception of the rotation players as Poggi, Landrin, McMillan and Robertson, who took their turn in the starting eleven. The Spanish jumped out ahead early as Garcia scored on 12 and Dover couldn’t answer in kind. The second half was even duller as Albacete ground out their 1-0 victory to open the series. But, now we had a Sunday game at the Crabbe versus Chelsea to worry about.

The lineup against Chelsea saw all the regulars plus K. Murray, McPhee Descamps and Miller taking their turns in the lineup. The 19000 loyalists at the Crabbe stared as Dover took a 2-0 lead inside of 10 minutes as Diawara headed in a goal on 2 and Foulon busted one on 7. The lead would have been larger, but Mitchell blew a penalty on 12 as the Chelsea goalkeeper got sent off. No matter, Dover controlled the rest of the half and went into the dressing room leading 2-0. The second half was a cakewalk and we took an easy three points. Next up was the Crabbe leg of the UEFA Cup series against Albacete.

The lineup for the game saw even more of a shuffle than usual. Poggi, Landrin and Robertson took their turn in the rotation, but K. Murray found himself at LMC because McMillan was away on U21 duty. In addition, Thompson was suspended for the game so McBride got the start and Liop got the nod at forward. The 13000 fans that showed up probably weren’t impressed by the first half play as both teams were a bit lackluster in playing to a scoreless draw by halftime. Pressing and attacking all the way, we managed to get late goals from Paterson and Foulon to shock Albacete and punch our ticket into the UEFA Semis.

The UEFA semi would pit Dover against Inter, with the first leg being played there. To make matters worse, Liop tore his groin muscle and would be out three months, meaning that Cunningham got the callups and Liop got the transfer block once he recovered. Next, however, was the most important game of the year, the League Cup Final against Fulham, which was in eight days.

We arrived at Wembley fully prepared. Fulham arrived without a manager as he had taken the Everton job two days earlier. My lineup saw Robertson, McPhee, Descamps and Miller taking their turn in the rotation. Every other regular was rested and ready to play. Nearly 78000 packed the stands at Wembley, meaning a large payday for both teams. Those fans were probably disappointed as the first half was vintage Dover, a scoreless draw. The second half was a scoreless draw as well. In fact, Fulham failed to even get a shot off in the first 90 minutes. By contrast Dover had 11 shots, seven on goal, but couldn’t put it past the keeper. So, the game went into overtime. At 101, McCann limped off with an injury and Paterson came in. I then told my team to attack. The idea worked as Mitchell scored his first goal of his Dover career on 103 to give us the 1-0 lead. During the second half of overtime, Foulon and Descamps added a goal each to ice the cake on a 3-0 Dover victory. The only bad thing was that we lost McCann for a month, meaning Duriez was brought back up as we prepared for Inter on the road.

The lineup against Inter in the first leg of the UEFA Cup semifinal had to be even more creatively jiggered than usual. Poggi, Landrin and McMillan took their rotation turns, but Robertson had to start at AMC and Foulon had to start at forward in addition to the regulars. Neither team played with must gusto, but the 74000 fans in Milan were struck dumb when S. Robertson score a cheapie to give Dover the 1-0 lead by halftime. Milan didn’t roll over. They made it a game in the second half when Cetin scored. But, late in the day, Thompson came through with a goal to give Dover an improbable 2-1 victory over Inter Milan. But, we had no time to celebrate as we had a home game against Leeds on Sunday April 5.

retired_karamelkel

For the Leeds game, the lineup card had Robertson, McPhee, Descamps and Fischer rotated in. All the regulars that weren’t injured got the nod as Paterson took over McCann’s spot until the latter was healthy again. The 19000 at the Crabbe saw an unusual first half. Dover took the 2-0 lead early with goals Batricle and Fischer, but Leeds score two goals within five minutes late in the half to force a 2-2 tie at the half. In the second half, Mitchell scored his second Dover goal to put us ahead 3-2 and we never looked back, running out the clock for the victory. Foulon played his most sublime game of the year, a perfect 10, despite not having a goal. Next up was Man U on Saturday April 11 at Old Trafford.

During the week off, I learned that Abiven, Diawara and Thompson were named to the All-Premier team. It was well deserved on all their parts. For Man U, Landrin, Poggi, McMillan and Robertson took their turn and joined all the other regulars in the lineup. By this time, Dover was getting used to playing in front of large crowds, so the 58000 fans didn’t bother them all that much. A grinding first half saw watch side take precisely one shot each and not land it. Man U was the far better team however and scored two goals to shut us out 2-0. It was only our fourth league loss in 32 games, but our hold on third place was beginning to slip and howling wolves were baying at the door. But, we got Inter at home next in five days on Thursday April 16.

In the run up to that game, an article appeared that did a hatchet job on Poggi. I angrily defended Poggi, saying that he was still making a contribution to Dover. Then, I found out that Batricle wanted a new contract. I decided to wait until the season was over to something about it. For the Inter game, Robertson, Landrin, Descamps and Miller got the rotation nod and Cunningham filled in for the ineligible Mitchell, otherwise, all the regulars got the nod. Almost 13000 fans came out to watch Inter tie the aggregate 2-2 with a goal on 36. The second half was the wildest I’d ever seen in my two years at Dover as we scored four goals in the half. Cunningham, Paterson, Miller and Diawara sealed our entry in the UEFA Cup final. Inter got another goal late, but it was to no avail. Dover was through 6-3 on aggregate and a 4-2 second leg thrashing. We would play Italian side Verona at Wembley on May 13. Right now though, we had to worry about a way match versus Blackburn on the weekend. .

Against Blackburn, Dover started Poggi, McPhee, McMillan and Robertson in the rotation scheme. In addition, Thompson was out, suspended for the next three games, so McBride would start at DMC. In addition, both Batricle and Paterson were slightly less fit than I would have liked and so found them getting the day off in favor of G. Murray and Duriez. The first half was the usual defensive struggle, with Blackburn taking the edge on a Stuart goal in the 23 minute. The home side held on to that lead through halftime. Dover managed to claw back into the game late on a Foulon goal to take the 1-1 draw. It was clear, however, that Dover was becoming mentally fatigued. The constant stream of games was putting the team on edge. We would get a week long break next until we had to face Wrexham at the Crabbe on Saturday April 25.

That evening, West Ham announced that they had sacked Dean Taylor. I had to smile, even though I rarely thought about those days anymore. As the years between the break with reality, those memories were fading fast. On Saturday we hosted Wrexham as Robertson, Landrin, Descamps and Miller got the rotation nod, in addition K. Murray got the start at DMC. Right before the game, one of the trainers came up and told me that Foulon needed the day off. I agreed and made Alves the starter. The first half was dull tedium. Wrexham were already going back to D1, so they were just trying to keep us from winning. For a half, the strategy worked as the game was the game was tied 0-0. The nearly 20000 strong crowds were relieved when Cunningham scored on 67 to give Dover the 1-0 lead and the victory as we ran out the clock. Next up was a midweek Prem game versus Charlton in London on April 29.

That week, West Ham announced that they were hiring Ian McBride from Celtic. Wednesday arrived swiftly as Poggi, McPhee, McMillan and Robertson took their turn in the lineup. Murray got the start at DMC for the second game in a row and regulars filled out the starting eleven. Charlton got things going early with an 18 minute goal from Watson and generally played well. Dover was not quite so good, missing a couple of shots, but Mitchell knotted the game back up with a goal right before halftime. The second half saw an ineffective Foulon replaced by Alves, who promptly scored a brace of goals on 79 and 83 to give Dover a 3-1 advantage. Watson scored again a minute before time to make the final score 3-2 Dover. Next in line was the weekend contest on May 2 at Southampton.

On Thursday, an article appeared praising Batricle as a brilliant young player. I said that I quite agreed. I hoped he would be more willing to sign a contract if I told him how valuable he was to Dover. On Saturday we went to Southampton. The lineup saw the return of Thompson and McCann to the lineup as well as Robertson, Landrin, Descamps and Miller. The other entire regulars god the nod as well. The only remarkable thing about the first half in this game was that by the 40th minute, both sides were down to 10 men, thanks to an overzealous referee. With the numbers equal for the entire second half, Southampton began to dominate play. They cracked the defense handily and were imposing their will easily. They scored on 70 to take the lead 1-0. For our part we failed to muster any offense, not putting a single shot on target until injury time. But, that one shot on target was all we needed to get the cheap 1-1 draw, thanks to a nice McCann shot. Next in our relentless march was the last home game of the year on Wednesday May 6, versus Ipswich.

For that game, Poggi, McPhee, McMillan and Robertson all got the rotation nod. All the other regulars got the nod as well. The Crabbe faithful would see a full-strength lineup to close of the home schedule. 19000 Crabbe fans saw the usual boring first half. It didn’t help that we couldn’t shoot straight, but at least we were getting shots. Ipswich had one measly off-target shot the entire half. Though Dover went on the attack in the second half, their shooting woes continued and it was until 85 that a goal was scored. Mitchell converted a penalty and five minutes later, Foulon scored to seal the 2-0 Dover victory. Next up was the UEFA Cup final against Verona on May 13.

retired_karamelkel

Bard meeting

"Congrats Pascal on a nice season."

"Huh what?"

"Are you certain that you're alright Mr. Mcintosh?"

"Oh I'm fine sir, just not used to being called Pascal"

*chuckle* "You really do prefer being called Mac."

"Yes sir I do, easier to remember."

"Ok then Mac, we won't keep you long. We just have a couple of questions about the end of the season and your future."

"Ok sir"

"First, why did we lose 1-0 to Verona in the UEFA final?"

*sighes* "Sir as you no doubt recall, Verona coverted a penalty early in the game and never looked back."

"Ah, but why couldn't the team score at all?"

"Because the young guns wwere wore out, Foulon expecially. He hasn't been the same since that sublime perfect ten game he had a couple months back."

"Could you have made any tactical moves that would have changed the outcome?"

"No sir"

"Could you have used a superstar or two to help you win?"

*laughs* "Sure, anyone could use a superstar or two in that situation"

"Then why did you sell Craig and now trying to sell Batricle?"

"Simple sir, they want new contracts and won't negotiate."

"Simple won't cut it here Pascal. The bloody fans are screaming about it. Isn't it true each had two years or more left on their contracts?"

"Yes."

"Then why Pascal?"

"Because I don't like prima-donna players. No player is bigger than the club."

"Ah, Pascal, the manager is less important than wither player. Neither Craig nor Batricle is a prima-donna. In fact they endeared themselves to the fans and played hard. Because of your actions, we are lising merchandising and season ticket revenue."

"But doesn't the money from the Craigh sale and the money that will come in from the Batricle sal cover the lost revenue?"

"Yes Pascal it would. But that's not the point."

"Well sir, don't waste my time, what is the point?"

"We don't like the changes you've suddenly made to the club."

"Sudden? It's been over a year."

"So you admit to having changed."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't belive me sir if I told you the trueth."

"Very well Pascal. We must warn you that you are on a short leash next season. We do not like the player sales and the tactics changes and we know that the fans aren't happy wither. We don't care ehat your excuses are. We don't care that you finshed third in the Prem or that you won the League Cup or that you were in the UEFA Cup final. You must win Pascal and prove that you are the same man we hired all those years ago. Change is fine, but if it continues to fail. you will be fired."

*stunned* "yessir*

"You are dismissed Pascal. Have a good vacation!"